Scultpures and Paintings by Alexander Cheves
May 22nd - July 3rd
Drift by Alexander Cheves, 2010, oil on wood panel, 12 x 18 inches
Alexander Cheves creates relationships between shape and color in his paintings and sculptures that are directly informed by landscape experience: spac,, sky, horizon, vista, architecture and perspective. Using paint, wood, paper, and traditionally other building materials, he mines the contrast between bold colors, scale, and composition to encourage the observer towards an awareness of place and personal narrative.
For spacetime at Rowan Morrison Gallery, Alexander explores this threshold where time and landscape co-mingle, taking the consistent cast of characters he employs--iconic man-made and natural shapes--a step closer to fantastic abstraction. Quasi-recognizable sculptural figures cast impossible shadows; enthusiastic color fields flirt with the edges of their canvases and pedestals; previous dialogues between forms are masked but still visible beneath layers of paint; all to an end that suggests a grand conversation within and between individual works, betraying their otherwise minimal facade.
This "conversation" is captivating, as the paintings and sculptures in spacetime appear to have struck a deal--paintings have migrated from the wall to the pedestal, selectively taking on mass during the journey--while sculptures have crept up the wall, brazenly exploring what it means to be flat.
The result is an emphasis on contrast throughout the exhibition that is not about conflict, but about being aware, with a relaxed sense of now.
Alexander Cheves grew up in the central valley of California and received his MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He has shown extensively in the Bay Area, as well as Southern California, New York, Vermont, Philadelphia, and London. He currently lives and works in Oakland, California.
Artist's website: www.alexandercheves.com