10/9/2010
Robert Fry
M+B, Los Angeles
For the opening of the season, M+B and Francois Ghebaly Gallery invite Oxford-based curator Jane Neal to introduce the work of English painter Robert Fry. Fry's work is a refreshing interpretation of figurative painting; his most recent series continuing along themes of sexuality, the relationship between artist and subject - willfully confused by his choice of perspective - and the potent energies within that dialogue.
M+B and François Ghebaly Gallery are pleased to announce their new relationship expanding collaborative dialogue
within the Los Angeles art community with KUNSTHALLE @ M+B. Following the success of its first year in Chinatown,
with exhibitions by Joel Kyack, Matt Mullican, Marie Jager, and Channa Horwitz, KUNSTHALLE will be moving to M+B
on Almont Drive in West Hollywood.
According to the dubious lights of Wikipedia “Kunsthalle is, generally, in German speaking regions a
term for a facility mounting temporary art exhibitions.” German is off-putting and tough. To American
ears, it sounds stern, well-built, and foreign. Sturdy makes the modest sound mighty. Even if the vision
is broad the project is simple: a facility for mounting temporary art exhibitions. KUNSTHALLE is a
gathering of friends and colleagues, a network of like-minded people who are in need of a room. It’s not
for everybody, but art never is. –Andrew Berardini
For the opening of the season, M+B and François Ghebaly Gallery invite Oxford-based curator Jane Neal to introduce
the work of English painter Robert Fry. Fry’s work is a refreshing interpretation of figurative painting; his most recent
series continuing along themes of sexuality, the relationship between artist and subject—willfully confused by his choice
of perspective–and the potent energies within that dialogue.
Produced mainly in acrylic and oil, his work tests the boundaries of abstract figurative painting as he explores the types
and degrees of tension that exist between the figures that appear in every work. He locates his figures in a non-space, a
vacuum lacking the naturalistic elements of the human environment. There is no gravity, no tangible compass point by
which to navigate. The viewer is absorbed entirely into Fry’s imagination wherein spatial perspective is rendered through
a complex series of vantage points.
Born in 1980 in London, Robert Fry was recently shortlisted for the prestigious John Moores Contemporary Painting
Prize. Recent exhibitions include Newspeak-British Art Now, The State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia) and
solo shows at Atelier 2 in Moscow and Alexia Goethe Gallery in London. This will be his first exhibition in the United
States.
Jane Neal is an independent curator and critic based in Oxford, England. She is a regular contributor to Art Review,
Modern Painters and Flash Art and has curated shows internationally in both private and public venues.
For more info, please contact Alexandra Wetzel at M+B at (310) 550-0050 or alexandra@mbart.com or
Karisa Morante at François Ghebaly Gallery at karisa@ghebaly.com
Opening Reception, Saturday, September 11, 6 – 8 PM
M+B
612 N Almont Drive, Los Angeles
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10 am - 6 pm, and by appt
free admission