Two exhibitions
dal 15/5/2008 al 13/6/2008
Segnalato da
15/5/2008
Two exhibitions
Freight + Volume, New York
In Erik den Breejen's solo show his love affair with music and lyrics manifests itself by way of brightly colored, abstract, text-based paintings. In the project space Russell Nachman presents a group of new watercolors, which explore his distinctive brand of melded histories: the personal and the cultural.
In Erik den Breejen’s first solo exhibition at Freight + Volume, his love affair
with music and lyrics manifests itself by way of brightly colored, abstract,
text-based paintings. Using a wide variety of devices, the artist infuses paintings
that reference many modes of abstraction with pop culture. By treating the words as
shapes, den Breejen generates conceptual narratives and explores a personal take on
movements such as minimalism, “action painting,” grid and color-field painting, and
hard-edged geometry. The exhibition is a myriad of crude, yet sophisticated, pop-art
canvases in which den Breejen plays conductor to a visual symphony starring his rock
heroes.
Like an impassioned fan, Erik den Breejen’s paintings are in part an homage to his
favorite songwriters and in part an expression of his personal interpretation and
experience of powerful lyrics by bands like the Who, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Jarvis
Cocker, Magnetic Fields, Elliot Smith, glam bands from the 70’s, and select hit
songs of today.
Den Breejen lives and breathes emotion through song lyrics; the fervor and the
fandom that the music fuels within him become his muse. He examines how we are
influenced by words – lyrics in particular - that suggest ideas of the ways in which
we believe certain romantic and philosophical “truths”. In some of the new work, the
text becomes nearly illegible, verging on subliminal messages, forcing the viewer to
work for the plot. Layers of melodies sit atop of each other in a multitude of color
combinations, offering a raw treatment to these rich catch-phrases.
Erik den Breejen once recited from memory all of the lyrics to Pink Floyd’s The
Wall. For Throwaway Lines Often Ring True, he offers another take on this text - the
centerpiece for the exhibit – a monumental 9 by 7 foot canvas, featuring all 2,300
words from the 26 songs in the album. Likewise, The Real Me focuses on the track by
The Who of the same name, layering its words onto other songs from the band’s double
album rock opera Quadrophenia.
A native Californian, Erik den Breejen attended California College of Arts and
Crafts, University of California at Santa Cruz and received his MFA from Cornell
University. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. While not making art, den
Breejen focuses his efforts on his band Acid Canyon.
In the project space Russell Nachman will present a group of new watercolors, which
explore his distinctive brand of melded histories: the personal and the cultural. In
some works, expertly rendered backdrops are littered with relics of yesteryear,
alluding to dramas recently enacted. Other pieces depict the alleged players who
once occupied these scenes. Nachman's work is a meditation on utopian dreams and the
erosion of human experimentation. He believes that reckoning with the past and
present is a way to negotiate paradise and understand happiness through loss.
Russell Nachman has had several solo shows including Sixspace Gallery, Los Angeles,
CA; Jack the Pelican, Brooklyn, NY; Mixed Greens, New York, NY; and White Columns,
New York, NY. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Reception: Friday, May 16, 6 – 8 pm
Freight and Volume
542 West 24th Street - New York
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11 am - 6 pm
Free admission