We are thrilled to present Primogenesis, Rebecca Riley’s intricate, explosive paintings informed by dynamic micro and macro systems from cellular mitosis to cosmological structures. Intrigued by growth patterns and the relationships and interactions of a system’s parts, Riley has developed a systemic process for which color decisions are made in advance yielding unpredictable results. Although scientific in approach and seemingly contained within squares and rectangles, each painting is highly expressive with varying velocities, gestures and energy that continue out from the canvas like the echo of the Big Bang. Riley adapted this approach to her initial map paintings which studied patterns of growth within a city as a living organism.

Through Cheryl McGinnis Projects, over 500,000 people from all parts of the earth have experienced Randomland, at the Flatiron Prow Art Space her continuously growing network of invented worlds constructed from various forms of topographic maps, road maps and atlases on view at the Flatiron Building’s glass enclosed Prow Space until October 21, 2012. Joining fragments of randomly collected cartographic sources, Riley’s pangea is governed purely by aesthetics of line, shape and color representing roads, rivers, contours and boundaries. With the exception of waterways, which flow free of human control, she reveals patterns in her manipulated formations by applying acrylic paint with a self-imposed color system informed by the maps’ legends. While regarded as reliable tools, maps are continuously in flux due to cultural, political and socio-economic changes in districts and borders, as well as from geological fluctuations. Whether observing Riley’s geographic organism from inside or outside the iconic glass-enclosed peninsula of Manhattan’s first skyscraper, viewers can see through the suspended layered shapes as if peering through dappled trees; the varied depths of field offered by this triangular space echoes the shift in perception from objective information-based knowledge to the complexity of visceral experience.

With an installation at the New York Public Library scheduled for 2013, Rebecca Riley’s work is represented in numerous collections, and was most recently acquired by Agnes Gund, New York, NY. Earning her B.A. in Art from Carleton College, MN and an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute, NY where she received a Fellowship Award, she also attended the University of Georgia Summer Art Program in Cortona, Italy. Widely exhibited, including Bushwick Open Studios 2011 and 2012, International Fine Arts Fair in 2010, Riley’s maps were part of Project Globe, Art Auction for Future Generations, sponsored by Travel and Leisure Magazine in 2008. Riley’s work has been highlighted in solo exhibitions including Cartographic Cells At Brooklyn College, Herter Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Images of her work have been published in the Sight Mapping catalog, Herter Gallery in 2009; on the cover of the March 2007 issue of the Journal of the Complexity Society, Emergence: Complexity and Organization; and in the May 2005 issue of Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, Berkeley, CA, Geometric Evolution Equations. Reviews include Art of the Times and Travel and Leisure Magazine and a segment on NY1.