 PTG.34 M-P, 2006 Screenprinted ink on silk, 79 x 123 inches, five joined panels ChanSchatz Here and There Massimo Audiello is pleased to present "Here and There", an exhibition of new artworks by ChanSchatz (Heather Schatz and Eric Chan). ChanSchatz's working process involves select groups of individuals, in this case, members of the American military based in Iraq, and the artists' neighbors on their block in Manhattan's meat packing district. The title of the exhibition references the two very different geographic, political and cultural locations these two communities occupy. The starting point for the paintings on view in "Here and There" is provided by these two groups of invited guests who chose from a sampling of colors, texts, and signature visual forms ChanSchatz culled from their vast drawing archive. The artists directed the choices of each individual into a pictorial space. It is this social framework and the produced abstracted identity of a contemporary portrait that interests ChanSchatz in their paintings. Deliberately choosing to screen print these compositions onto silk, the finished works achieve an intensity of color and material richness that expands the diverse range of ChanSchatz's production. The artists' mastery of this medium underscores the broad cultural and economic history that silk has sustained through earlier time periods and up to the present. Igor Zabel once remarked, "Design is the development of models that can be used in mass production." While ChanSchatz indeed reference contemporary design, their paintings suggest these models can be co-opted to achieve a very different end. By cleverly combining references to modernist painting with the dialogue of the individuals, organizations, and communities they engage, ChanSchatz ultimately upend the practice of painting. ChanSchatz received their MFAs from Columbia University. Recent exhibitions include, "Extreme Abstraction", The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; "Multiple Strategies", Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), Cincinnati, OH; "ChanSchatz", Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, NY; and "One In A Million", Austrian Cultural Forum, New York, NY. In 2007, ChanSchatz will be the Falk Visiting Artists at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC; and they are currently preparing for a solo exhibition at the Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN. ChanSchatz live and work in New York City. Eric Chan and Heather Schatz wish to thank the guests of PTG. 31 M-P, PTG. 32 APUS, and PTG. 34 M-P whose contributions made these artworks possible. The artists would also like to acknowledge the Freedom Calls Foundation, Operation Uplink, and Fort Hamilton, NY whose coordinating efforts also made these projects possible. Exhibition: March 11 - April 29, 2006 Gallery hours: Tues-Sat 11 am - 6 pm Massimo Audiello Gallery 526 West 26th Street No. 519 New York, NY 10001 Telephone +1 212 675 9082 Fax +1 212 675 8680 Email info@massimoaudiello.com www.massimoaudiello.com |
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