A.I.R. Gallery presents “Traverse” featuring the work of Melissa Murray and Erica Stoller.
Opening reception this Thursday, February 6th, 6pm-9pm
Gallery Three at A.I.R. Gallery, 111 Front Street #228.
The exhibition will be on view from February 6th through March 2nd.
Melissa Murray’s and Erica Stoller’s work presented side-by-side creates a companionable counterpoint of basic elements, with respectful disregard of subject matter and materials. The recurring use of line speaks loudly throughout each artist’s work. It represents an aggressive movement, a physical object of restraint and it becomes a living entity in its own right. Spatial environments are created in Murray’s and Stoller’s work that connects and transcends the diverse media of these two artists.
Melissa Murray’s large, two dimensional works on paper focus on the idea of freezing an active moment of thought. Maintaining a studio practice where her ideas are bombarded with a successive rotation of images, the clusters gather into patterns through which a metaphor and visual narrative is born. By concentrating on the presented theme, patterns, colors and shifts in space begin to narrate her compositions. Melissa relies on a stream of consciousness to present an honest story, making each work a collection of coded memories quieted yet clarified by capturing the slightest moment in thought.
Erica Stoller’s new sculpture continues the progression from two to three dimensions. The piece on view is made of unconventional, colorful materials including foam insulation, PVC conduit, plastic fencing, swimming noodles and more. The elements are attached by rope and shock cord, for a hint of movement. Strong wall shadows complement this buoyant new work.The works exhibited in Traverse are simpatico in a conversation about the nature and points of interaction in a constructed landscape. During the exhibition a sound scape created by Impala Static will add to the discussion, enhancing and enlivening these varied landscapes.