JENNY WU | Ai Yo! | Washington City Paper

Ongoing: Jenny Wu’s Ai Yo! at Morton Fine Art Gallery

Is it architecture? Or painting? Perhaps some tapestry of the two? And does genre even matter? What is this instinct to sort, to categorize? Is it intrinsically human, or an invented construction? These are some of the many questions prompted by Jenny Wu’s colorful and layered pieces, on view this month at Morton Fine Art. Wu’s collection, titled Ai Yo!, is both a celebration of multiplicities and a reflection of liminality. Like many artists, Wu begins with a wood panel canvas and paint. But she immediately diverges. Like a pastry chef or chocolatier, Wu pours liquid latex paint into silicone molds repeatedly over extended periods of time until she’s built her own new kinds of ‘paint chips.’ She splices them together with her precise, yet whimsical hand, to reveal brilliantly colored miniature confections, each barring their own signature markings. She then assembles these to create her cheekily titled works (yet another invitation for complexity), such as “Hello to That One Person Who Nods Along Encouragingly During Presentations” or “Spent $50.4 Million on TV Ads to Brag About Giving Local Businesses A Total of $100,000.” In one piece, titled “Too Heavy to Carry to the British Museum,” hot pink and tangerine strips (think sour rainbow candies) stacked like books leave enough negative space for the glossy yellow underlayer to shine through. And in another joyful, defiant, complicated piece, lavender, turquoise, and bubblegum paint layers fit snugly next to each other, like sugar-high kids on a Friday night sleepover. When you step back, the interplaying modules evoke a well-loved floor rug, or a cross section of some distant technicolor planet’s malted core. Another title Wu selected reads: “It’s Not Finished But I Am.” The exhibit is on view through March 8 at Morton Fine Art Gallery, 52 O St. NW, #302. mortonfineart.com. Free, by appointment. —Emma Francois

Jenny Wu’s “It’s Not Finished But I Am,” 2022; latex paint and resin on wood panel, 36 x 24 x 2.5 in. Courtesy Morton Fine Art and the artist

Available Artwork by JENNY WU

VICTOR EKPUK’s “The Face” unveiled in Bahrain for Bank ABC

 

Bahrain’s Bank ABC unveils Victor Ekpuk-designed 5.4m-tall ‘The Face’

Sculpture is a visual centrepiece of the façade of the bank’s revamped HQ building and is made of painted stainless steel

Bahrain ABC

The Face is a tribute to Bahrain’s rich heritage.

by Ranju Warrier

12 Dec 2019

Bahrain Bourse-listed Bahrain ABC has revealed a permanent piece of architecture 5.4m-tall ‘The Face’, which designed by Nigerian-American contemporary artist, Victor Ekpuk, as a tribute to Bahrain’s rich heritage, multi-cultural fabric, and hospitable business environment.

According to Bahrain ABC, the sculpture that is made of painted stainless steel is a visual centrepiece of the façade of its recently renovated twin-tower headquarter building in the kingdom.

Commenting on the sculpture, group chief executive officer of Bank ABC, Dr. Khaled Kawan, said: “After reflecting on our 40-year journey as the Bahrain banking industry celebrates its 100 years this month, and to commemorate the renovation of our HQ building, we commissioned Victor to create this unique and majestic art piece that cleverly connects our heritage and future aspirations.

The Nigerian-American contemporary artist, Victor Ekpuk [image: Bahrain ABC]

“‘The Face’ will outlive business cycles and peoples’ tastes and remain an eternal tribute to Bahrain and its people.”

“How do you capture the essence of a people whose history is long and culture layered in centuries of civilizations? You look to their beautiful faces hoping to catch the essence of their memory,” Ekpuk said.

The Nigerian-American artist counts Smithsonian National museum of African Art, Smithsonian National museum of African American Culture & History, Brooks Museum, The World Bank, Newark Museum, Hood Museum, Krannert Art Museum, and United States Art in Embassies Art Collection among his works.

Click to read article in full.

 

Available artwork by VICTOR EKPUK.

 

Morton Fine Art, 52 O St NW #302, Washington, DC 20001

+001 202 628 2787

mortonfineart@gmail.com

http://www.mortonfineart.com

New Sculpted Paper Artworks by NATE LEWIS

Just arrived at Morton Fine Art – Washington, DC based paper sculptor NATE LEWIS’ latest artworks!

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Nate Lewis

(Washington, DC b. USA)

 

Artist Statement

Hidden from eyes, and below the surface of skin, our cells, organs, and body systems teeter between stability and instability. We can identify the disruption that has upset the balance through the use of various lenses. We can restore the balance by altering the anatomy through the use of surgical incisions.

Hidden within a single sheet of white paper, lies its dynamics of life.  With a blade, I play with its vulnerable construction; and through the surgical process, bring out its fragile, astonishing attributes.

Through a myriad of precise cuts, I carve, fold, and sculpt the paper, giving it new form that visually combines the aesthetics of drawing, sculpture, etching, embroidery and fabric. I developed this technique by regarding the blade as a pen.

I realized the blade was multifaceted and able to act on the unseen anatomy within a sheet of paper to create a new anatomy, multidimensional and intricate.

This approach stems from my nursing experience in caring for critically ill patients and their family members. In the Intensive Care Unit setting, I witnessed how tragedy and uncertainty brings about a sudden transparency and vulnerability between the patient, family members, and caregivers.  This experience gave me a vivid awareness of the thin line between living and dying. As a result, transparency and vulnerability became an urgent matter. By removing layers of fear, guilt, and shame that disrupts equilibrium and interferes with growth; and by cultivating meaningful relationships, I hope to encourage others to do the same.  Like my interaction with paper, the exchange between vulnerable subjects is fragile, mysterious, and beautiful.

 

Process

My process is fluid. I like my pieces to have a sense of freedom in themselves, not forcing them in a set direction. I start with a texture, that texture might give a certain appearance or evoke a certain feeling. I’ll often utilize two or three textures at a time. I attempt to bring an active transitional life to the pieces it can be subtle or harsh, emulating movement, growth, and destruction, decay. I enjoy the elements of structure and organization combined with chaos; it feels biological and at the same time emotional.

With certain pieces I transform the whole sheet of paper with a blade into various textures and finish the piece by cutting away certain areas. I like when the pieces become fragile,  an area may fall off of a piece because it becomes weakened from continuous cuts.

I often work on multiple pieces at the same time. At times, I work on a handful of pieces that all communicate with each other and I navigate each one based on the appearance and life of the others. I’ll let pieces sit for a few weeks and then revisit them.

Contact Morton Fine Art for pricing and availability. 

(202) 628-2787

mortonfineart@gmail.com

http://www.mortonfineart.com