The paintings of John Almanza and the sculptures of Dave Hardy reflect the reckless abandon of progress, with an emphasis on looking at how materials get relegated to the side as other forces push forward. Indulging in the abundances available to them, both artists consider excess and overflow as vital to the physicality and construction of their work. Almanza’s viscous oil paintings rely on a process of application and removal of paint. While the paintings are still wet, he traverses the canvas with a thin strip of plywood—simultaneously scraping away paint with the swipe of a line and adding paint that is carried across on the plywood. This forms a pattern of hard parallel lines that reveals underlying ghosted abstractions perpetually in limbo. Hardy’s sculptures of found glass, foam and an assortment of other materials build tension from the interplay between hard and soft edges. Engineered to confound notions of structural integrity, these works borrow from the urgent language of provisional architecture as well as from the assertive gestures of modernist sculpture.

Regina Rex is an artist-run exhibition space located at 1717 Troutman Street, in Ridgewood, Queens. We are open on Saturdays and Sundays, 12-6pm, or by appointment. Contact [email protected] or call 347.460.7739 for more info.

Directions: L train to Jefferson, exit, walking along Wyckoff to Troutman. Walk up (north) on Troutman two blocks, passing St. Nicholas and Cypress, to a large brick building on the left. Regina Rex is in suite #329.