“out of the frying pan, into the fire” opens january 21, 6-9, at paragraph

The stability of the modernist era has disintegrated into a multiplicity of art making approaches.  Artists, historians, critics, and theorists have systematically dismantled barriers and effectively opened the floodgates.  Art, it seems, can be anything.  We are free, but this freedom does not come without a price.  The current pluralistic art milieu is unpredictable and chaotic, a tangled mess of methodologies.

So write artists Lee Piechocki and Aaron Storck, whose new exhibition, Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire–opening at Paragraph gallery, 23 East 12th Street on Friday, January 21, 6-9pm–explores, with fascination and skepticism,  the boundary-blurring trends in contemporary art.  Drawing subject matter from the immediate environments of their studios, and the piles, stacks, and accumulations therein; and taking inspiration from far-ranging aspects of contemporary culture, art, and theory, Piechocki and Storck confront this mess, its potential and its problematics.  The exhibition will include new still-life paintings and a sculptural objects/arrangements by Piechocki, and a new large-scale multi-media diptych painting, installation, videos, and studies by Storck.

The exhibition runs January 21-March 5, with open hours Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays 12-5pm and Thursdays 11-6pm. And join the artists for a discussion of their work on Saturday, February 26 at 2pm. Read full press release.

Read the Kansas City Star Review

Watch the artists’ talk from the opening.

See exhibition photos.