163 Eldridge Street, between Rivington and Delancey

Nicelle Beauchene Gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of new paintings by Kirsten Deirup.

Kirsten Deirup’s paintings explore a territory where theater, religious reverie and dystopia comingle. Accentuating uneasy relationships between reality, the subconscious and artifice, Deirup renders disjointed stage sets as portraiture that remain void of direct figuration. Playing upon the ineluctable flatness of the surfaces, Deirup’s irrational portraits invite confusion as she oscillates between the uses of two- and three-dimensional space.

Incorporating uncanny juxtapositions and non sequitur into her practice, Deirup develops obscure psychological and physical arenas that offer a wry critique on the catalysts that trigger religious impulses. Constructing her own alters and shrines through seemingly arbitrary object placement, Deirup seeks to inspire her own modals of reverie. Heaps of detritus are found within these sets, or shrines, which thrive and allude to religious idols through their exacted placement. These objects represent dogsbodies, as they remain humble and devout despite their compositions and tasks, much like our venerated saints.

Kirsten Deirup was born in Berkeley and received her BFA from Cooper Union in 2002. Deirup has participated in various exhibitions across the U.S. including recent shows at the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY; Daniel Weinberg Gallery, LA; Guild and Greyshkul, NY; and Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, NY