EC H O E S
On Cover: Detail of Jeffrey Cortland Jones, "Forgiveness (Discovering the Waterfront)"
Echoes November 30th - December 23rd
An echo, at its core, is a distant version of what it once was. A sound reverberates, then fades. It can be a haunting memory, or instill a sense of wonder. An echo can also be a reminiscence, a nod to something that came before it. The present echoes the past. It is not a perfect replication of it, but an acknowledgement of its heritage. The works collected in this group show are echoes both in process and in concept. Their origins are transformed and concealed. The resulting piece appears to be its own entity, but still contains whispers of how it began. There is a loss of form, color, or imagery, but that does not detract from what remains. Â These artists are also investigating the loss of places, time, objects, and concepts as they create so that the work itself becomes an homage, an echo, to these distant sources.
Peter Hoffer Peter Hoffer’s landscapes at first appear to be traditional; serene and glossy representations of the world around us. However, upon stepping closer you discover that the paintings have drips and inconsistent marks, and the surfaces are scratched, cracked, and seared. He has manipulated them into different states of retrograde, as if they are antiquated works that have been abandoned and then uncovered. They carry a sense of nostalgia for both bygone times and the places that collect these kinds of memories, the attics and antique stores where you might stumble across an artifact akin to the one he has created. The works represent a clash between the historical tradition of painting and expressive modernism, as well as when the landscape used to be revered as sublime and its current state of being considered irrelevant, or even a nuisance.
"Dresden" 2015 Clay base, pigment, and resin on linen stretched over panel 36 x 60 in.Â
"Cartier" 2017 Oil on canvas 36 x 72 in.
Sarah Irvin Sarah Irvin’s ink series reflects the shifting nature of memory, the evolution of language on an individual and societal level, and how the dependability of both can be lost over time. The series was initially inspired by her grandfather’s loss of language due to Alzheimer’s disease, but developed further as she began to use the limited language skills of her baby daughter as a starting point, shifting her focus from the end of our relationship with words to the beginning. She begins with ink and non-absorbent Yupo paper, writing words in expressive cursive, then destroys those marks with squeegees, pulling the ink across the paper to form rich, dynamic new images. Remnants of the words sometimes remain visible, but their meaning can’t be deciphered. Her materials relish in the tools of communication that are disappearing, exploring the tactile and aesthetic potential of ink and paper.
"Outbreak" 2015 Ink on Yupo paper 26 x 40 in.
"Gain" 2016 Ink on Yupo paper 60 x 84 in.
Jeffrey Cortland Jones Jeffrey Cortland Jones’ work is deceptively minimalist. A depth is revealed beyond the initial perception of monochromatic surfaces that’s built up through layers of rich color. Jones is not creating white paintings; he is pushing colors to their very limits, to the moment just before they become white. The under-painting peeks through here and there, giving a glimpse to the shades and textures that construct the final work. It’s because of these hidden features that Jones considers himself something of a landscape painter, inspired by the grit and entropy of his urban surroundings. He draws qualities from the peeling layers of paint on concrete walls, the scratches left behind by skateboards on handrails, the flecks of metal that shine through as layers of construction are eroded over time. The surfaces of his paintings are then not only the ghosts of the colors underneath, but of a largely abandoned industrial landscape.
"Forgiveness (Discovering the Waterfront)" 2017 Enamel on panel 14 x 11 in.
"Lined (Bathroom Selfie)" 2017 Enamel on panel 14 x 11 in.
"Superheated (Extended)" 2017 Enamel on panel 14 x 11 in.
"Plainsong (The Prayer Tour)" 2017 Enamel on panel 14 x 11 in.
"Fragments (Boot Blacks)" 2017 Enamel on panel 14 x 11 in.
"Upright (Zeal)" 2017 Enamel on panel 14 x 11 in.
Ryan Sarah Murphy Ryan Sarah Murphy constructs reliefs from discarded cardboard. Finding her materials out on the street or in the remnants of her own consumerism, she removes any identifying branding, text, or images and uses what’s left without painting or treating them. Murphy allows what remains to guide her, using its energy and unknown history to shape her decisions as she assembles these pieces into forms that meet at the intersection of abstraction and architectural elements, suggesting a strange terrain seen from an aerial view. The gritty remnants of an urban landscape are revived as bold structures with a bright, limited palette and an alluring tactile nature; an unexpected iteration of our society’s odds and ends.
"Everything's Put Away" 2017 Cut book covers, foamcore, posterboard 15 x 25 x 3 in.
"Almost" 2014 Collage on torn book page 16 x 14 in.
"Dead Reckoning" 2013 Found unpainted cardboard, cut book cover, foamcore 32 x 20 x 4 in.
Dana Oldfather
Dana Oldfather begins her paintings by blocking in a scene from her Midwestern domestic life; the discomfort she feels when caught in traditional roles for women and notions of femininity, the isolation and loneliness of motherhood, the fragility of comfort and happiness. Then, she obliterates that imagery through layers of ink, spray paint, acrylic, and oil paints. The narrative is masked by frenetic mark-making that possesses a pulsing energy and bittersweet beauty. However, Oldfather does not seek to hide her interior life. She considers the chaos of her abstraction to be an honest addition to it.Â
"Porch Lights On" 2017 Oil, acrylic, ink and spray paint on clear primed linen 36 x 70 in.
"Raspberries 1" 2015 Oil, ink, acrylic and pigment on panel 30 x 40 in.
"Raspberries 2" 2015 Oil, ink, acrylic and pigment on panel 30 x 40 in.
Peter Hoffer has exhibited in galleries throughout the United States, Canada, and around the world including Berlin, Paris, London, and Mexico. His work is included in several private and public collections, including the MusĂŠe des Beaux Arts in Montreal. He has an MFA from Concordia University. He lives and works in Montreal. Sarah Irvin has exhibited around the country including at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, 12Twelve in D.C, The Shed, and the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts. She has an MFA in Painting from George Mason University. She lives and works in Richmond, Virginia. Jeffrey Cortland Jones has exhibited around the country including at Pratt Institute and the Elmhurst Art Museum, as well as in Berlin and Amsterdam. He has a curatorial practice that has enabled him to create shows around the world. He has an MFA in Drawing and Painting from the University of Cincinnati. He lives and works in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ryan Sarah Murphy has exhibited throughout the country and around the world including at the Foundation Center, the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts, the District of Columbia Arts Center, and galleries in Budapest, Bucharest, and Mexico. She has been granted the I-Park Foundation Residency Fellowship, as well as the New York Foundation of the Arts Fellowship Grant for Sculpture/Crafts. She has a BFA in Sculpture from the School of Visual Arts. She lives and works in New York City. Dana Oldfather has exhibited throughout the country including with the Butler Institute of American Art, the Chautauqua Institute, MOCA Cleveland, and the Erie Art Museum, as well as with galleries in Australia. She was granted the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award as well as a residency at The Vermont Studio Center. She was also the Artist in Residence at Zygote Press. She lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio.