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Email PageJames Barsness and Ron Nagle
February 21, 2008- March 29, 2008
Reception: February 29, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
James Barsness, Ron Nagle
George Adams Gallery
525 W 26th St James Barsness All Soulds Surf Up Buddha (2008) |  Ron Nagle Knights of Franconia (2008) |
Jim Barsnessıs new paintings explore the theme of contemporary spirituality, rendering fantastical, humorous, often erotic scenes filled with characters derived from different world religions. In the painting Weight Loss Jesus (2007), Barsness examines the irony of pursuing material desires under the guise of Christian faith. The composition is dominated by a giant-size Jesus laying across the Virgin Mary, a disgusted look on her face as she struggles to hold him a la pieta, while three saints (Christopher, John and Francis) are molested by eager succubae. In contemporary society is it equally acceptable to pray for spiritual salvation as it is for a little weight loss or the satisfaction of sexual desires? Other works in the exhibition include Surfıs Up All Souls Green Thumb Buddha (2008), which depicts Buddha surfing on the souls of his followers, and Thank You for the Super Puffy Clouds and Happiness (2007), a view of an ordinary town outfitted as a cathedral literally turned inside out. The exhibition includes six new paintings.
Jim Barsness, born in 1954 in Bozeman, MT, currently lives and works in Athens, GA where he is associate professor at the Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia. His work was recently featured in "More is More: Maximalist Tendencies in Recent American Painting," organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Florida State University, Tallahassee; and "New Directions," organized by the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, GA. He is also a recent grant recipient from both the Pollock-Krasner and Golden Foundations.
In his debut exhibition with the gallery, Ron Nagle will show eight new ceramic sculptures from his "Thin Fin" series, all from 2008. This series combines complex glazing with cast elements and hand-built forms resulting in organic sculptures that radiate intense color and light. The works are intimately scaled, measuring no more than 6 x 5 x 3 inches. Each piece contrasts geometric and oddly shaped constructions, rough and smooth surfaces, as well as flat colors set against high lusters. In the sculpture Knights of Franconia, for example, the rough, primarily blue surface bears a strong resemblance to stucco with subtle yellow highlights spread across the overall face. At the bottom edge, the blue fades out almost to white ending abruptly in the glossy red sheen of the barely visible "foot." Among others, the exhibition includes Hunterıs Tab, a pink form comprised of a square with a clipped corner and an oozing drip element; Beautiful Noodler, where a yellow-green appendage awkwardly curls alongside a curved plane; and Mambo Zombie, an electrically colored orange object with two crisscrossing pointy extrusions.
Ron Nagle, who lives and works in San Francisco, has been exhibiting nationally and internationally for over 30 years. His work is included in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The St. Louis Museum of Art; and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; among many others.
Books and DVDs related to artists in this show
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