From 13Forest Gallery:
As our eyes scan the natural landscape, we tend to be drawn towards the repetition of linear shape – the vertical forest of trees, the rhythmic recurrence of plant shapes. This inclination towards the repetitive is harnessed and recreated in our urban landscape: trees are replaced by the continuity of buildings, plants are exchanged for the pattern of brick. 13FOREST Gallery explores this architectural horizon of geometry with SightLines, an exhibition of new and recent work by Massachusetts artists Rachel Hellmann, Robert Maloney and Hannah Richman.
Examining the architectural, Hellmann, Maloney and Richman illustrate how this repetition can be rendered in two and three dimensions. Utilizing different aesthetics and materials to create urban sites, the artists recognize this intrinsic human pull and reinforce it to bring the relationship between viewer and linear to yet another level.
March 30, Fri, 7-9 pm – Opening Reception
April 19, Third Thurs, 7-9 pm – Artist Reception
Building in White No. 4, Rachel Hellmann, collage, graphite and gouache on paper
Rachel Hellmann’s work ranges from canvas to paper, from acrylic to gouache, watercolor, marker, graphite and urethane. In her oil painting series Whitescapes she explores the subtleties and nuances of the color white, introducing the visual qualities of the color into everyday geometric systems. Hellmann further investigates the architecture of the built environment while incorporating softer geometries found in textiles and nature in her works on paper.
Multiplex, Robert Maloney, digital and traditional collage, acrylic paint and screenprinting on wood, masonte and plexiglass with upholstery tacks, tissue paper and glue, bamboo skewers, elbow macaroni, iron paint, rusting solution and masking tape
Robert Maloney’s 2D and 3D constructions incorporate elements of the urban landscape, typography, topography and architecture. Many of his pieces straddle the line between a structure being torn down and a structure being erected. His work is a series of 21st century archeological digs through layer upon layer of imagery and information that have piled up through decades of time. Maloney combines layers of paint, textures, screenprinting, digital elements and 3D structures to create pieces of art that evoke the feeling of crumbling walls, discarded billboards and old warehouses.
Felton Street VI oil on canvas, 55½" x 42¾"
Hannah Richman is drawn to the confluence of urban landscape and geometry. Through her oil paintings, Richman explores the way in which utilitarian buildings are constructed by humans, worn down over time and finally illuminated by nature at moments captured in her paintings. Her work is purposefully devoid of almost all organic matter or human representation – forcing the viewer to consider a building as a visual object.
