Surface Strata, A Group Exhibition September 4, 2009

Surface Strata is an exhibition at Joyce Gordon Gallery that calls attention to an approach in painting where the artist utilizes multiple or diverse formal techniques in the construction of the painting surface. The idea of surface strata is a paradoxical situation in which the surface is viewed from a topical and a cross sectional (strata) view at the same time. These paintings challenge the idea of internal stylistic continuity, logic and consistent treatment, and rather propose continuity based on the larger context of the field of painting itself. This “Pop” approach to painting suggests sourcing from popularized painting styles rather than icons of consumer culture. When viewing the works it is easy to recognize familiar styles (gestural abstraction, graphic, hard edged, flow painting) this leads to a reading that is simultaneously the sum and the parts, the semiotic and the experiential. These works connect to a broader sociological and seemingly generational, ideology that supposes nearly anything is obtainable, accessible and available for use, though often decontextualized and with newly reassigned meaning. This is an aesthetically and attitudinally driven tendency that draws liberally from historicized style while leaving behind the original associations and beliefs in which the authentic style originated. This exhibition is an opportunity to view the various ways artists have embraced this strategy in their painting practice. Organized by San Francisco Art Institute Alumni Chris Trueman, the group exhibit constists of California artists Kevin Scianni, Alison Rash, Michael Cutlip, Joshua Dildine, Jay Merryweather and Eric Ward.

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