SOUTHFIRST is proud to present “Oscillations,” an exhibition of new acrylic- and oil- on canvas paintings and a room-sized wall painting by Ariel Dill. The show will be on view from April 27 – May 27. There will be an opening reception for the artist from 6-8 PM on Friday, April 27.

“Oscillations” can be taken to refer to either the striated facture and vibratory color combinations present in each of the eight paintings in the show, or the eclectic style in which the works are painted. From the black curved lines and flat, subtle brushwork of Traipsed, which evokes the early abstractions of Mondrian, to the radiant, Kupka-like facture of Astrology, the works take as their starting point diverse early-twentieth century experiments in abstraction. Dill’s heterogenous “Oscillations” can be taken as a reaction to the commodified “signature style” often associated with painting, and as a feminist critique of the masculine trope of the unique and expressive, involuntary gesture. Yet the work exceeds this reading to yield pleasure in its wide-ranging references to the past and in its vibrant, nearly textile materiality.

A single wall painting, “Past Painting Future,” unites the works. Taken from a photograph of the painted wall in Gertrude and Leo Stein’s salon at rue de Fleurus in Paris, the half-wall height grey field relates both to decorative uses of painting in the salon, in which conversation and lived relationships with painting take precedence over more didactic and monolithic exhibition practices, and both chromatically and optically evoke the idea of the black and white image of an experience, one which relegates the past to an irrecoverable symbol.

Born in Los Angeles, Ariel Dill holds an MFA from Hunter College. She has previously shown at Neverwork, Exit Art, and ZieherSmith, and has work on view in May at Sophiajacob in Baltmore. Along with Denise Kupferschmidt she curated the exhibition “Tide Pool” at Sara Meltzer Gallery. Her work has been reviewed in The New Yorker, Time Out New York, and The New York Sun. She lives and works in Queens.

SOUTHFIRST, founded in 2000, is located on 60 N6th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn between Wythe and Kent Avenues. Gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday from 1-6 PM and by appointment. Subway: L train to Bedford Avenue. For more information, please contact Maika Pollack at 718 599 4884 or [email protected]