Thomas Lawson
dal 13/6/2009 al 25/7/2009
Segnalato da
13/6/2009
Thomas Lawson
Participant INC, New York
New world. On display a body of new paintings and drawings. These large-scale works feature an array of life-size figures turning their backs to the viewer. Curated by Lauri Firstenberg.
Curated by Lauri Firstenberg
LA>
Initially inspired by Giandomenico Tiepolo’s 18th Century fresco, The New World,
Lawson reworks the scene of a crowd lining up to view a spectacular attraction,
restaged here with contemporary subjects rendered with experim
ental hues and facture, inclusive of fuchsia flesh, royal blue boots, and lime green
limbs. The density and excess of these canvases complicate the artist’s interest in
‘passive confrontation’ with his subjects. Lawson frames his figures with decorative
details, which he reveals are forms taken from his studio, including abstractions
inspired by a faux marble medium, stripes gesturing to Cubist lozenges, and circles
adapted from coffee cans.
A large canvas entitled Twins depicts two women against a crimson background, one
donning a white mask. Lawson paints an ominous noir specter across the bodies of the
figures. The most recent painting features two male figures taken from an image
captured in a local mall on Lawson’s iPhone. Also on view is a series of new
drawings from photographs taken while the artist was last in New York.
On Monday, June 22 at 8pm, PARTICIPANT INC will host a conversation between Thomas
Lawson and London-based painter Gerard Hemsworth, to be moderated by New York art
historian Rachel Baum. Hemsworth’s solo exhibition of paintings, Hidden Agenda, is
concurrently on view at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield CT.
Thomas Lawson is the Dean of the School of Art at CalArts. He has shown paintings at
Metro Pictures in New York, Anthony Reynolds in London, and the Richard
Kuhlenschmidt and Rosamund Felsen galleries in Los Angeles. More recently he has
staged solo exhibitions at LA>
Responding to Los Angeles’ cultural climate, LA>
Thomas Lawson NEW WORLD is made possible by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the
Visual Arts, The Standard Hotel, Jenny Chase and Andrew Bernstein, and Foryourart.
PARTICIPANT INC's exhibitions are made possible with public funds from the New York
State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
This program is supported, in part, by funds from the New York City Department of
Cultural Affairs.
PARTICIPANT INC receives generous support from the Harriett Ames Charitable Trust;
Bloomberg; The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston; Foundation 20 21; Peter Norton
Family Foundation; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts;=2
0an anonymous donor of the Community Foundation of Abilene; numerous individuals;
and Materials for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs/NYC Department of
Sanitation/NYC Department of Education.
Opening reception: Sunday, June 14, 7-9pm
Participant INC
253 East Houston Street - New York
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, noon-7pm
Free admission