Erik Gonzalez

Opening reception is Thursday, September 10, from 6 to 8 pm.
ERIK GONZALEZ
Diptychs
September 10 – October 31, 2009

Paint the Town (diptych detail), 2009, Oil on canvas/Oil on mirror, 47 x 56 inches/12 x 12 inches, EG-1002


LINK TO SHOW
Massimo Audiello is pleased to announce his first New York solo show of Erik Gonzalez. The exhibition will open on Thursday, September 10 and run through Saturday, October 31, 2009. The opening reception is Thursday, September 10, from 6 to 8 pm.

At first glance, the work by Erik Gonzalez seems to be interested in the practice of making simply pure abstract paintings. The search for a vocabulary seems to be at the core of this body of work.

Elements are taken from language, graffiti, logos, different kinds of textures, monochromatic backgrounds, sometimes from Pop imagery and other times from more sophisticated art historical references such as minimal abstraction. The elements all converge in the creation of a variegated and exciting body of work, where the meaning and possibilities of abstraction are speculated.

At a second glance, Gonzalez’s work will reveal a kind of intrusive alterego, a small painting accompanying laterally the main large work. Those small paintings stand curiously next to the big ones, bound by a symbiotic relationship, as some kind of a window on the main painting’s soul. They reflect, question and doubt and comment on the painting’s identity, creating a stimulating dialogue were all possibilities seem to be taken into account.

The painting and its double reflect the ambiguity and complexity of identity, not in a cubist form, but as a more straightforward starring at one’s self. Abstraction is in this way commented on and perversely substituted by a representation verging on the surreal. This psychological game adds a new twist to the endless game of painting, while reflecting a part of how painters work.

For more information, please contact the gallery at:

MASSIMO AUDIELLO
526 West 26th Street
No. 519
USA- New York, NY 10001
212.675.9082 TEL
212.675.8680 FAX
www.massimoaudiello.com