d/Reconstruct

On May 8th Atelier On Spring Galerie will present d/Reconstruct, a group exhibition which consists of diverse contemporary works by artists inspired by the structural forms of architecture. The paintings, sculptures and photographs gathered here reflect on the 

gap between the known and the invented, the found and imagined worlds of architecture. Shadowy specters, brilliantly colored silhouettes and memory infused renderings of buildings populate these works. In addition, images of the rapidly changing skyline of New York city along with depictions of abandoned buildings decaying in a postindustrial landscape, fill the exhibit with questions about regeneration and loss. 

Bill Carroll, currently Director of the Studio Program at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, admires the aesthetic of abstract art, but is not inclined to produce works that eliminate the narrative. His process captures the silhouettes of the New York City skyline at dawn and dusk. During walks around Manhattan he produces multiple sketches on a 3” x 5” memo pad. Back in the studio, using stencils, spray paint and/or acrylic, on paper on panel, he creates a minimalist silhouette of his original sketches. The RED spray paintings on view here were originally done in 2015 for an installation of 60 works on paper at the New York Public Library, Mid-Manhattan branch. 

Peter Dudek, primarily a sculptor, has always maintained an interest in Modern Architecture, particularly the early works of Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright and other mid-century modernists. Dudek’s work references mid-century architectural structures, with an experimental sensibility to materials and memory. 

Jerelyn Hanrahan is an artist, curator and director of Atelier On Spring. Her affection  for mid-century architecture is apparent in this series of free association ink drawings, Designs for Living, and a recent group of plein-air paintings of homes on the North Shore of Long Island, completed during a period of isolation engendered by the Covid pandemic.

Dennis Gordon, a retired firefighter in the south Bronx, continues to pursue a lifelong fascination with the physical decay of abandoned buildings, recreating precise 3- dimensional models of early 20th century structures, imbued with a sense of nostalgia and yearning for the past. 

Gwyneth Leech’s paintings document change and the in-between stages of buildings that New Yorkers live with as part of the cityscape. Her focus on construction as subject matter began in 2015 when a 42 story building went up outside her painting studio window in the Garment District. Losing a view she loved, she decided to give this unwanted change her full attention, and began a series of drawings and paintings documenting the construction process. Skyscraper construction continues to engage her as she documents the building boom that has engulfed New York City. A recent documentary film, Monolith, examines her artistic process. 

Mary Ann Strandell’s architectural paintings and lenticular work are rooted in a constant querying of modernism’s powerful influence, infused and overlaid with metaphoric considerations. The painterly and gestural series of paintings and lenticular prints exhibited here reveal the stylistic influences of De Stijl, a European movement that reduced form and color to their essentials. 

Please join us for the Opening reception, May 8 –6- 8:00 pm 

Atelier On Spring is open Thursday – Sunday, 2:00 - 6:00 and by appointment For more information, please visit our website: 

https://atelieronspringgalerie.com/ 

Email: atelieronspring@gmail.com 

Call us 516 205 0907