Hunter/Gatherer July 9 – August, 7, 2011. Opening reception July 9, 2011; 7 – 10pm.

The Booklyn Art Gallery is pleased to present Hunter/Gatherer, featuring works by Evan Robarts, Jason Kachadourian, Jessica Williams, Jon Bocksel and Scott Meyers.

Hunter/Gatherer includes artists with the common practice of borrowing both aesthetic inspirations and found objects from their local surroundings. These artists accumulate visual, physical, and conceptual source material from everyday encounters and observations. They manipulate materials and appropriate techniques from discarded objects, sign-painting and murals, printed ephemera, and urban architecture. While each artist has their own unique approach to collecting and manipulating, their work evokes similar appreciations for the found and overlooked. With their work combined, Hunter/Gatherer creates a personal map of the city they share and the scenery they encounter. The viewer is confronted by these recognizable, yet often ignored images and encouraged to take a second look when walking down the street.

Jason Kachadourian borrows imagery from his surroundings, primarily the architecture and facades of apartment buildings in his neighborhood. His use of printmaking (silkscreen), mimics the repetitiveness of the urban architecture, blocks of brownstones, row-houses, and other cookie-cutter neighborhoods. His recent work begins to borrow not only the aesthetics from these buildings, but also the material, incorporating concrete and wood into his structures.

While borrowing techniques from various sources, some of Jon Bocksel’s influences include sign painting, hand-lettering and civilian graffiti. His large scale works on hand-dyed canvas evoke weathered signs and awnings. His paintings create a new suggestive and symbolic language, often working subtle politically conscious and comedic elements into the representations of the scenery he encounters.

Scott Meyers’ process starts by collecting imagery and reworking it through multiple mediums. He incorporates various styles of printed ephemera, replicating these mechanical processes by hand and translating their original form through new materials. His installations, composed of paintings, collages, and cut-out forms create an interwoven network of symbols.

Evan Robarts acquires materials for his sculptural work both by consciously hunting for an appropriate objects and frequently through chance encounters with discarded items found in his neighborhood. With no preconceptions, his work will evolve from the discovery of a unique object allowing its own personal history to come through.

Jessica Williams’ work, comprised of drawings, collage, photography and books, map imagery from her immediate surroundings creating a visual diary with an unfolding narrative. Inspired by chance compositions found on her travels, her work not only recaptures her observations but also reveals her personal relationship to these places and objects.

Hunter/Gatherer is the second in a series of group exhibitions dedicated to providing self-publishing artists, who generally share their work through printed matter and other ephemeral media, with a platform for exhibition, experimentation and exploration outside of the printed format.

Curated by Aimee Lusty. For more information please contact [email protected]