ABSTRACTION

February 1 – March 13, 2019
View work online here
Exhibition Opening: Friday, February 1, 5-8pm
Members’ Preview: Friday, February 1, 11am-1pm
Live Music by 
Salami Rose Joe Louis

Creative Growth is pleased to present “Abstraction,” an exhibition of abstract paintings, drawings, and sculptures from the Creative Growth studio. Abstract art is more than the harmonizing of color, line, form, and composition; its non-representational nature refuses quick consumption or easy interpretation. Instead, the work in “Abstraction” confronts the viewer, demanding that we engage more deeply with the artwork, investigate the process and experimentation of the artist, and expand our understanding of the world.

Jordan King’s practice is perhaps most clearly couched in abstract traditions. He creates compositions of chunky, curvy forms rendered in bold lines and colors while also drawing inspiration from abstract masters like Kandinsky, Miró, and Mondrian. Cedric Johnson’s work contains subtle traces of his source material; vacillating between found images and improvised design, Johnson radically transforms recognizable figures. The results are forms reminiscent of Cubism at first glance, but wholly personal and revelatory.

Artists Lauren Dare and Tony Pedemonte develop their two- and three-dimension abstract work by building up layers of gestural lines. For Dare, her repetitive, faceted line work on paper expands to her wooden sculptures, which she cuts and nails together to form multi-dimensional expressions. Pedemonte, on the other hand, constructs armatures of found wood and recycled materials over which he frenetically wraps yarn and thread. The final pieces are impressively smooth geometric shapes that variably obfuscate the inner structure or leaves open webs that reveal artist’s dynamic process.

Bringing his layers of washes and graphic lines to the gallery walls, Joseph Alef will create a large-scale, site-specific installation in his dynamic painting style.