PRESS RELEASE
PICNIC
June 29 – August 14, 2021
Margaret Thatcher Projects is pleased to present PICNIC, a group exhibition featuring Frank Badur, Michelle Benoit, Omar Chacón, Kevin Finklea, Jus Juchtmans, Cheonae Kim, David Mann, and Tad Mike.
Frank Badur’s hard-edged compositions are filled with color from the artist’s internal library, culled from his experiences and travels, and brought upon his paintings by impulse. Rather than specific references or interpretations, his canvases are meant to allude to the personal relationship that each viewer holds with color.
Michelle Benoit’s softly luminous wall sculptures refer to isolated fragments of time, place and space. Using transparent lucite, evocative color combinations, and unusual angles they suggest the urgency of capturing a moment in time.
Omar Chacón collages layers of multi-hued, discrete acrylic dots and drips onto canvas. In the rich, dense patterns that result, each gesture is similar to a unique individual in a large and diverse community, with each component reliant on the other to flourish.
Kevin Finklea’s sculptures explore hue, contour, and material. The exuberant, indefinable palette applied to the irregular wooden forms is not meant to be read as minimal painting, nor is color meant to merely co-exist with the objects. Each element questions the other in an eccentric balance that emphasizes shifts in perception.
Jus Juchtmans’s monochromatic paintings are deceivingly complex. Each aspect of the luminescent work, from the stretcher to the number of layers of paint upon the surface, is considered in the piece’s creation. Juchtmans’s interest lies in the act of viewing artwork. Drawing people in through the shining surfaces, Juchtmans’s work literally reflects how the surrounding environment colors one’s experience of viewing art.
Cheonae Kim’s flashe-on-panel paintings contain columns of horizontal rectangular cells irregularly filled with varied shades of pastel reds or greens, white, or the bare wood of the underlying panel. A slight misalignment of the columns, delicate paint application, and an unusual palette add buoyancy to the rectilinear compositions.
David Mann’s work captures a precise yet ambiguous moment. His paintings glow with an inner light, achieved through layers of acrylic, oil and translucent glazes. The incandescent events he depicts suggest transformative phenomena, ranging from microscopic to cosmic in scale.
Tad Mike’s drawings reflect the abundance and the balanced contradictions of the natural world. Made from walnut ink and watercolor applied with plants or stones, an overall accumulation of small marks grows until a harmonious page is reached. Mike achieves order in mark-making in an expressive act similar to the poetic intersection between internal life and the outside world.
Margaret Thatcher Projects is located at 539 West 23rd Street, ground floor (between 10th and 11th Avenues). Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11 am to 6 pm. For further information contact the gallery at: info@thatcherprojects.com, or 212.675.0222.