Denise Bibro Fine Art, 529 West 20th Street, 4W, Chelsea, NYC, is pleased to present Work by Gerry Hayes & Scott Malbaurn, on view in our project space, Platform, March 6 to April 5, 2008. Hayes and Malbaurn share a similar aesthetic in their abstract paintings, embracing both geometric and curvilinear forms, employing a bold palette, and achieving a kinetic result. While Hayes is an established mid-career artist, and Malbaurn is an emerging new talent, the two gained an affinity for each other’s work when Hayes was teaching at Pratt Institute, and Malbaurn was completing his M.F.A.

In his Infinity series, Hayes deconstructs space by applying curved shapes of bright primary colors atop rectangles of transparent gessoed ground, thus revealing the subtle grain of the wood support panel, and creating the illusion of a multi-layered surface. The effect is of an aerial view, reminiscent of shifting tectonic plates or drifting ice flows. While his work has a strong graphic impact, his sense of composition and movement is elegant and nuanced. One imagines interlocking puzzle pieces, attracting and repelling, dancing on a slippery surface. Hayes has been shown internationally at venues including Mitchell Algus Gallery, Gallery Korea, and Condeso/Lawler Gallery, all in New York City; Hofstra University, Long Island, NY; Southern Cross University Art Museum, Lismore, Australia; and Nagoya Parco, Tokyo. His work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

Malbaurn works in a minimalist vein, exploring imagery inspired by tornadoes and flowers, and investigating the intersection of geometric and organic forms. His signature hard-edge lines dart across flat color fields inscribing a frenetic path, seemingly random, yet strictly controlled and consistent. The result resembles the fluctuating wave forms of electrical currents. The work buzzes and hums with almost uncontainable energy. Malbaurn has exhibited his work at Galeria Janet Kurnatowski, the Main Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, and Kingsborough Community College, all in Brooklyn, NY; Art Gotham, New York University, Gallery 138, and Broadway Gallery, all in New York City; the H. Lewis Gallery, Baltimore, MD; and the Central Utah Art Center, Ephriam, UT.