Vacuum Paradoxicon: New work by Amanda Gehin & Stewart Losee

Friday, October 16th to Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Vacuum Paradoxicon, opening Friday, October 16 at Urban Culture Project Space, 21 East 12th Street,  with artist remarks at 6:30 pm, extends and distills an ongoing dialogue between Kansas City-based artists Stewart Losee and Amanda Gehin. The two-and three-dimensional artworks featured may be described as fantasy architectures, reflecting the artists’ shared interests in exploring ideas of imaginative, internal/mental spaces.

Gehin’s work is specifically focused on articulating impossible, or paradoxical, shapes – those whose combination of properties are constructible only in a theoretical, mental landscape. Included are labyrinthine wall pieces, composed of many small paintings that relate to one another like pieces of a puzzle and are characterized by intensive patterning and rich colors, as well as a series of sculptures on pedestals that incorporate living plant life as well as constructed objects. Losee draws from forms of ancient art to explore the origins of images; the idea of image as a function of an evolved psychology rather than culture. Included will be a series of several large, baroque light boxes displaying digital renderings –“deep abstractions”- produced as polystyrene color prints, as well as a “wooden solar boombox temple.”  In addition will be various scale architectural maquettes, created collaboratively, which quietly consider new age metaphysics as applied to urban planning. Read the full press release.

For photos of the event, check out our flickr.