LONDON.- Skarstedt London announces Strangers, the first U.K exhibition by American artist Justin Adian on view from 14 October – 22 November 2014. The exhibition features a series of new paintings and coincides with Frieze London. Strangers is a meditation on Adian’s relationship with his works and the transformation that occurs once they have left the familial environment of the studio to venture out in the world: “Once something leaves the studio it changes, kinda moves onto its own life, its own scene.”

The exhibition includes 10 abstract, shaped paintings in Adian’s unique style of canvas stretched over ester foam. Often combining two or more abstract forms into one piece to create a three-dimensional composite wall relief, the surface of the canvas is painted using industrial materials such as oil-based enamel and spray paint. Demonstrating the influence of Minimalism in his approach to colour, Adian adds a further dimension to several of the works by painting their reverse surfaces with bright colours which reflect onto the supporting wall to create a ‘back lit’ effect. In Fortunate Son, the glow emanating from behind into the surrounding space emphasises the painting’s slanted cross form, a significant symbol from the artist’s youth referencing “the cross of the church and the X from punk rock.”

While Adian’s formal practice is inspired by numerous artists, including Richard Tuttle, Eva Hesse, Lynda Benglis and Richard Prince, an early supporter of his work, he identifies specifically with the humour that is present in much of the art from Texas and the West. In his paintings, there is a notable playfulness in the shapes he fabricates with foam as well as his choice of brightly sprayed colours. This humour is enhanced by the interplay between the works and his choice of titles such as Bikini and Wanna?.

Narrative plays an important role in Adian’s work with the inspiration for this series coming from Larry McMurtry’s 1972 book All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers and Merle Haggard’s 1965 song of the same name. Adian resists abstraction by giving each painting a title derived from a narrative he has attached to it. This is exemplified by the corner piece Texarkana, in which the title makes reference to where two states, Texas and Arkansas, join: “the title is a portmanteau, a word made up of two existing words and the piece is two elements of one kind trying to join a third.”

To accompany the exhibition and catalogue, Adian has written a collection of short stories which demonstrate the emphasis of narrative structure in his paintings: “I have been thinking of the pieces as participants in the same activity. They are all similar, like patients in a lobby waiting for the therapist…they all need to talk but say different things.”

Justin Adian created a limited edition artist’s book to coincide with the exhibition. Each copy has been hand-finished with spray paint by the artist and has been signed and numbered.