Curated by Keri Oldham

Join us Thursday, July 26th, for the opening of Field Projects Show #6: How to Write a Novel. This exhibition centers on the labor and characterization of writing a novel. It draws a parallel between the source material of writing a novel and making art. Often the most potent source of inspiration for artists and novelists alike comes from the private, seemingly mundane aspects of our own lives. How to Write a Novel features drawings of text, photographs, receipts, books and the mesh-mash debris in an author/artist’s life. The artists in this exhibition include Polina Barskaya, Aaron Krach, Karl LaRocca, Thomas Marquet, Siobhan McBride, and Martin McMurray.

Polina Barskaya grew up in Brighton Beach and draws inspiration for her watercolor paintings from old family photographs. Often depictions of awkward and unsmiling portraits of her Ukrainian immigrant Grandparents and their family friends, Barskaya’s work contains a remarkable sense of narrative on both self and the story of New York City. Aaron Krach focuses on the ephemeral nature of objects and the meanings they carry. For this exhibition Krach will create an installation of books checked out from the New York Public Library titled, The Author of This Book Committed Suicide. A selection of books by authors who killed themselves will be presented, re-stamped with this information and re-circulated into the library by Krach.

Karl LaRocca creates beautifully rendered drawings of commonplace documents such as ATM and sales receipts, tax documents, and other forms, including a Dungeons & Dragons character record. Siobhan McBride’s paintings bring a sense of magic to seemingly mundane places. Her small renderings of apartments, backyards, or the road at night feel like the beginning of a narrative.

Thomas Marquet combines his interest in comedy, fonts, and language into meticulous drawings and cartoons. His works on display will include, False Start a comic anthology and Commerce Bank Memorial, a drawing of the now defunct Commerce Bank made with Commerce Bank pens. Martin McMurray’s paintings often resemble characters from a detective novel, protagonists that are both comical and tragic. For this exhibition McMurray presents a series of wooden book sculptures of fictional titles and oddball authors.