McKenzie Fine Art is pleased to announce an exhibition of new abstract paintings by James Lecce. This will be the artist’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery. For his new cycle of poured and layered acrylic paintings, Lecce has set up a unique set of rules and challenges for each piece. Commencing with a predetermined palette, his acrylic polymer emulsions are carefully mixed to determine the translucency or opacity of each color. Also predetermined is the manner in which the paint will be manipulated, using various pouring, tilting, brushing, and pooling techniques, as well as the length of time between the manipulations. An increase in translucency in the work is partially a result of more rapid movement in the physical execution of the paintings. These decisions determine the specific look of individual paintings, yet all share core technical and aesthetic principles that make them work together as a group. Lecce notes, “Though abstract, I approached these paintings as if they were to be a family of strange, yet beautiful organisms – a kind of hybrid, each in a different stage of development so that it stands alone. I hoped to make paintings that seem to be each in its own act of evolution. I wanted these paintings to appear to be in a state of metamorphosis, unfolding – imagine something beginning to take its curious form in an experimental lab.”

Inspired by the constantly changing rhythms and sheer power of nature and the sense of awe this evokes, Lecce’s work also references music and rhythmic movement. His pouring and layering techniques allow for compositions that are engaged with activity and motion while simultaneously suggesting a figure-ground relationship. In these new paintings Lecce has chosen a cooler, lighter palette: lilac, pale blues, light ochre, camel, sand, taupe, cream and white, as well as the occasional inclusion of stronger tones, such as cranberry or turquoise The primarily light palette provides a sense of purity, clarity, and open space within the paintings. For Lecce, these color choices are evocative of nascent growth and emergence, similar to buds in early springtime. As in earlier work, Lecce incorporates iridescent and metallic elements to give a seductive tone and sense of adornment to the paintings. They also serve to deliberately define the skeletal or armature-like forms developing within the compositions. These iridescent striations accent the organisms coming into their own, swooping through and articulating the open spaces of the paintings and providing a sense of rapid flow or flight.