NEW YORK, NY.- Jack Hanley Gallery is presenting a group show featuring works by Peter Böhnisch, Sophie Treppendahl, and Paul Wackers. Combining the abstract with the figurative, these artists approach everyday scenes and objects using various techniques.
Based in Berlin, Peter Böhnisch explores the possibilities of painting beyond oil on canvas. There is an alchemical quality about his creative process: different powders are mixed together, substances react with and on each other, harden or break up and, when combined, produce entirely new components. The texture is sometimes reminiscent of archaeological artefacts and fossilised shells, static mementos of time. The beauty of the motifs often contrasts with the coarseness of the surface, while humor and meaningfulness balance each other out.
New Orleans based painter Sophie Treppendahl paints quiet scenes that capture ordinary moments of unexpected bliss. Using light as a tool for abstraction, the artists compositions frequently depict colorful interiors full of shapes and shadowsplaygrounds for paint and patterns that are rarely populated by figures. Treppendahlss work explores how the associations contained in pleasant reminiscences bring us together. Treppendahls studio is featured frequently in her works, appearing to have just been vacated by the artist; the objects left behind serve to reflect on the painter at work, including a collection of art books, tangled headphones, coffee mugs, and car keys.
Paul Wackers is a Brooklyn based painter who creates intimate and inviting still life paintings, filled with household items, ceramics, plants, and abstract decorative objects. The works are vibrantly colored and linear precision is balanced by texture on the canvas. The abundant scenes are often framed by a grid system, with shelving, fences, and windows creating frames within the paintings.