hawtin, malfroy-camine, pritchard at david klein birmingham
New Work
“David Klein Gallery presents New Work: Matthew Hawtin, Sylvain Malfroy-Camine, Benjamin Pritchard. All three artists are Detroit based abstract painters with styles ranging from boldly gestural to coolly minimal. Together they demonstrate the full range of contemporary abstract painting.”
“Matthew Hawtin's aesthetic language investigates painting at an intersection between sculpture, design and architecture by exploring the fundamental elements of line, color, surface, shape and form. The work exists in a space where thoughts and feelings can live; as minimal objects of meditation that reflect the spectrum of our daily emotions.”
Binary is striking in its highly contrasted palette within itself as well as against gallery white walls. What initially appears as symmetrically mirrored surprises due to modest differences in depth and dimension of the stretchers altering angles of the orange lines. The negative center ‘V’ and the cast shadow below include in the composition.
This piece is optically confusing making it difficult to shoot. I kept adjusting the image in the viewfinder involuntarily attempting to level this out. The stretcher crescendos thin to thick, left to right, creating layered shadows.
This is Pritchard’s first foray into large abstractions, exploring the effect on brushstrokes and patterns created on this scale. The full-length purple stripe at the left edge makes the composition. Pritchard hasn’t conceded to an expected execution style rather residing in the inspired moment allowing developments to emerge organically.
While Hawtin and Pritchard display extreme ends of the abstract spectrum, Malfroy, who has been covered by this newsletter in a previous solo show in this same space, provides the visual bridge in his colorful, melodic compositions.
This show presents three interpretations of abstract painting showcasing the range this genre can offer. From clean and highly considered to thoroughly loose and expressive, these works reveal individual personalities who describe their narratives in distinct yet harmonious manifestations.
On view through April 29th at David Klein Gallery 163 Townsend Birmingham
*images are mine
direct quote from gallery materials
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