DEAN PROJECT gallery is thrilled to announce Oh Henry! an exhibition of new works by Nicholas Kashian, opening reception Thursday May 19th from 6 to 8pm. This is the first solo exhibition in New York and with the Gallery; Kashian will be presenting current work; paintings and collages made in Berlin where he has relocated from Chicago since 2009.

Imagery from multiple sources, a variety of surfaces, impeccable assembling and craft have been qualities in Kashian’s earlier works, which presented the viewer with a composition that resembles a vivid dream. Creating a visual experience of being in front of a real situation all the while being confused about what is taking place on the canvas.

With this exhibition Kashian takes us to into a similar visual experience where he is now challenging the viewer to follow our senses instead of our cognitive instinct. The imagery is diffused, the gestures of lines, brush strokes and shapes are random and unrecognizable. However, the use of color, shapes, lines and surfaces make us feel comfortable enough that we want to scrutinize every area of the composition.

“There is an attempt here to capture an immediate and raw feeling, coupled with sophisticated spatial and technical reversals and confusions. The effort is to capture and picture sensations, highly charged emotional states outside of description, that are not fitting to the world of ready made images, words nor intellectualization. Experiences such as the birth of a first child, or the confusion between a thinking and feeling subject color these paintings. This is achieved within the confines and contradictions of the medium of painting- relating an artists doubts and how he positions himself with regard to the history of painting. Kashian’s work in this show defines a unique, skeptical exuberance to the joy of existence, and the burn of being in time.” Nicholas Kashian

Nicholas Kashian received his Masters Degree in Fine Art from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2009 and graduated from Arizona State University in 2003. Currently based in Berlin having been awarded the Kunstpreis Freies Museum, 2010-2011, Artist Residency, Kashian has exhibited his work in Europe and the United States.