John Avelluto, Mary Carlson, Meg Hitchcock, Audra Wolowiec

Studio10 is pleased to present Text, a group exhibition of work by John Avelluto, Mary Carlson, Meg Hitchcock and Audra Wolowiec. Each work in this exhibition bears a relationship to language, the written word and the materiality of paper. This exhibition places text as the primary prompt to generate meaning. Each work provides an opportunity to examine perception and acts to extend of the act of looking into that of seeing.

John Avelluto’s works complicate the act of looking. What appears to be paper, tape, graphite marks or wood is in fact paint. These surrogate materials are formed from acrylic paint and medium on glass surfaces, creating films of varying thickness which are then further manipulated by processes akin to both painting and sculpture alike. Once removed from the glass, these now “paint-objects” are then affixed to supports; nodding to a type of Trompe L’oeil where depth and physicality is actually achieved. Via abstraction, a break down of the signified occurs in order to engage with the tradition of painting. In this conversation between realism and abstraction lies room for all the content adopted by those traditions throughout art history and the ability to further those conversations via contemporary contextualization and, in some cases, humor.

Audra Wolowiec’s interdisciplinary work mines themes of communication and modes of exchange. She explores the idea of a fading connection to create an elusive but shared experience. In this exhibition, Wolowiec includes installations from the series Concrete Sound, based on acoustic foam used in anechoic chambers. In this body of work, she created a modular series of cast concrete sculptures that accumulate to form muted landscapes. The Breathing Room is a site specific installation through which attention is drawn to one’s own breath as the architecture itself begins to breathe. Wolowiec’s work leans on materiality and process to explore both the physical and ephemeral nature of communication, allowing experiences that merge the sensory with the conceptual.

Meg Hitchcock’s text drawings are comprised of isolated letters cut from sacred texts and reassembled to form passages from other holy books which include the Bible, the Koran and the Torah. Individual letters are glued to the paper in a continuous line of type, without spaces or punctuation, in order to discourage a literal reading of the passage. By bringing together the sacred writings of diverse traditions, Hitchcock creates a visual tapestry of inspired writings, all pointing beyond specifics to the universal need for connection with something greater than oneself. Hitchcock speaks of the labor-intensive aspect of her work as a meditation practice as well as a personal form of devotion. Her history in evangelical Christianity formed the artist’s core beliefs about God and transcendence, and continues to influence her creative work. Though no longer a Christian, and vehemently eschewing all religious leanings, she has profound respect for an individual’s spiritual beliefs and experiences, and her work is a celebration of that sacred experience.

Mary Carlson’s hand built, ceramic flowers describe a moment before the collapse from ripeness into decay. The blooms appear to stand at the cusp of life. The petals bear a likeness to leaves of a book that are fragile and foxed with age. Carlson’s flowers were formed with intentional intricacies at the artist’s hand coupled with the unpredictable processes activated by the heat of the kiln. For two decades, Carlson has worked with clay and flowers have been a continued subject of her examination. Carlson states, “I could never figure out what they meant and how they fit into my body of work. I put them in a box and forgot about them until the next summer when I’d make a few more. In the summer of 2011 she realized what they were about, “something that’s fragile; something that’s ephemeral; something being alive one day and then gone, dead, the next; and a desire to preserve or hold on to that thing.”

Gallery hours: Thursday through Sunday 1 – 6 pm or by appointment Contact: [email protected] (718) 852-4396 www.studio10bogart.com The gallery is across the street from the Bogart Street exit at the L Train Morgan stop.