Jack Hanley Gallery is pleased to present Sounds Before The Sun Hits, a solo exhibition of new work by Brooklyn-based artist Paul Wackers. This will be the artist’s first solo show in New York in seven years and his second solo show with the gallery.
In this exhibition Wackers presents a new series of works that continues to expand on his signature style of strange and vibrant still life painting. The artist creates abundant scenes that are often framed by a grid system, with shelving and surfaces creating frames within the paintings. While the compositions in this series are increasingly busy, there is a shift in the use of color in this show. The palettes are relatively calm compared to earlier works. The resulting effect is a very balanced group of paintings. The compositions are further enhanced by varying forms of paint application, with splatters of acrylic paint and spray paint present throughout.
Wackers typically works from his own experiences and pulls objects from everyday life. Wackers’ paintings serve to heighten his understanding of these objects and their meaning. Through the process of painting, many familiar items become completely abstracted and fantastic while others remain representational. This allows the viewer to analyze their experience of these items.
Paul Wackers was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1978. He received a BFA from Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, DC, and an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Recent solo exhibitions include The space we take at Eleanor Harwood Gallery in San Francisco, California (2021); IN A HOUSE OF SHIFTING FORMS at Alice Gallery in Brussels, Belgium (2019); and Silent Language at Galeria Impakto in Lima, Peru (2018). Recent group exhibitions include Earth’s Debit at Public Land in Sacramento, California (2022); Twenty Year Anniversary Exhibition at Morgan Lehman Gallery in New York (2022); and Nature Morte at The Hole in New York (2021). Wackers’ work can be found in collections including MIMA Museum in Brussels, Belgium. Wackers lives and works in New York.