New Works by SP.One. A series of collages and a site-specific wall painting. The exhibition exemplifies the artist's continuing involvement with diverse media linked by a singular idea: to bridge the distinctions and blur the boundaries between 'high' and 'low art'.
New Works by SP.ONE
McCaig-Welles Gallery and Sierra Nevada are pleased to
present 'Simple Pleasures', an exhibition of new works
by New York artist, SP.ONE.
'Simple Pleasures' is comprised of a series of
collages and a site-specific wall painting. The
exhibition exemplifies the artist's continuing
involvement with diverse media linked by a singular
idea: to bridge the distinctions and blur the
boundaries between 'high' and 'low art'.
'Simple Pleasures' draws on the artist's experience as
a New York City graffiti writer over the last twenty
years and merges this aesthetic with a fine art
sensibility and application.
The artist borrows from the modernist practice of
incorporating found materials into works of art but
brings a fresh, new perspective. Collages containing
numerous custom letters are cut from scavenged papers
to spell out multiple versions of SP.ONE. Other
collages combine a variety of commercially printed
materials to form new meanings and associations. They
also contain subtle references to graffiti iconography
and 'the street'.
The collages challenge and move beyond conventional
stereotypes about graffiti by embracing a new medium
and technique. The works play with a profusion of font
styles, word fragments and multiple layers to simulate
the energy, movement and immediacy of contemporary
life. This energy is also evident in the wall painting
through its imposing scale, color composition and
overlapping of letter-forms. All of the artworks
play with the relationship between 'high' and 'low'
art and explore the ever changing and interactive
dialogue between street, fine, and commercial arts.
McCaig-Welles Gallery is now located at 129 Roebling
Street between Metropolitan and N. 5th Street in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Reception: Friday, October 3, 2003 6-10pm
Monday-Friday 11-7pm
Saturday-Sunday 12-7pm
MCCAIG-WELLES 129 Roebling Street Brooklyn, NY 11211
718 384 8729