Louis B. James is pleased to present Chaos, Control, Chaos, Control, a two-person show of new painting and sculpture by Brendan Smith and David Mramor. Using diverse materials and styles of gesture Smith and Mramor examine, respectively, systems of painterly abstraction and the psychological limits of representation.

Brendan Smith’s paintings, done in both acrylic and oil on canvas, reveal the physical engagement inherent in their making as embodied in a unifying formal system of coils. The labyrinthine gesture recalls both choreography, fluid steps retraced to form a pattern, and the closed circuitry of electrical machinery. His sculpture consists of liquid plastic and latex quickly formed around clusters of balloons and other ephemeral structures. Like his paintings, they crystallize abstract gestures in the moments of their formation.

David Mramor fuses photographic representation and painterly abstraction in emotionally charged and materially distinct canvases. Mramor’s process is multi-layered, stretching conventional ideas of painting. The work comprises digitally manipulated personal photographs printed on canvas or silk, blurred and marked with crude Photoshop “painting,” that are further obscured with casually applied acrylic paint, modeling paste, varnish, gesso, and other materials. The paintings and objects on view are obliquely personal, primarily involving photographs of the artist’s recently deceased mother. As such they recall Barthes’ investigation into the limits of photographic representation, spurred by his own quest for meaning in a photograph of his mother.

Brendan Smith (b. 1983, lives and works in NY) received his MFA from Yale University in 2011. His work has recently been included in shows at FJORD, Philadelphia; Number35 Gallery, NY; 1708 Gallery, Richmond, among others. David Mramor (b. 1984, lives and works in NY) received his MFA from the School of Visual Arts in 2008. His work has recently been included in shows at Family Business, New York; Ercole Home, New York; Postmasters Gallery, New York; among others.

Louis B. James is located at 143b Orchard St, New York. The gallery is open from Wednesday through Saturday from 11:00 to 6:00 and Sunday from 12:00 to 6:00. For more information please email [email protected] or call (212) 533 4670.