ANDREW GUENTHER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ANDREW GUENTHER at FREIGHT+VOLUME

For his third project @ Freight+Volume, Andrew Guenther offers up the viewer "Recent Works on Paper (from the Last Five Years)". A simple premise, but not without his singular brand of humor and irony, as Guenther explores all the big themes of nostalgia, capitalism, utopia, sexuality, phenomena and death on a small scale and with his trademark light touch. Accompanying the exhibition in F+V's project space is a compact artist book printed for the occasion, "Hotdog in a Banana Costume" essentially a document of these drawings (which could be subtitled "Guenther's Greatest Hits, Volume 3") These are in many ways an extension of his prior show @ F+V of mixed media and installation entitled "Looking for Culture, Part 2". Andrew frames these drawings in handmade and recycled frames, sometimes with tongue-in-cheek reference to their art-historical origins. His untitled surreal "plate face", for example, is displayed in a simple black veneer, not unlike what one might find in a suburban den; others such as a 2010 untitled tropical scene are framed in elaborate moldings more appropriate to what would embellish an old-master drawing.

Situated on a small plywood table, beside a red faux-leather fold-up chair made in China, is a replaceable sheet of paper where the public is invited to jot down their thoughts and graffiti, using colored pencils and pens from a coffee can, with a white noise machine lending a meditative ambiance - giving the piece an overall 80's user-interactive appeal. The intimate booth of Guenther's works on paper invites the viewer to take a leisurely stroll through the flotsam and jetsam strewn down an artist's memory lane, particularly a five-year trek though the end of the Bush era and the beginning of Obama's tenure. Hope springs eternal in these quirky, idiosyncratic works on paper; they certainly will not disappoint Guenther's loyal fans and colleagues.

Andrew Guenther was born and raised in Wheaton, Illinois, studied undergrad in Wisconsin and Rome and received his Masters @ Rutgers in 2002. He has exhibited widely both in the US and abroad, and curated an artist's storefront space in Brooklyn for a few years called Arts Tropical. A recent work of Guenther's is also featured in the upcoming annual BAM auction benefit, where online bidding continues until Sunday, March 28th (www.bam.org/auction)

For further information please contact Nick Lawrence or Kevin Kay @ 212-691-7700, or email us @ info@freightandvolume.com

Hotdog in a Banana Costume, a catalogue, was published in conjunction with the exhibition and is available for purchase.