Jason Craighead / Holly Fischer
Exhibition Artworks
Sep 1, 2011 - Oct 1, 2011
Detachment: Jason Craighead
The exhibit will include works on paper in a full range of sizes up to 22w x 30h, several large-scale works on canvas, and an installation collage of small drawings and random text. "Detachment" marks Craighead's first major exhibition in over a year. It also represents a dramatic evolution in his work, which has been widely recognized for the layers of paint that seem to veil the brushstrokes behind them.
Events and self discovery over the past two or three years have caused him to begin lifting that veil, pulling the curtain back, and washing away the fog. "I'm no longer holding anything back," says Craighead. "The new work is raw, powerful, and emotional. The layers are stripped off. My tears are right there to be seen. I'm making real, honest work because I'm inspired to do so, and for no other reason. It is both scary and thrilling."
Sensual Abstraction: Holly Fischer
Holly Fischer's work explores notions of femininity, sensuality, and beauty – concepts that are inherently visually seductive but simultaneously contain pejorative undertones. These sculptural forms glorify and exploit seductive female beauty and sensuality. Fluid lines and curves entice the viewer’s gaze to twist and wind around sensual folds and visceral undulations. The experience of looking is simultaneously pleasurable and uncomfortable. As the gaze lingers and caresses ambiguous abstractions of female form, conflicting concepts of femininity arise. The viewer is asked to confront personal beliefs and assumptions regarding beauty and sexuality and question the line between objectification and empowerment.
In Fischer's most recent work the literal reference to figurative form has softened and evolved into a more subtle and ambiguous expression of sensual abstraction. The new work reflects an exploration of intimacy through form and line, rich in allusion, capturing an emotionally charged interplay of positive and negative space. She continues to be inspired by feminine forms, inherently suggstive in nature, enjoying the freedom abstraction allows for morphing and exaggerating.
