AN EXHIBITION FEATURING:
JOHNNY ABRAHAMS, VANHA LAM & STEPHEN SOMPLE
OPENING RECEPTION:
SATURDAY, JULY 30TH
1:00 - 4:00PM
EXHIBITION DATES:
JULY 30 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2022
Something to know about this exhibition, that isn't immediately apparent to the viewer, is that the three of us are close friends. The summer group show dynamic in the art world is, in my experience, a bit scattered, consisting of strangers or at best loose acquaintances who simply share styles or aesthetic concerns. Maybe this isn’t important information, but I believe it’s worth noting that the work in this show relates to each other because the artists relate to each other and the ideas expressed grew out of a sense of community.
One important concept this group shares is a general sense of reduction, the removal of extraneous or distracting elements to emphasize specific concerns. The exhibition mirrors this impulse in that most of the paintings are primarily focused on red and black. I would like to suggest that by removing a variable there is a sort of curious opportunity for comparison. This show has a lot of different reds, highlighting individual choices about sheen, value, textures, etc. In a similar way all of these pieces have a flatness typical of geometric abstraction. They shun perspective and shading, but each manages to deal with space in its own way. Vanha’s work pushes forward in literal space, while my compositions seem to pull the viewer into the surface and contrary to both Johnny’s surfaces seem to have an almost object-like presence holding the viewer right where they are.
- Stephen Somple
Johnny Abrahams
Johnny’s paintings are marked by clarity of choice and clarity of expression. These paintings come down to one, maybe two gestures. The vertical texture in the paint acts as a single brushstroke and the seam between the two panels is cut without a guide giving it a slight curve. These are ingenious exaggerations of two basic elements in painting. It’s almost as if he’s zoomed in on an oil painting, isolating the spot where two brushstrokes meet. Even the use of burlap, which is far coarser than canvas or linen, becomes a way to emphasize the surface. When stretched, the warp and weft are wonky breaking the grid and picking up on the bandsaw cut between the panels. This brings the viewer closer; turning up the volume on what might otherwise be very quiet moments.
Vanha Lam
Vanha exposes the distance between what we know and what we experience. When I look at one of the folded paper works, my brain tells me “red circle” or “black rectangle” which of course they are, or were, or are but only in a way that we know, not in a way that we see. What we see is an object transformed and moved forward toward us. Where there was simple geometry there is now a complex composition. Where there was unified color there are now highlights on creases and shadows in folds creating gradients that change with the light. As a viewer we are simply left standing there holding two contrary ideas in our minds; what we know and what we see. And the most impressive part is simply that there is no illusion, there is no trick of a vanishing point, just simple folds. The process laid bare for all to both see and know.
Stephen Somple
I tend to be the most systematic thinker in this group. The compositions I’ve made are predetermined by a very simple set of rules. I randomly select and overlap four rectangles, from a population of twenty-four possible rectangles (these twenty-four rectangles are themselves the combination of four possible distances from the four edges of the paper). For anyone keeping score so far, there are 10,626 possible combinations. To be clear, I have absolutely no intention of creating “all possible combinations” in this system. I am content with “some possible combinations”. More a walk through the woods than a survey of the terrain. Creating this way feels more like exploring than manifesting. It’s admittedly an atypical relationship between artist and choice. The reduction of choices aligns me (the artist), a little closer to you (the viewer), allowing more moments of surprise and discovery.
For additional information, please contact the gallery at 415.550.7483 or email info@romeryounggallery.com.
EXHIBITION IMAGES:
