Works by:
Larissa Bates, Robin Cameron, Liz Glynn, Robert Kushner,
Rachel Owens, Reed Seifer, Barbara Takenaga, & Darren Waterston.
DC Moore Gallery is pleased to present a curated group exhibition titled Alchemy including works by Larissa Bates, Liz Glynn, Robin Cameron, Robert Kushner, Rachel Owens, Reed Seifer, Barbara Takenaga, and Darren Waterston. The exhibition will be on view in the project space from November 19th through December 23rd, 2015.
The practice of alchemy, a precursor to modern chemistry, was a deep philosophical inquiry based on the desire to discover a way to transform base metals into gold. It was believed logical, due to gold’s immunity to decay, that such a discovery would naturally lead to the invention of a universal cure for disease and likewise the ability to indefinitely prolong life.
This exhibition explores the significance of materials as well as the implication of artistic practices, which characteristically change one thing into another. Melting, molting, painting, recycling, reinventing, or reconstructing innately serve as metaphors – as form changes so does meaning. Each artist included in this exhibition challenges our understanding of the meanings associated with certain elements and paradigms.
Larissa Bates’ intimate works on paper, with their vivid palette and gold leaf, present like pages from an illuminated manuscript that relate personal stories of complicated family relationships. Bates’ mother’s premature death spurs her own investigations of how identity is altered in the wake of significant loss.
Robin Cameron's ceramics, painstakingly pieced together, serve as allegories for reincarnation, literally built up and out of others’ failed firings and discarded shards.
Liz Glynn’s Celestial Globe 44N11E (Plato), inspired by the artist’s visit to the Museo Galileo in Florence, considers new ways to locate one’s self in the world. The numbers in the title refer to the longitude and latitude coordinates of Glynn’s whereabouts on a specific day.
Robert Kushner’s small-scale compositions on panel present optically complex passages, mingling collage, dense bands of color, and luminous patches of gold leaf. Kushner’s materials and wide ranging suggestions fuse to create a melting pot of cultural and art historical allusions.
Rachel Owens’ sculptures, often chaotic assemblages of gold paint, glass shards, and found objects, allude to the all-too-frequent codependency between wealth and destruction or even violence.
Reed Seifer plays with the notion of value, growing crystals on familiar paper and metal currencies. First carefully folding each bill origami style, Seifer then uses their accordion-like surfaces to harvest delicate, shimmery formations.
Barbara Takenaga’s compositions, meticulously constructed with mantra-like repeating orbs of spreading color, reference a kind of meditative practice meant to transport the practitioner and transform his or her experience.
Darren Waterston’s painting Ectoplasmic Veil alludes to the Victorian practice of séance during which, through a medium, one could communicate with the dead. Ectoplasmic Veil reflects upon the artist’s ongoing preoccupation with transition, transmutation, and the evolution from life to death.
