 © Chris Kannen Chris Kannen, Eric Torborg PH Gallery is pleased to present new paintings by New York artist Chris Kannen and new drawings and sculpture by California artist Eric Torborg. This will be their second exhibition at PH following "Sojourn" a group show in 2003. Chris Kannen's recent large-scale paintings are imaginary scenes inspired by his personal experiences and photography of remote places, including Alaska and the outlying beaches of NYC. The accumulation of fierce and fine marks, made using brushes and other tools, complicate the paintings' space, often made more complex by an illogical color palette. His treatment of the subject matter suggests a situation in the process of being built up or at the point of breaking down, changing the painting into more of a physical experience rather than a direct depiction of what he saw. Eric Torborg's recent sculptures use taxidermy forms to recreate social situations. Crows, deer, and wolves are often positioned in front of mass-produced wallpaper of natural scenic backgrounds such as a blue sky, or a sunlit forest. His delicate yet mechanical drawings of nature photographs present a second representation of nature filtered through a technological process. Technology and culture work as filters that distort the natural, and our cultural artifacts become distored representations. These serve as surrogates, both allowing and forcing us to become removed from the idea of the real thing. This allows for criticality, but it also alienates us from our own experience. Our experience becomes standardized and neutralized. Representations of nature effect the way that nature is seen and also become the way we expect to see nature. We are changed by the increasingly standardized representations of nature that we create and consume. Eric, by focusing attention on technological means of production, creates pieces that accept and embrace the increasing layers of representation between ourselves and our experience of the natural world. Through painting, Chris tries to articulate his own experience in natural places, fighting against the standardization inherent in any representation. Exhibition: June 10 - July 24 , 2004 Gallery hours: Tue-Sat 11am - 6pm PH Gallery 547 West 27th Street, 2nd Floor USA-New York, NY 10001 Telephone +1 212 564 4480 Email info@phgallery.com www.phgallery.com |
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