PROCESS AND SYNTHESIS
Emily Berger - Nicholas Constantakis -
Iona Kleinhaut - Kim Mayhorn
Co-curated by Susan Smith + Hanne Tierney
on view: September 12 – October 13, 2010
Opening reception: Sunday, September 15, 5–8pm
FiveMyles Gallery opens its 2013-14 exhibition program with four mid-career artists whose art explores a variety of processes, materials and techniques that are used to define unique responses to abstraction and space.
The two painters Emily Berger and Iona Kleinhaut will exhibit two different languages of abstract art that encompass subtle repetitive horizontal bands of color (Emily Berger), and layered colorful gestural paint (Iona Kleinhaut). Nicolas Constantakis's endless ink drawing on scroll paper presents "spaces between" that form a landscape web like a map of consciousness, and Kimberly Mayhorn's sculptures of found materials present metaphor as dimension. Kimberly creates large-scale, site-responsive installations, assemblages, and sculptures that are process-driven and often influenced by a historical context.
Emily Berger’s work, through the interaction of opposites - chance and control, gesture and structure, openness and containment, hints at movement and mystery about what is hidden and what is revealed. Though the work is abstract, some of her inspiration derives from the light, color and industrial landscape of the Gowanus neighborhood she sees framed through her studio windows.
Emily Berger’s work has been exhibited internationally and in the U.S. in many galleries and university museums. In the past few months she has shown at 490 Atlantic Gallery, The Soapbox Gallery, both in Booklyn, and at the Painting Center. The Janet Kurnatowski Gallery and ParisConcret. Past awards include the John Huitberg Memorial Prize for painting at the National Academy of Art, NYC.
Iona Kleinhaut’s painting presents a process of searching. The paintings are built up with a slow physicality. Layers are intertwined, they dissolve the image, and the image evolves and recreates itself yet again to leave a web structure that defines, protects and at the same time smothers.
Iona Kleinhaut lives and works in NYC. Her work has been included in exhibitions at The New Museum, The Bronx Museum, The Drawing Center, The Painting Center. Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Jersey City Museum,Parsons School of Design and Hostos Gallery.
Nicholas Constantakis’ early experimental photographs of trees and tree branches were used to understand how the structure of trees is organized; i.e. the space in-between each branch and limb. This has led him to see the similarity between the in-between spaces created by roads, paths and waterways, as seen from a window of a plane. It has resulted in his endless drawing in the exhibition.
His work has been presented in numerous exhibitions including Smack Mellon Brooklyn, Viridian Gallery. New York, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, DC, Red Hook Waterfront Gallery, among others.
Kimberly Mayhorn creates large-scale, site-responsive installations, assemblages, and sculptures that are process-driven and often influenced by a historical context. Her work frequently concerns itself with classic and contemporary understanding of issues around race, identity and environment in the United States.
Her work has been exhibited at The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Rush Arts in New York, Five Myles in Brooklyn, Aljira in Newark, The African American Museum in Philadelphia, The University Museum at Texas Southern University in Houston, and the African American Museum in Dallas.
This exhibition is in part supported by the New York State Council for the Arts, Public Funds from the New York City Dept. of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.
DIRECTIONS:
Take 2, 3, or 4 trains to Franklin Avenue. Walk two blocks against the traffic on Franklin. Walk ¾ block to 558 St. Johns Place. FiveMyles is within easy walking distance from the Brooklyn Museum.