COVERS, back left to front right: Kobayashi, Beach, Behnke, Murtaugh, Gehring, O'Neill

FORM AND FACTURE: NEW PAINTING AND SCULPTURE FROM NEW YORKPAUL W. ZUCCAIRE GALLERY l STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY l NOVEMBER 1 - DECEMBER 13, 2014

Paul W. ZuccaireG A L L E R Y

Staller Center for the Arts

Stony Brook University

Stony Brook NY 11794-5425

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FORM AND FACTURE: NEW PAINTING AND SCULPTURE FROM NEW YORKPAUL W. ZUCCAIRE GALLERY l STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY l NOVEMBER 1 - DECEMBER 13, 2014

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“Abstraction is a process of emphasis, and emphasis vivifieslife,” wrote the painter Robert Motherwell in 1951. The idea ofabstraction as a process of emphasis and the vivacity thatcomes from this process informs the grouping of artists in Form and Facture: New Painting and Sculpture from New York.Presenting new work by six Brooklyn-based artists, Form andFacture delves into the conceptual and aesthetic concerns ofcontemporary abstraction. The exhibition features large-scalepaintings and sculptures by Rachel Beach, Paul Behnke,Matthew Neil Gehring, Osamu Kobayashi, Rebecca Murtaughand Fran O’Neill.

The interest in Form—the elements of art such as line, shapeand color—and Facture—the process of how art is made (fromthe Latin factura: a making, a manufacture, a formation)—unites these artists in their aims. What each artist chooses toemphasize in their methods—building up and scraping downlayers of paint, balancing positive and negative space,juxtaposing unexpected colors—serves as both a self-reflectiveprocess and an aesthetic outcome. With a nod to their mid-twentieth century predecessors, these artists use the tools offormalist modernism to present their particular visions that aredeeply embedded in the manufacture of the object.

In Rachel Beach’s six-and-a-half foot tall painted sculptures Hull and Demi, strong geometric forms call to mind totem polesor protective armor. Yet the fortitude and solidity of the topportions rest almost precariously on thin metal stands, impartinga vulnerability to the works. “I previously thought of my workarchitecturally, even archaeologically,” Beach says, “I’m nowstarting to think figuratively.” Specifically, she is interested inhow the body relates to architectural forms that surround us. An earlier work, Canary soars vertically while cantilevering whatseems impossibly far horizontally. Its three parts vary in visualand physical texture, from a raw beam, to a yellow paintedsurface, to the delicately screenprinted cantilever. The boldgeometry and striking color, with an emphasis on the surface

tension between edges of shape and color, keeps the focus onform and the negative space between forms that almostbecomes an object itself. In this way, the sculptures relate notjust to themselves, but to the objects and images seen throughand around them.

Working quickly with acrylics, usually straight from the jar, Paul Behnke’s process of layering and scraping down paintproduces a kaleidoscopic effect of intense colors and sharpedges. Irregular configurations of high-keyed color turn and shiftin the perception of the viewer. Layers of bright orange, purple,red and green recall the color schemes of Pop art, commercialdesign and comic books. Behnke’s titles often stem from theforms that emerge during the painting process, lendingreferences to urban mythology, geographic locations, literaryfigures or the popular culture of his youth. In paintings such asThe Cave and Its Guardian, traces of previously appliedswatches of paint provide glimpses into moments of thepainting’s creation. Through layers of intense colors,unexpected shapes and an off-kilter balance of elements,Behnke gives material form and magnitude.

From a distance, the rectangles, squares and triangles ofMatthew Neil Gehring’s paintings appear geometrically precise,but from close up, edges waver and shapes float and recede inthe surrounding planes of color. Subtle gradations of yellows orpinks intersect with planes of blues or greens, creating liminalspaces that transition between form and formlessness. Colorsshift, motion seems to slow down, perception is altered. Hispainting And the Vital Vigor Stood Its Ground takes its title froma line in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden discussing visitors to hisremote cabin on the edge of Walden Pond. Like Thoreau,Gehring's work invites communication through simplified,thought-provoking, contemplative gestures.

In his paintings, Osamu Kobayashi creates visual dualities:chance versus control, organic versus geometric, warm versus

cool. Colors meld into one another, or abut sharply. Texturedbrushwork swoops over flat planes of color. Squares anddiagonals retain a fuzzy edge or bleed into one another.Horizontals suggest landscapes and seascapes. The suggestionof forms from the natural world is also indicated by Kobayashi’stitles, such as Remote Horizon and Summit Divide. Eachenvelops with an immense, sparsely occupied space, leavingroom for contemplation.

Rebecca Murtaugh’s richly textured forms embody bothsculpture and painting. Starting with a three-dimensionalstructure (adjoining triangles, rectangle within a rectangle), shecoats layer upon layer of a thick, malleable material mixed withbright paint in stripes or bands. Her process transformsgeometric shapes into thickly surfaced organic forms, with acertain affinity to moss growing on brick, if moss came incolors such as Fusion and Radish. The colorful titles, in fact,come directly from the cans of reclaimed house paint withwhich Murtaugh coats her pieces, lending a playfulness to herwork. In her Aperture series, a rectangular opening frames thenegative space, inviting viewers to see through and beyond theobject itself.

In Fran O’Neill’s lush paintings, swooshes of brushwork createmovement and rhythm evocative of the forces of nature. Richpurples storm over delicate greens, drips of green and whiterain down upon pinks and reds, and rings of fiery orange orcelestial silver conjure the power of the cosmos. For O’Neill, theprocess of painting has an affinity with life cycles, changing overtime. Grand brushstrokes envelop intimate gestures of line,their intersections in space suggesting a metaphysical comingtogether of place and time. The all lower-case titles of herworks, such as earthly delight and ring of fire, humble thegrander evocations of the paintings themselves.

– Karen Levitov

FORM ANDFACTURE

Rachel Beach was born in Canadaand is currently based in Brooklyn,New York. Her works have beenexhibited in New York at Blackston,Lennon Weinberg, Mixed Greens andSmack Mellon, throughout Canada atthe Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, PlugInInstitute of Contemporary Art andEyelevel Gallery, and internationally inGermany and England. Beach studiedat the Nova Scotia College of Art andDesign and received a Master of FineArts from Yale University. She hasreceived numerous awards includingfellowships from Yaddo, SocratesSculpture Park, the Lower East SidePrintshop and Vermont Studio Center,and grants from The Canada Councilfor the Arts and The Pollock-KrasnerFoundation. Her work has beenreviewed in The New York Times, Art in America, The Brooklyn Rail,Interview and C Magazine, amongothers.

Hull and Demi, 2014Opposite: Canary, 2014

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RACHELBEACH

RAC

HEL BEAC

H

Paul Behnke was born in Memphis,Tennessee, and received a Bachelorof Fine Arts in Painting from theMemphis College of Art. Behnke’swork has been exhibited widely in theUnited States and internationallyincluding shows in New York, Cyprus,London and Dublin. He has attendedresidencies at the Vermont StudioCenter in Johnson, Vermont, and theSam and Adele Golden Foundation inNew Berlin, New York. Behnke lives inManhattan and maintains a studio inBrooklyn.

Clockwise from upper left: Alter Ghost, The Cave and Its Guardian, MagentaVampyr, The Siren's Eye, all 2014Opposite: Space 1999-HHA, 2014

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PAULBEHNKE

PAUL BEHNKE

Photo: Robin Stout

MATTH

EW NEIL GEHRING

Matthew Neil Gehring received aBachelor of Science degree from theUniversity of Southern Indiana on aSociety for Arts and Humanitiesscholarship, attended the SkidmoreCollege summer program, andreceived his Master of Fine Arts fromthe University of Delaware on a fullGraduate Assistantship. He has livedin worked in northern California,Syracuse, New York, and currently inBrooklyn, New York. He has exhibitedin numerous group exhibitions andeight solo exhibitions, includingrecent solos at the Dishman ArtMuseum at Lamar University inBeaumont, Texas, and at the Islip ArtMuseum in East Islip, New York. Hehas an upcoming two-person show atc2c Projects in San Francisco,California. Gehring’s work has beenfeatured or reviewed in publicationsincluding The New Criterion, ArtJournal, Art Review and ArtWeek. Heis currently an Associate Professor ofVisual Art at SUNY Suffolk where he isHead of Visual Art and the Director ofthe Flecker Gallery. Clockwise from upper left: First Turn, Vantage Advance, Two Step, Lingua Vernacula,

all 2014. Opposite: And the Vital Vigor Stood Its Ground, 2013

MATTHEW NEILGEHRING

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OSAM

U KOBAYAS

HI

Osamu Kobayashi was born inColumbia, South Carolina, and livesand works in Brooklyn, New York. Hehas exhibited widely in the UnitedStates and abroad, including soloexhibitions at the Greenwich House inNew York, AplusB Contemporary Artin Italy, and John Davis Gallery in NewYork. He was recently awarded theHassam, Speicher, Betts, andSymons Purchase Fund from theAmerican Academy of Arts andLetters and is a recipient of theMorris Louis '32 scholarship.

Clockwise from upper left: Neapolitan,Molten Channel, Pink Waterfall, Summit Divide, all 2014Opposite: Park Breeze, 2011

OSAMUKOBAYASHI

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Photo: Brendan Coyle

REBECCA MURTAUGH

Rebecca Murtaugh earned a Masterof Fine Arts degree from VirginiaCommonwealth University and aBachelor of Science from thePennsylvania State University. Shealso attended Maryland InstituteCollege of Art and the CorcoranCollege of Art and Design. Her workhas been exhibited nationally in soloand group exhibitions in New York City,Philadelphia, District of Columbia,New Haven, Cleveland, Baltimore,Pittsburgh, Richmond, Nashville,Seattle and San Francisco.Murtaugh's work has been writtenabout in The New York Times, TheNew Yorker, The New Criterion, SeattlePost Intelligencer, Artweek, StoneCanoe and Shamenet Magazine. Sheholds the position of AssociateProfessor and Art Department Chair atHamilton College and lives and worksin Brooklyn.

Clockwise from upper left: 8 Foot Leaner,Aperture: Fusion and Radish, Aperture:Gladiolus and Calypso, Aperture: Waterfalland Saffron, Aequalis: Vegan andHeliotrope Purple, all 2014. Opposite:Aequalis: Blueblood and Fusion, 2014

REBECCAMURTAUGH

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FRAN

O’NEILL

Fran O’Neill received her Bachelor ofFine Arts and Post Grad studies fromMonash University, Melbourne,Australia; Master of Fine Arts fromBrooklyn College and Certificate fromNew York Studio School. Soloexhibitions include: John DavisGallery, New York; Perimeter Gallery,Maine; New York Studio School, andSussex College, Hastings, UnitedKingdom. She has solo exhibitionsscheduled at Life on Mars, New York,and Simon Gallery, Morristown, NewJersey. Her work has been included invarious group shows throughout theUnited States and in Australia. Awardsinclude the Joan Mitchell FoundationFellowship, Hohenberg Travel Awardand Acker Award. She currentlyteaches at the New York StudioSchool. Her work resides in privatecollections in the United States,Australia and United Kingdom.

Clockwise from upper left:ring of fire, chime in, icing, all 2014;earthly delight, 2012Oppostite: additive, 2014

FRANO’NEILL

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1918

RACHEL BEACHCourtesy of the artist andBlackston gallery

Canary, 2011Oil, screenprint, plywood,reclaimed beams70 x 96 x 18 in.

Demi, 2014Oil, acrylic, plywood, metal stand78 x 24 x 18 in.

Hull, 2014Oil, acrylic, plywood, metal stand78 x 24 x 18 in.

PAUL BEHNKE

Alter Ghost, 2014acrylic on canvas60 x 58 in.

The Cave and Its Guardian, 2014acrylic on canvas60 x 58 in.

Magenta Vampyr, 2014acrylic on canvas48 x 50 in.

The Siren's Eye, 2014acrylic on canvas60 x 58 in.

Space 1999-HHA, 2014acrylic on canvas48 x 50 in.

MATTHEW NEIL GEHRING

And the Vital Vigor Stood Its Ground, 2013oil on linen94 x 80 in.

First Turn, 2014 oil on linen 80 x 67 in.

Lingua Vernacula, 2014oil on linen72 x 84 in.

Two Step, 2014oil on linen60 x 44 in.

Vantage Advance, 2014oil on linen 84 x 72 in.

OSAMU KOBAYASHI

Molten Channel, 2014oil on canvas72 x 72 in.

Neapolitan, 2014oil on canvas66 x 60 in.

Park Breeze, 2011oil on canvas72 x 72 in.

Pink Waterfall, 2014oil on canvas78 x 84 in.

Summit Divide, 2014oil on canvas72 x 72 in.

REBECCA MURTAUGH

7 and a Half Foot Leaner, 2014reclaimed house paint, wood, and mixed media90 in. tall

8 Foot Leaner, 2014reclaimed house paint, wood, and mixed media96 in. tall

Aequalis: Blueblood and Fusion, 2014reclaimed house paint, wood, and mixed media20 x 16 x 7 in.

Aequalis: Vegan and Heliotrope Purple, 2014reclaimed house paint, wood, and mixed media25 x 19 x 9 in.

Aperture: Fusion and Radish, 2014reclaimed house paint, wood, and mixed media 68 x 33 x 12 in.

Aperture: Gladiolus and Calypso, 2014reclaimed house paint, wood, and mixed media 69 x 24 x 9 in.

Aperture: Waterfall and Saffron, 2014reclaimed house paint, wood, and mixed media36 x 19 x 7 in.

FRAN O’NEILL

additive, 2014oil on canvas 70 x 100 in.

chime in, 2014 oil on canvas 66 x 66 in.

earthly delight, 2012oil on canvas72 x 72 in.

icing, 2014oil on canvas84 x 84 in.

ring of fire, 2014oil on canvas 84 x 84 in.

CHECKLIST OF THE EXHIBITIONALL WORKS COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

Paul W. ZuccaireG A L L E R YStaller Center for the ArtsStony Brook UniversityStony Brook, NY 11794-5425

631.632.7240ZuccaireGallery@stonybrook.eduhttp://ZuccaireGallery.stonybrook.edu

Gallery HoursTuesday–Friday, 12-4 pm, Saturday, 7-9 pm Free AdmissionAlso open during intermission and one hour priorto most Staller Center season performances

© 2014 Paul W. Zuccaire GalleryStony Brook UniversityBrochure design: MACOMEA@optonline.net

ISBN: 978-0-9909614-0-6

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Form and Facture: New Painting and Sculpture from New Yorkand the 2014-2015 Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery schedule is madepossible by a generous grant from the Paul W. ZuccaireFoundation. Additional funding is provided by the County ofSuffolk and the Friends of Staller Center. I am very grateful fortheir support.

I would like to express my appreciation to the staff of the StallerCenter for the Arts, especially Alan Inkles, Director. Also thanksto John Lutterbie, Chair of the Department of Art and TheatreArts; the faculty of the Art Department and the Galleryassistants.

Finally, I would like to thank the artists for their enthusiasticparticipation in the exhibition and for creating beautiful andinnovative new work to share with the Stony Brook community.

Karen LevitovDirector and Curator