In the project space, Oakland based Paul Schiek exhibits photo works, collectively titled “Holes and Halos”, his first East Coast appearance.

Shot in b/w, the actual making of the images is not as important to Schiek as is their editing and sequencing, which often results in the placement of several images on one sheet. Viewed together, their installation creates a blanketing effect that runs the spectrum of human emotions. Recurrent motifs are anthropomorphized trees, physical interactions, water and, generally, the tension between light and dark. In this language of opposites, Schiek finds the building blocks of a practical truth; a reminder that all life follows the same path: genesis of form then decay, and, in between, seemingly random alternation between isolation and community. In fact, at the opening, in order to further his constructive sense of human association, Schiek plans to make available newsprints with images of his work so that everyone can take home a tangible work of art.

Born 1977 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Paul Schiek earned his BFA from the California College of the Arts in 2005. His work was shown in the traveling exhibition Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture organized by the Contemporay Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH (2004/05). Lawrence Rinder included him in a recent showing of graduates (2007) and he has participated in numerous group exhibitions including at the Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, and the Oakland Museum of California.