Heather Gaudio Fine Art is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition “New Arrangements: Contemporary Reimagined” to be held October 3 through December 30th, 2015. The all–women show consists of works by Jaq Belcher, Cassandria Blackmore, Ann Gardner, Madeleine Keesing and Jae Ko, illustrating intriguing relationships between form and materiality as they come together in reimagined processes. This is the first exhibition at the gallery’s newly inaugurated space in the heart of downtown New Canaan. All are invited to attend a public opening reception to be held on October 3, from 4-7 pm.
The artists in the show have appropriated the use of industrial materials in unexpected ways, reconfiguring them into a contemporary fine art context. Juxtaposed with more conventional art practices, the objects engage the viewer in compelling and contrasting dialogues. The works share unusual processes in execution, requiring great physicality and non-traditional methods.
Two artists exhibited have taken to use paper in highly original yet divergent ways. Jaq Belcher methodically cuts and slices to create precise voids and raised surfaces, like essential syncopated notes forming part of a whole rhythm. They come together in a complex set of patterns and shadows that are delicate and graceful.
Jae Ko’s discourse with paper is equally inventive, submerging reams of the material into dyes with graphite powder. She manipulates them into coils and twirls, forming elegant spirals and ribbon-like sculptures.
Entirely different approaches to processing glass, concrete and steel are present in the works of two other artists. Cassandria Blackmore reverse-paints on sheets of glass where she signs her name backwards. In a seemingly contradictory move, she shatters the glass only to re-assemble the fragments like a puzzle. The resulting panes are abstract color field works evoking landscape or otherworldly imagery.
Conversely, Ann Gardner builds from an ancient art practice, creating stunning three-dimensional objects that can take on monumental proportions. Gardner assembles pigment-tinted concrete and cut glass mosaics into welded supports, fabricating luminous abstract shapes. Her sculptures can vary from large monochromatic Minimalist forms to intricately complex kaleidoscopic assemblages.
The works of these artists simultaneously contrast and complement Madeleine Keesing’s formalist canvases. Equally intricate, Keesing’s work draws from the patterns and decoration movement and color field paintings. Her new series is a departure from her earlier three-dimensional monochromatic surfaces, using a new geometric iconography that is still reminiscent of textile work.
