JOSHUA ABELOW
KEVIN HOOYMAN
JASON FRANK ROTHENBERG
LEAH TINARI
77 White Street, NYC
December 5 – 20, Wednesday – Saturday 11 – 6
or by appointment: 917 847 7964
Opening Friday, December 5; 6 – 9 PM
www.ideapuddle.com/projectwildlife.html
The building at 77 White Street has had a lustrous past. Formerly home to the legendary Mudd Club, the space has gone through many incarnations, most notably as the studios of Julian Schnabel and Ross Bleckner. In recent years, the building has opened its doors in support of emerging artists, offering low-cost studio space in the historic venue. At year’s end, 77 White Street will close its doors, and with them, a vibrant chapter in the Downtown art scene.
Wildlife is envisioned as a tribute to the building’s history and spirit of artistic camaraderie.
Joshua Abelow’s large-scale paintings are playfully bleak. Quirky forms and cookie-cut iconography people his unique landscapes that are, at turns, endearing and foreboding. Beaker-like shapes spill fluid and careening birds commingle to create a tension-infused world that is both dreamy and apocalyptic.
Kevin Hooyman’s drawings of people and animals coupled with text are heartbreaking, wry and anomalous. Adopting a cartoonist’s vocabulary, Hooyman draws a world that is optimistic, sad, and beautiful. His simple, direct technique conveys the synonymous voice and spirit of an innocent and an old soul.
Jason Frank Rothenberg’s color photographs elegantly equate the wild and domestic worlds of animals. At times whimsical, these portraits nevertheless reference the directness of documentary photography, revealing the pure and unselfconscious nature of these creatures’ lives. In earnest, Rothenberg unearths the humor and beauty of the everyday, presenting the world with a frankness and clarity that evokes warmth and wonder.
Leah Tinari’s paintings speak to the complexities, idiosyncrasies, and personalities that inhabit all of our lives. Based on photographs the artist has taken of family and friends, disparate objects and patterned fabrics, Tinari’s paintings offer a personal and, at times, caricature-like narrative that addresses and celebrates the intricacies and magnificence of the human condition.