Shane Guffogg and Jon Krawczyk: Neo-Modern at Leslie Sacks Fine Art
LOS ANGELES, CA.-Shane Guffogg and Jon Krawczyk are hard hitting neo-modernists: New York School with a contemporary twist. Their work has a conceptual side, but they are also very much about the physicality of making art and the objects that result from that action, i.e. energy and matter. This elemental approach is much of what these artists have in common, and such is the primary curatorial rationale behind this show.
Guffogg builds layer upon layer of paint and glaze, a technique he’s employed for quite some time along with the ribbon-like motif that has been part of his vocabulary since the late 1980’s. However, these recent paintings from his new At the Still Point series are different than anything he’s done before. That difference is a newfound commitment to absolute freedom of movement and the energy that comes with that freedom. The gesture has become his subject and such a direct expression of self he views these works as figurative.
Shane Guffogg, At the Still Point #4 2009, oil on canvas, 28 x 36 inches. Photo: Courtesy Leslie Sacks Fine Art
Krawczyk cuts, pounds and welds sheets of bronze and stainless steel to fabricate smooth, monolithic forms that look as though they were carved by a samurai slicing modeling clay. At the same time, the craggy profiles of his current sculptures suggest raw stone yet evoke the vaporous shapes and movements of smoke. There are echoes of Noguchi in this work, as it sits at the intersection of natural and man made forms. Traces of Moore can be found in a consistent concern with volume and abstract figuration.
Guffogg and Krawczyk pay tribute to the halcyon days of high modernism. Their art is energetic, individualistic, outspoken in its grand gestures and perhaps even brash. In short, it’s totally American, yet international as the abstraction that was the earmark of progressive 20th century art. Neo-modern indeed.
The exhibition ends on May 29, 2010 at Leslie Sacks Fine Art.
Related posts:
