VOLUME
For Immediate Release
CATCH & CARRY
April 22- May 21, 2005 Reception: Friday, April 22, 6-8 PM
Featuring: Brian Burkhardt (Boston), Miguel Cardenas (New York), Elizabeth Neel (New York), Larimer Richards (Boston), Molly Smith (New York), Kyle Wadsworth (Dallas) and Lauren Warner (New York).
Catch & Carry brings together a group of artists from across the country whose works attempt to capture nature and somehow make it more "manageable".
Since the inception of Western art, the landscape has been the subject of extensive representation. Whether an idealized scene to capture the grandeur of the "natural" world or a metaphor for the "human spirit" the landscape has always been a part of the vernacular of art. Paintings of the new unexplored America depicted awe-inspiring views of mountain ranges never seen and waterfalls unheard of. In large part, these paintings were meant to be collected; a grand token of the West that one could take home. Artists would lug out their canvas and oils hoping to capture the glorious natural world, in essence, catch the landscape and make it manageable. This certainly commodifies the landscape, but perhaps more importantly, is the way in which people "know" the natural world most.
For Catch and Carry, seven artists have been assembled to give a framework for this transaction. Rather than capturing the vastness of the "natural" world, these artists address how landscape depiction becomes possible; a self-aware and poignant commentary of what has preceded them. Brian Burkhardt's extraordinary hybrid botanic species are meticulously and "realistically" handcrafted specifically for the office environment. Miguel Cardenas, through his travels to the Amazon, captures the landscape in snapshots, which serve as the starting point for his paintings - one of which is seen here re-presented in a painting of a painting on the wall of his studio. Elizabeth Neel's video of a horse has been tamed via what seems to be a technological glitch as it is shown perpetually trying to get up - all the while evoking a deep sense of pathos for the creature. Larimer Richards' video of the ocean seen through an antique travel clock is a poetic reminder that time is shaped by the natural world. Molly Smith often spends time in Central Park observing nature as inspiration for her wry watercolors, which isolate and defamiliarize plants and animals on starkly white backgrounds. Kyle Wadsworth's slick carrying case allows travelers to transport one of their favorite parts of home (a houseplant) wherever they go. Lauren Warner's pyrographs, which depict romantic European destinations appropriated from store-bought travel guides, become sentimental longings for places she has never been. - Micah Malone
For more information, please contact C. Sean Horton, Director or Nick Lawrence, Owner / Director.
