Leo Koenig Inc. is pleased to announce the opening of a solo exhibition by Wendy White entitled Up w/Briquette. In her second show at the gallery, the artist incorporates many techniques familiar to her work, such as multiple canvases configured to read as a whole, aggressive line work, acrid colors, and a generous helping of black paint. Added to the mix are outlines of letters and sculptural attachments which mimic written language.

White comments on the title: ”The phrase ’Up w/Briquette’ champions the unaesthetic… a charcoal briquette is a dirty, sooty object with a paradoxically dainty French name…. and it’s an ordinary part of backyard American lexicon. The original pronunciation endures every barbecue.” This offhanded statement belies the sheer visual impact and complexity of her large scale, vibrant canvases.

Language and communication figure prominently in White’s works. Billboards, street signage, and graffiti all express a kind of communication that White subverts and strips of its manipulative associations, forcing a querying rather than consumed response. If language contains within it the essence of a culture, then White’s canvases can be seen as approaching the fragmented, cursory modes of interaction that take place in our daily lives. Territories suggest text, but there are lines missing, messages truncated, and forms reversed. By using component canvases, White forms a commentary on all sorts of concepts from modernism to urban planning and the contemporary obsession with compartmentalization of space.

White’s recent exhibitions include Feel Rabid or Not, Galeria Moriarty, Madrid, Spain; Borderland Abstraction, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE; Maximal Minimal, Primopiano, Lugano, Switzerland; Quick While Still, Heist Gallery, New York, NY and Motus Fort, Tokyo, Japan. Upcoming exhibitions include Platinum Metre, Aschenbach & Hofland, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. A solo exhibition is scheduled for September at Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago, IL.

A 40-page, fully illustrated catalog is available.