Jack Hanley Gallery is pleased to present Dog's Dinner, a solo exhibition by London-based artist Johnny Abrahams. This marks Abrahams' fifth solo exhibition with the gallery, and will showcase a range of new paintings, including his signature Elemental paintings along with his new series of Phase and Dog's Dinner paintings.
Abraham's Elemental paintings continue to bridge the realms of painting and sculpture. Oil paint is thickly applied with a palette knife to create elegantly curved black shapes. Large forms are presented in groups of two or three- they come together in subtle points of interaction while also leaving visible negative space. Visible ridges allow the viewer to trace the process of the painting's creation. This series of paintings is deliberate, minimalist and meditative, and the works are designed to allow the viewer to interpret them as they see fit.
Abrahams' new Dog's Dinner series represents a departure from the artist's typical intentional style. These large-scale artworks feature a central black form that anchors the painting while the surrounding raw canvas is marked with splashes of vibrant color along with footprints and smears from the artist's studio. The resulting effect is a looser format that allows for accidents, creating a dynamic interplay between intention and chance.
In addition to these works, Abrahams will exhibit his Phase paintings. These small-scale paintings contain two separate panels joined together by a frame, and their compositions are intentionally shifted out of phase with one another. This creates the impression of a melody on one panel, which is then subtly altered on the other, leaving both melodies out of sync. The paintings hint at a never-realized pattern, with the viewer unsure if the two parts have just started echoing, have moved far enough to double each other, or are headed back toward unison.
Johnny Abrahams (b. 1979 in Tacoma, WA) lives and works in London. He has shown in the U.S and internationally, and most recently has had solo exhibitions at Vigo Gallery (London), Choi and lager (Seoul and Cologne), Romer and Young (San Francisco) and Sundays (Copenhagen). He has been included in several group exhibitions including shows at The Hole (New York) and The Oakland Museum of California.