March 31 - May 7, 2011
"Breaking down, reassembling, rearticulating and inverting the ratios and relationships of particular histories of minimalism"
Untitled/ 2009 / Acrylic and rubber on linen
"Vena’s White Paintings have their roots in motifs originating from Frank Stella’s iconic ‘Black Painting,’ Die Fahne Hoch (1958). Breaking down, reassembling, rearticulating and inverting the ratios and relationships of particular histories of minimalism, Vena’s White Paintings are composed of four quadrants of repeating right angles originating at the center of the canvas at the intersection of two perpendicular lines - a conceptual and formal thread throughout the exhibition. Using flat white Rustoleum enamel, Vena’s paintings incorporate a layer of vinyl, which is painted over before ultimately being removed, leaving behind ridges of white paint in a four-quadrant formation. For this exhibition Vena created six long, thin paintings and one large vertical work, all on canvas, gesturing towards a reflexive way of thinking about certain histories of painting and representation.
Extending from Vena’s interest in linen as a historical component of painting, Vena’s three “Target” paintings are created through a series of concentric vinyl circles – ‘crosshairs’ – stenciled onto linen with a sprayed rubber. Rather than maintaining perfect symmetry, Vena’s material process skews the center of his images, examining the mis-registration of patterns and distortion of images. His works pun the literal, gesturing towards the cannon as something to both aspire to and aim to destroy."
------------------------------------
------------------------------------