a Scratch in Time
Kelly Beeman, Grace Metzler, Oren Pinhassi,Vaughn Spann, Kyle Vu-Dunn, Derek Weisberg, and Coco Young
September 7 - October 7, 2018
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Thierry Goldberg is pleased to
announce a Scratch in Time, a group exhibition featuring Kelly
Beeman, Grace Metzler, Oren Pinhassi, Vaughn Spann, Kyle Vu-Dunn, Derek
Weisberg, and Coco Young.
The exhibition
borrows its title from Coco Young’s installation piece, “A Scratch in Time,” 2018.
Young’s practice questions the notions of identity and control, often
referencing historical and fictional female characters, such as William
Shakespeare’s Ophelia and Mary Magdalene, as a means for deeper contextualization.
Young embraces tension in her materiality, inviting elements of varying
lifespans and durability to co-exist in the same piece. Though employing
technological elements, Young’s practice is grounded in the natural world.
After completion, her works exist uncontrolled, welcoming moments of surprise
and randomness.
Also using
materiality to arrive at a grander notion is Vaughn Spann. Spann brings
three-dimensionality to his canvases, experimenting with fabric, twine, spray
paint, oil paint, and paper among other materials to create sculptural
paintings. A sense of craftsmanship enters Spann’s practice. Inspired by his
upbringing and given local environment at the time, Spann seeks to examine the
social context and historical perspective of each work.
Derek Weisberg’s
sculptures share an appearance similar to archaeological finds. Often combining mixed media materials,
Weisberg maintains a naturalistic and almost fossil-like feel in his works. His
figures exist in various states of decay and disrepair, creating a
psychologically charged narrative addressing such themes as death, dysfunction,
vulnerability, and loss.
Oren Pinhassi plays
with materiality to create forms that are at once recognizable and ambiguous.
Pinhassi uses sculpture to question deeply held ideologies and habit. His work
beckons the viewer to consider their relationship with an object and attached
associations. What at first might seem straightforward becomes unfamiliar as
you consider the materials and complexity behind Pinhassi’s forms.
Similarly defying
categorical restraints is Kyle Vu-Dunn. Vu-Dunn’s work teeters the line between
sculpture and painting. Employing the idea that painting does not have to be
flat, Vu-Dunn carves sculptural elements into what otherwise would appear to be
a two-dimensional canvas. Colors pulsate off of the artist’s work, a trait he
includes to heighten the sensuality and emotion at play. Vu-Dunn’s works can be
read both as allegorical tales and as experiences the artist himself has
encountered living as a queer man in the world. Vu-Dunn uses his work to
celebrate the often-repressed male sense of sensuality and creates a world
where men are allowed to display soft emotion.
Where Vu-Dunn pushes
the boundaries of the canvas’s physical limits, Kelly Beeman’s paintings
explore the formal relationship of color and form. Thought-up domestic spaces
adorn Beeman’s paintings, where pattern and hue create scenes that are both
specific and undefined. Beeman’s focal point of each work is an angular,
elongated female figure, whose expressionless face and confident gaze evoke the
stylization of Modigliani. Contemporary colors combine with a range of
historical influences, from German Expressionism to Byzantine archetypes.
In her paintings,
Grace Metzler captures a Gothic element prevalent in contemporary rural America
with her vignettes of commonplace people going about their everyday lives. Metzler
instills an undercurrent of loneliness and gloom that cuts against the rosiest
optimism of our country’s aspirational ethos. By illustrating the quotidian in
a mundane, muted fashion, Metzler ignores the hectic pace of life today and
instead focuses on uncanny moments of interaction.
Grace Metzler (b.
1989, New York) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She received an MFA from
Hunter College and BFA from Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Metzler
recently had a solo exhibition at Half Gallery (New York), and has been
included in group exhibitions at Thierry Goldberg Gallery (New York, NY), David
& Schweitzer (Brooklyn, NY), Neochrome Gallery (Torino, Italy), and V1
Gallery (Copenhagen, Denmark). She is a 2017 recipient of the Rema Hort Mann
Foundation Emerging Artist Grant.
Kyle Vu-Dunn (b.
1990, Livonia, MI) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He received a BFA in
Interdisciplinary Sculpture at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). He
recently had solo exhibitions at Julius Ceasar (Chicago, IL) and Sardine
(Brooklyn, NY). Vu-Dunn has appeared in numerous group shows including recent
shows at Little Berlin (Philadelphia, PA), Nationale (Portland, OR), Part 2
Gallery (Oakland, CA), and Ground Floor Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), among others.
Oren Pinhassi (b.
1985, Tel Aviv, Israel) lives and works in New York, NY. He received an MFA
from Yale University. He recently had solo exhibitions at Edel Assanti (London,
UK), Skibum MacArthur (Los Angeles, CA), Ribot Gallery (Milan, Italy) and at
the Petach Tikva Museum, Israel. His work has been featured in group shows at David
Zwirner (New York, NY) Galerie Eva Meyer (Paris, France), Andrew Rafacz Gallery
(Chicago, IL), and Magenta Plains (New York, NY). Pinhassi was a recipient of
the Shanadanken Project at Storm King Sculpture Park in 2016 and has been
written about in Wallpaper*, Blouin ArtInfo, and The Brooklyn Rail.
Derek Weisberg (b.
1983, Benicia, CA) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He received his BFA from
California College of Arts and Crafts. Weisberg has had solo and two-person
exhibitions at Underdonk Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), Church Boutique (Los Angeles,
CA), and Lyons Wier Gallery (New York, NY). His work has appeared in group
shows at Keystone Fine Arts (Los Angeles, CA) and Michael Rosenthal Gallery
(San Francisco, CA).
Vaughn Spann (b.
1992, Florida) lives and works in Newark, NJ. He received an MFA from Yale
University and a BFA from Rutgers State University. He has exhibited at Night
Gallery (Los Angeles), Shoot the Lobster (Los Angeles), Fredericks and Freiser
(New York), and Jenkins Johnson Gallery (Brooklyn, NY) (solo), among others.
His work was featured or written about in The New York Times, Hyperallergic and
New American Paintings (cover).
Coco Young (b. 1989,
New York) lives and works in New York, NY. She had a solo show at Interstate
Projects (Brooklyn, NY) in 2016 and has shown in group exhibitions at The
Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), 41 Cooper Gallery (New York), and De
School (Amsterdam, NE). Young is currently enrolled as an MFA candidate at
Columbia University where she also received a BA in Art History.
For more information please contact the gallery at
info@thierrygoldberg.com or 212.228.7569