Monochrome
Nov 1, 2019 – Nov 30, 2019
Katherine Earle, Ferns
Monochrome is a line which divides 20th-century art from all the preceded it. Originating in 1917 with Kasimir Malevich’s White Square on a White Ground, the development of the monochromatic quickly accelerated in 1921 with Alexandr Rodchenko’s trio of paintings Jaune pur, Rouge pur, and Bleu pur (Pure yellow, Pure red, Pure blue). Developed in the very different context of post-war America, abstract expressionists such as Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko, as well as artists as various as Ellsworth Kelly and Patricia Johanson, irresistibly brought monochrome onto the public stage. Outside the world of painting, the relationship between monochrome and photography is long and complex, growing out of the technical limitations of the medium and developing into a highly sophisticated mode of expression.
Monochrome’s power springs from a paradox: highly restrictive and reductionist, while at the same time aimed at the expansion, even the overcoming, of image-making. By placing rigorous limits on color, other qualities are allowed to emerge. Mood, form, material, as well as questions of presence and absence, come to the fore. Finally, monochromatic work opens one up to questions concerning the popular representation of the passage of time: the past is marked off by setting it in monochrome. The work in this exhibition brings together these related strands of thought and practice to provide a wide-ranging view of monochrome today.
About the Juror:
Donna Harkavy is a New York-based independent curator. She began her curatorial career at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and later worked as Exhibitions Coordinator at ICI in New York. From 1990-1995 Ms. Harkavy was Curator of Contemporary Art at the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts, where she founded the contemporary art program. She is currently on the Board of Trustees of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Foster Pride, Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Projects and the Raoul Hague Foundation.
Artists:
David Abecassis, Laura Ahola-Young, Ricky Armendariz, Jose Arvelo, Michelle Bablitz, Barbara Barnhart,Carol Baum, Wesley Berg, Antonio Bokel, Lauren Chambers, Jill Christian, Stephen Cimini, Katherine Colborn, Jody Cukier, Michael Darough, Eric Dever, Sarabeth Domal, Katherine Earle, Joan Easton, Sam Elkind, Paula Elliott, R Esau, Katie Evans, Sarah Fagan, Sean Gallagher, Donna Garcia, Rachel Gardner, David Gladden, Ed Grant, Erica Green, Claire HarnEnz, Sharon Harper, Keiko Hiromi, Sarah Hull, Ali Hval, Joseph Kameen, John Keatley, Nancy Koenigsberg, Sam Koren, Eric Kunsman, Mis Kyrene, Michel Pierre Lachance, Stuart Lehrman, Jeffrey Lewis, Annell Livingston, Chris Malcomson, Pavel Muller, Mary Newton, Miller Opie, Steven Parton, Léna Piani, Mel Reese, Thibault Roland, Kenneth Salome, Katie Sehr, Susan Shaw, Pamela Shipley, Leslie Simon, Erin Stafford, George Turner, Jen Urso, James Wade, Sung Won Yun