Virginia Katz
dal 9/9/2005 al 22/10/2005
Segnalato da
9/9/2005
Virginia Katz
d.e.n. Contemporary Art, Culver City
Observations Toward Clarity. An installation of several oversized works. In these drawings, the size, color, and timing of wave and tidal fluctuations along the Pacific shoreline, are documented in watercolor on rolls of paper. Spilling off the gallery walls, the drawings are collectively shaped to the contour of waves, echoing an actual surf movement.
Observations Toward Clarity
d.e.n. contemporary art is pleased to present the debut solo exhibition of
Virginia Katz, opening September 10, 2005. Observations Toward Clarity is
an exhibition of new work on paper that is a documentation of, and a
collaboration with, two of nature¹s primary forces: wind and tidal
movement.
The exhibition will include an installation of several oversized works Katz
refers to as 'tidal cycle' drawings. In these drawings, the size, color,
and timing of wave and tidal fluctuations along the Pacific shoreline, are
documented in watercolor on rolls of paper. Spilling off the gallery walls,
the drawings are collectively shaped to the contour of waves, echoing an
actual surf movement. Each drawing was executed over a range of time, from
watching a full day's tidal cycle to intermittent recordings over a period
of months, melding a scientific observational methodology with the artist's
contemplative and transformative nature.
The exhibition will also include Katz's most recent 'wind diagrammatic'
drawings, in which she uses the direct phenomena of wind to make lyrical
abstract drawings. By affixing pens to tree branches and positioning paper
on the ground below, Katz allows the wind to 'draw' its own patterns.
Variety of color and density of line result from the artist's choice of pen
and paper, and the unpredictable wind gusts. Spotted marks saturated with
ink reveal a lull in the wind, while the wind's more active moments are
evident in areas covered with a gossamer network of lines.
Threads of Katz's work reference models of art-making from plein-air
painting, to abstract expressionism, to the school of artists working
directly in and of the natural environment. Yet, her work is a
distinctively less manipulative approach, employing nature as both source
material and collaborator, letting environmental forces dictate the work's
final form.
Katz grew up in upstate New York and now resides in Orange County,
California. After receiving her B.A. degree in philosophy in 1985, Katz
eventually decided to pursue her art and in 2004 received her M.F.A. from
California State University, Long Beach.
Image. Virginia Katz, 'Tidal Cycle-5 hours' watercolor on graph paper, 54 x 5
inches.
Artist Reception: Saturday, September 10
d.e.n. contemporary art
6023 Washington Blvd. - Culver City
Gallery hours, Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00am to 5:30pm