randee silv opening April 4

randee silvendangered
gestures

April 2 --
April 18, 2009Opening Reception:
April 4th 5-8pm

M55 Art is pleased to present
"endangered gestures", an exhibition of recent works by Randee Silv, on view
April 2 through April 18, 2009. An opening reception will be held on Saturday,
April 4th from 5 till 8 p.m. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 12
till 6 p.m.

With this most recent group of paintings, Silv brings our attention back to the very origins of painting while exposing the roots of our visual culture. These pieces are distinct in that they consider the process of image-making in a way that is both current and extraordinarily old. In “The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art,” David Lewis-Williams compares the controversial abstract marks in Upper Paleolithic cave paintings with entoptic forms that have been documented during altered states of consciousness. These zig-zags, dots, meandering lines and nested curves are what we all see on the edge of our vision.

It is within these most primordial moments, before these flickering forms congeal into recognizable imagery, that Silv finds parallels with her own work. She asks us, in viewing these paintings, to consider whether the concept of art may have been initially triggered by abstract rather than iconic imagery. And if we acknowledge this, these endangered marks could widen our dialogue with the transitional potentiality of abstract gesture.

Poem
by Yuko Otomo:
A new breath tapsInto the vast
ocean Of unforgotten gesturesIn order to dictate a drama on Art’s
OriginWithout dense plots nor anagrams
Yellow yellowing;Black
blacking;Void voiding;Line lining;Dot dotting;
In these (re)discovered Memories
of my being
Air is light
Without shadow shadowing
Stretching fullyTo
declare
The sacredness of
Color

For further information please
contact: Edward Yelonek M55 Art

44-02 23rd Street, Long
Island City, NY 11101 (718)
729-2988
eyelonek@m55art.org http://www.m55art.org
http://www.randeesilv.com

Subways to M55 Art:

E or V train to 23rd
Street/Ely Avenue
7 train to 45th Road/Court
Square
G train to Long Island
City/Court Square