Friedrich Petzel Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings by Amsterdam-based artist Rezi van Lankveld. This will be the artist’s first solo exhibition in New York.

Rezi van Lankveld continues her method of abstract painting that allows for revelation of the spontaneous image. Rather than producing prescribed images, van Lankveld lets them occur within the density of her loosely applied brush strokes, swirls and paint drips. Impressionist-like figures and scenes reminiscent of 19th century lithographs emerge from the abstract canvas like waking dreams. The appearance of these images implies an impulsive narrative. But each organic narrative is at odds with the very nature of her abstract process. It is this oscillation between abstraction and figuration that completes van Lankveld’s process: her works are at once the image and every mark that has gone into making the paintings.

The dual nature of van Lankveld’s paintings is further implied by the use of her limited palette. The action of the paint and spontaneity of line is pared with a muted color scheme that evokes a Dutch sense of the melancholy. Van Lankveld’s somber palette furthers an eerie Grimm-like read to the work but her titles persuade us that the appearance of the image is as much of a sanguine surprise to her as it is to us. This intended juxtaposition emphasizes an undercurrent of a European dark sense of humor. A humor in which demons from hell and ladies’ men can distract but not overpower the abstract image.

Rezi van Lankveld graduated from Jan van Eyck Akademie, Maastricht in 1999. She lives and works in Amsterdam. She has shown extensively throughout Europe. Her recent exhibitions include: Museum voor actuele kunst, The Hague; Museum Kunst Palast, Dusseldorf; Diana Stigter Galerie, Amsterdam; `Interested Painting,” Gallery 400, University of Chicago, the `Prague Biennale 1’; and The Approach, London.