Revivify - Susan English, Catherine Latson, Janna Watson, Exhibition Catalogue

K E N I S E B AR N E S F I N E AR T

Revivify – Susan English, Catherine Latson, Janna Watson January 6 – February 17, 2018

REVIVIFY – SUSAN ENGLISH, CATHERINE LATSON, JANNA WATSON Kenise Barnes Fine Art is pleased to open the 2018 exhibition season with a group show featuring new work by Susan English, Catherine Latson and Janna Watson.

Boundless curiosity, close observation, and patience are manifest in the gorgeous work of Catherine Latson. The Specimen Series is inspired by sea anemones and the motion of a water-bound world, exploring forms that blur the lines between animal and plant, realism and fantasy, sculpture and specimen. Radial symmetry and tentacle structures are common denominators in the mysterious variety of forms in Latson’s newest work. Each wall sculpture describes a hybridized and imagined organism in arrested motion.

Latson’s complex artworks belie her simple materials. The artist hand-dyes embroidery floss in variations of a single dominant color and wraps the thread tightly and skillfully around her armature. The construction of each work entails countless hours of whipping and knotting, resulting in dense, rich color and graceful, compelling compositions.

Catherine Latson earned a BA in Biology from Macalester College, St Paul, MN. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States, including at The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY, and in the Macy’s Flowers Shows in Philadelphia, PA and New York, NY and has been featured in the American Craft Magazine and The New York Times. The artist works in Yonkers, NY. Susan English is inspired by light — the way it refracts on the wind-ruffled surface of the Hudson River, or is absorbed by the shadow of a building, or slices through venetian blinds. By watching light in relation to objects and environments, the artist distills her palette of color for her reductive abstract paintings. In the artist’s words: “Landscapes condense into shapes of color for me: when I look at a mountain across the river I see its blue shadow as a separate solid, a discrete entity. I try to precisely determine what that color is, its density, its timbre in order to evoke this expression of light and mass in my paintings”.

English makes her evocative surfaces of nuanced colors by pouring layers of tinted polymer on wood panel. The poured polymer mimics nature: a layer of paint hardens like ice or mud; the material’s thickness and viscosity informs the finished appearance.

Paint coagulates and gathers in the cracks and fissures of the artist’s drawing under the glossy surface, a result of the delicate and flexible relationship between control and accident. The painted surfaces range from matte to glossy, alternatively absorbing or reflecting light in response to the available illumination and the position of the viewer. Ultimately, the panels are choreographed into horizontal or vertical sequences to create a narrative of color, space, and light.

Susan English's work has been the subject of solo exhibitions throughout the United Sates. English received a fellowship at the Saltenstall Foundation for the Arts, Ithaca, NY and was artist in residency at Habitat for Artists, Garrison, NY. Her work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Chronogram, Abstract Art Online and the Philadelphia Inquirer, to name a few. English earned an MFA from Hunter College, New York, NY and BA from Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. She lives and works in Cold Spring, NY. Janna Watson is a young artist who has quickly made an impression on the contemporary art scene. Her abstract compositions and energetic brushstrokes possess an elegant and powerful vitality. A masterful colorist, Watson’s paintings are a carefully balanced orchestra of color. She creates energetic tension between deliberate and confident marks and spontaneous drips and gestures that are artifacts of her intuitive process.

Watson’s compositions are an intriguing assertion of bold gesture set against atmospheric expression. Watson’s rich palette is further amplified by the addition of a high-gloss resin finish that deepens the illusionistic space and reflects light.

On the cover: Catherine Latson, Specimen 5, 2017 hand-dyed cotton thread, cotton, wire, 34 x 34 x 4 inches, $4500. (framed in acrylic shadowbox)

The artist is widely exhibited internationally. Watson’s paintings can be found in several significant collections, including in the Toronto collections of TD Bank Financial Group, CIBC, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the HBC Global Art Collection in New York. In 2017, she was selected to create a mural-size painting for the feature space in AURA, North America’s largest condominium building. Watson earned a BFA in Drawing and Painting from Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto, ON. The artist lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

Please contact the gallery for images and additional information or to arrange a preview of the exhibition.

SUSAN ENGLISH

STATEMENT

Pourous Light My work is inspired by light — the way it refracts in the wind on the surface of the Hudson, or is absorbed by the shadow of a building, or slices through venetian blinds. Observations of light in relation to objects and spaces are a pool from which I draw to create colors, atmospheres and surfaces in my abstract work. Landscapes condense into shapes of color for me: when I look at a mountain across the river I see its blue shadow as a separate solid, a discrete entity. I will try to precisely determine what that color is, its density, its timbre and how I would make and evoke this expression of light and mass.

The surface and color in these works is made by pouring layers of tinted polymer on panels. The poured polymer mimics nature: a layer of paint hardens like ice or mud – its thickness and viscosity impacting how the surface dries. The drawing in the paintings: collected areas of paint, cracks and coagulations, is the result of a delicate and flexible relationship between control and accident. I assemble the poured panels into horizontal or vertical sequences to create a narrative of color, space and light. The surfaces range from dull to glossy - either absorbing or reflecting the light, existing always in relationship to the light in the room or the position of the viewer.

SUSAN ENGLISH

STATEMENT

Pourous Light My work is inspired by light — the way it refracts in the wind on the surface of the Hudson, or is absorbed by the shadow of a building, or slices through venetian blinds. Observations of light in relation to objects and spaces are a pool from which I draw to create colors, atmospheres and surfaces in my abstract work. Landscapes condense into shapes of color for me: when I look at a mountain across the river I see its blue shadow as a separate solid, a discrete entity. I will try to precisely determine what that color is, its density, its timbre and how I would make and evoke this expression of light and mass.

The surface and color in these works is made by pouring layers of tinted polymer on panels. The poured polymer mimics nature: a layer of paint hardens like ice or mud – its thickness and viscosity impacting how the surface dries. The drawing in the paintings: collected areas of paint, cracks and coagulations, is the result of a delicate and flexible relationship between control and accident. I assemble the poured panels into horizontal or vertical sequences to create a narrative of color, space and light. The surfaces range from dull to glossy - either absorbing or reflecting the light, existing always in relationship to the light in the room or the position of the viewer.

Susan English, studio view

Susan English detail: Interlude

Susan English Interlude, 2014 tinted polymer on panel 18 x 53 inches $6000.

Susan English Sea Glass (for Catherine), 2016 tinted polymer on panel 56 x 47 inches $7000.

Susan English detail: Sea Glass (for Catherine)

Susan English Red Sky at Night, 2017 tinted polymer on panel 25.75 x 23.5 inches $3400.

Susan English Yarn, 2017 tinted polymer on panel 29.5 x 24 inches $3800.

CATHERINE LATSON

STATEMENT

The building blocks of the natural world are endlessly fascinating. No ocean or forest is bereft of ideas. Inspired by sea anemones and the motion of a water-bound world, current work explores forms that blur the lines between animal and plant, realism and fantasy, sculpture and specimen. While radial symmetry and tentacles are the common denominators in this series, each piece offers a different take on an organism in motion. Materials are simple, palettes are hand-dyed variations of one dominant color, and construction entails countless hours of whipping and knotting. My work does not preach. Nature is the text and a full-fledged collaborator.

Catherine Latson, studio view

Catherine Latson Specimen 1, 2017 hand-dyed cotton thread, cotton, wire, starfish arms 34 x 34 x 4 inches $4500. (framed in acrylic shadowbox)

Catherine Latson detail: Specimen 1

Catherine Latson Specimen 2, 2017 hand-dyed cotton thread, cotton, wire 38 x 38 x 4 inches $5000. (framed in acrylic shadowbox)

Catherine Latson detail: Specimen 2

Catherine Latson Specimen 3, 2017 hand-dyed cotton thread, cotton, wire, paper 26 x 26 x 5 inches $4500. (framed in shadowbox)

Catherine Latson detail: Specimen 3

Catherine Latson Specimen 4, 2017 hand-dyed cotton thread, cotton, wire 27 x 24 x 5 inches $4500. (framed in acrylic shadowbox)

Catherine Latson detail: Specimen 4

Janna Watson SILENCE IN PORTALS, 2017 acrylic, gouache, oil pastel and ink on birch panel with resin 40 x 30 inches $3950.

JANNA WATSON

STATEMENT

2017 Paintings

Spiritual alignment runs through the center core of Janna Watson’s practice. Harmonious pigments balanced against striking backgrounds echo personalized sentiments affected by light, colour, and space. These three elements are the life force behind each painting, and it bridges the gap between abstraction versus reality. While the artist experiments with the power of colour, shape, and their relationships to space, we, as the viewers, are grasping for that “tangible something” that mutates our personal energy into memories. Viewers are also invited to explore their own unique connections with colour and form, and note the parallel between the macrocosm and the microcosm, the universe and man. "Qì" is converted through Watson's vibrant palettes and unified with gestural scores. Against that, the artist gifts us with static lines and poetic titles that help ground us into the concrete and familiar world.

“You can have a blue jacket and touch the jacket with your body, but you can't touch the colour of the jacket. Colour touches you.”

Janna Watson DARKNESS IS A CULTURAL BROTH, 2017 acrylic, gouache, oil pastel and ink on birch panel with resin 48 x 36 inches $5200.

Janna Watson detail: DARKNESS IS A CULTURAL BROTH

Janna Watson I MOVE INSIDE A MYSTERY WHEN I SLEEP, 2017 acrylic, gouache, oil pastel and ink on birch panel with resin 48 x 48 inches $6500.

Janna Watson detail: I MOVE INSIDE A MYSTERY WHEN I SLEEP

Janna Watson NEAR TO A WILD HEART, 2017 acrylic, gouache, oil pastel and ink on birch panel with resin 48 x 48 inches $6500.

Janna Watson detail: NEAR TO A WILD HEART

K E N I S E BAR N E S F I N E AR T Was founded in 1994 on the belief that art is essential We are a gallery and art consulting firm representing emerging and mid-career, investment-quality artists. Our program includes over fifty artists working in a variety of mediums.

The gallery mounts more than a dozen exhibitions annually in our exhibition space in Larchmont, NY as well as curating exhibitions for outside venues.

Kenise Barnes Fine Art is an experienced art consulting firm. We guide both residential and corporate collectors and work collaboratively with designers and architects to provide and source artwork for projects of all sizes. Our client list includes New York University Langone Medical Center, Montefiore Medical Center, Bank of America Art Program, Pfizer Corporation, Citibank Art Advisory, Vicente Wolf Associates, and numerous museums and private collectors.

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Photo credit: Susan Fisher Photography