October 28 – November 22, 2008

Main Gallery

Carmela Kolman: Fruit Works

Exhibition Information

Project Room

Ying Li: Drawings 2004-2007

Exhibition Information

Reception:

Saturday, November 1, 5-7 PM

Please join The Painting Center this coming Saturday for the opening reception for Carmela Kolman: Fruit Works in the Main Gallery and Ying Li: Drawings 2004-2007 in the Project Room.

Clusters of softly glistening grapes, shimmering pears, or radiant apples in Carmela Kolman’s new paintings, each isolated against fields of muted hues, present minimalist evocations of the traditional genre she excels at, still life. For her first solo show at the gallery, the Painting Center is pleased to present a focus on Kolman’s signature subject, fruit. The provocative juxtapositions of sensuality and restraint speak to conflicted desires in a period of political flux and economic instabilities.

A well-respected New York painter (RISD BFA; Yale MFA), Kolman’s previous exhibitions at the Center have been a two-person show and a thematic exhibition with Zeuxis, the artists’ group devoted to contemporary still life painting with whom she regularly exhibits throughout the United States. Kolman’s compositions are distinguished by a spirit of thoughtful selection rather than the traditional tabletop heterogeneity, displaying the fine attention to placement, adjacent lines, and consistency of objects of Giorgio Morandi’s judicious arrangements of vessels.

Kolman further subverts the traditional frontal perspective onto tabletop arrangements – the cornerstone of traditional still life – by viewing her objects from immediately above. The orbs of fruit are often seen against ambiguous grounds that are neither table nor wall – in effect, presenting a modernist flattening of space against which the fruit “pops.” Sometimes, these grounds are in a subtly greyed or toned hue, both spatially and emotionally recessive. These compositions’ moods suggest vivaciousness against a ground of withdrawal.

The Painting Center is also pleased to present a show of portrait drawings by Ying Li. Selected from many charcoal drawings produced by Ms. Li over the past four years, these fifteen works depict friends, students, and other people whose features have intrigued the artist. Through the process of rubbing, erasing, and redefining, Ms. Li turns the broad, dark markings of charcoal and eraser into images at once tender and urgent. These drawings reflect not only her compassion for her subjects but also her determination to connect with their deeper nature.

The artist states: For me, drawing works the way meditation does. It shuts out the world, concentrates the mind, and brings brain and hand together with the least possible interference. It is a daily necessity, just as practice is necessary for dancers, musicians and athletes, and notes on observed events and dialogue are necessary for writers. It keeps me on my toes and able to see things more sharply. It keeps me focused in my work and therefore my life. Drawing is not a final answer, but a more direct path toward the unattainable truth.

Ying Li was born in Beijing, China and immigrated to the United States in 1983. She is an Associate Professor of Fine Arts at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. She works and lives in New York and Haverford, is represented by Lohin Geduld Gallery in New York City.

We hope to see you there!