Sunny Side Up
Christopher Kuhn
October 24th - November 22nd, 2014
Opening October 23rd, 6:00 — 10:00 PM
Exhibition Images
Christopher Kuhn
Christopher Kuhn
October 24th - November 22nd, 2014
Opening October 23rd, 6:00 — 10:00 PM
Exhibition Images
Christopher Kuhn
FIELD Contemporary is pleased to present Sunny Side Up, the first exhibition of Christopher Kuhn's work in Canada. The title references not only how the artist prefers his eggs, but also suggests a positive outlook that guides his process toward image making. Culled from over two years of work, spanning 2012 to the present, the selection of paintings reveals Kuhn's open-ended approach. He begins each work spontaneously, initially moving forward without a specific plan to steer the creation of each piece. Eventually, improvisation gives way to strategy, and the finished composition achieves a balance between conscious decision making and the chaos of unrestrained impulsive mark making. Risk plays an important role, as certain moves within a painting have the potential to enhance or destroy what had been built up prior. Thus a steadfast optimism underpins each painting, allowing the artist to treat mistakes as stepping stones in the journey towards resolution.
Kuhn's works revel in the inherent dualities of paint, as both object and artifice, and canvas, as both a surface and a window. A painting has the potential to create the illusion of spaces that would be impossible in the real world but are nonetheless acceptable to our eyes and minds despite their conflicting logics. The negative space of the raw fabric support becomes a positive element within the composition while simultaneous reinforcing the flatness of the plane. Brushmarks that might represent the earliest beginnings of the piece initially appear as though they were the finishing touches, laid on towards the end. By piecing together visual clues, traces and textures left behind in the paint, the viewer is able to reconstruct the moves of the painter, be they pared down or built up, and read the history of its creation, like a magic trick that still deceives despite showing off the source of its illusion.
A solo exhibition of Kuhn's work will open in Los Angeles at Sonce Alexander Gallery on November the 1st and run concurrently through the duration of this show.
Christopher Kuhn lives and paints in Los Angeles. His work has been exhibited at the Torrance Art Museum, the George Lawson Gallery, and Autonomie and reviewed in San Francisco Arts Quarterly and the LA Times. Publications include Fabrik magazine, laimyours.com, and twocoatsofpaint.com. He graduated from the American University of Paris with a B.A. in Art History and earned a Post Baccalaureate Certificate from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. He is represented in Los Angeles by Sonce Alexander Gallery.
For more information please email info@field-contemporary
Kuhn's works revel in the inherent dualities of paint, as both object and artifice, and canvas, as both a surface and a window. A painting has the potential to create the illusion of spaces that would be impossible in the real world but are nonetheless acceptable to our eyes and minds despite their conflicting logics. The negative space of the raw fabric support becomes a positive element within the composition while simultaneous reinforcing the flatness of the plane. Brushmarks that might represent the earliest beginnings of the piece initially appear as though they were the finishing touches, laid on towards the end. By piecing together visual clues, traces and textures left behind in the paint, the viewer is able to reconstruct the moves of the painter, be they pared down or built up, and read the history of its creation, like a magic trick that still deceives despite showing off the source of its illusion.
A solo exhibition of Kuhn's work will open in Los Angeles at Sonce Alexander Gallery on November the 1st and run concurrently through the duration of this show.
Christopher Kuhn lives and paints in Los Angeles. His work has been exhibited at the Torrance Art Museum, the George Lawson Gallery, and Autonomie and reviewed in San Francisco Arts Quarterly and the LA Times. Publications include Fabrik magazine, laimyours.com, and twocoatsofpaint.com. He graduated from the American University of Paris with a B.A. in Art History and earned a Post Baccalaureate Certificate from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. He is represented in Los Angeles by Sonce Alexander Gallery.
For more information please email info@field-contemporary