
Curated by Tim Hawkinson
June 21 – July 31, 2015
Opening Reception: June 21, 2015 6-8pm
Not completely hopeless. Not utterly bleak. Not fully shrouded in darkness.
Gray allows for the possibility of distant optimism.
This show assembles a group of artworks that evoke a particular feeling of lonely listlessness, embedded with the faint glimmer of hope that the idea of improvement might be possible. Laying in the gutter, but staring at the stars. Straining to see into the distance. The reaction to this arrested position of something potentially better just out of reach hovers between thoughtful reverie, heartbroken nostalgia, and helpless sloth. But with an increasingly gnawing discontent under the skin comes a more pressing and fevered need for an undefined change.
Robert Barry’s diptych simply states “Incomplete”, ambiguously a possible question or a declaration, but in either case prompts the inquiry of what then is missing, and can it ever be known or achieved. Jeffrey Gibson’s mostly black adorned punching bag has its title beaded on its surface: “I’m Not Perfect”. This brooding yet elegant work suggests a sadness, yet acceptance of limitations; it shows a determination, a confidence in itself against the odds. Zlatan Vehabović’s painting of a beached whale is a moment of utter loneliness and helplessness, the creature, the protagonist we connect to, clinging to its last moments. VALIE EXPORT’s collage of images mixing the faces of Salzburg nurses with the hospital buildings they work in is an examination of the limits of their identity, are they defined only by their profession? Marc Bijl’s corroded silver surfaced painting has a bronze plate affixed – “Gagosian”, the sign plate of the gallery which the artist filched. Is the painting good enough without the imprimatur of the vaunted gallery? In Diana Shpungin’s sculpture, “A Failure of Memory” crumpled pieces of paper, overly saturated with graphite, spill from a gauzed and bandaged trash can. Whatever thoughts or memories that might have been recorded are obliterated, only the fact that they once existed and the wounds they may have inflicted remain.
The exhibition includes work by: William Anastasi (US), Robert Barry (US), Thomas Bangsted (Denmark), Marc Bijl (Netherlands), Daniel Boyd (Australia), Dove Bradshaw (US), Grayson Cox (US), Jessica Dickinson (US), Matt Ducklo (US), Tim Eitel (Germany), VALIE EXPORT(Austria), Eric Freeman (US) Jeffrey Gibson (US), Kristján Gudmundsson (Iceland), Geoff Hippenstiel (US), Ridley Howard (US), Jasper Johns (US), Jim Lee (US), Sol LeWitt (US), Ralph Eugene Meatyard (US), Jong Oh (Korea), Paul P. (Canada), Joyce Pensato (US), Rona Pondick (US), J. Ariadhitya Pramuhendra(Indonesia), Andrew Sendor (US), Diana Shpungin (Latvia/US), Sam Trioli (US), Zlatan Vehabović (Croatia)
Works In Exhibition
![Gray Would Be The Color, If I Had A Heart Still Drawing [9.11.13]
2013
Graphite on paper
30 x 22 1/2 inches / 76 x 57 cm 2015 Marc Straus Gallery](https://www.marcstraus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/William-Anastasi-Still-Drawing-Pencil-9.11.131.png)
William Anastasi
Still Drawing [9.11.13]
2013
Graphite on paper
30 x 22 1/2 inches / 76 x 57 cm

Marc Bilj
Collateral Image
2006
Stolen Gagosian Berlin sign, found poster, tape, acrylic on board
43 x 60 1/4 inches / 109 x 153 cm

Thomas Bangsted
Mike
2013
Pigment print
20.5 x 26.5 inches / 52.07 x 67.31 cm

Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Romance of Ambrose Bierce #3
1964/1974
Silver gelatin print
7 x 7 1/2 inches / 18 x 19 cm

Matt Ducklo
South Parkway East Church of Christ
2011
Gelatin Silver Print
16 x 20 inches / 41 x 51 cm

Jeffrey Gibson
I'm Not Perfect
2014
Found canvas punching bag, repurposed wool army blanket, glass beads, tin jingles, nylon fringe, artificial sinew, acrylic paint
75 1/2 x 16 x 16 inches / 191.8 x 40.6 x 40.6 cm

Daniel Boyd
Untitled (MB)
2015
Oil and archival glue on linen
64 1/2 x 78 inches / 164 x 198 cm

Sam Trioli
Harry S. Truman
2014
Oil on Canvas
55 x 38 inches / 140 x 92 cm

Sam Trioli
Untitled (Vibrations)
2013
Oil on Canvas
48 x 36 inches / 122 x 91 cm

Zlatan Vehabovic
Rock Bottom Riser
2014
Oil on Canvas
78 x 86 inches / 198 x 218 cm