Opening reception June 14
“In the Presence of Memory 1”
Matteawan Gallery announces the opening of an exhibition by Krista Svalbonas: A Habitation and a Name. The exhibition runs June 14 through July 6, 2014, and features drawings and paintings on industrial felt. The felt works are based on the vernacular architecture of barns in Pennsylvania, the artist’s home state. Svalbonas’ drawings are from a recent project (Project 8) focusing on the architecture of a group of Section 8 apartment buildings in Jersey City, New Jersey. Both bodies of work relate to the artist’s interest in architecture, space, and displacement.
Svalbonas is fascinated by the language of spatial relationships and by the effect of architectural form and structure on the psychology of the human environment. Her work begins with extensive photographic documentation of her architectural subjects. For her Project 8 series, Svalbonas photographed The Brunswick Estates in Jersey City, where she used to live. The series In the Presence of Memory explores the architectural vestiges of agriculture – the barns of rural Pennsylvania.
Using industrial felt as a substrate, she silk-screens images of architectural details of the barns using industrial pigments such as steel, iron and copper. The artist paints each piece using oil and cold wax and cuts into the felt, echoing the empty spaces of the often-dilapidated structures she has photographed.
An opening reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on June 14, at 464 Main St., Beacon. Learn more at: 845-440-7901, [email protected], or matteawan.com.
