FURTHER

OPENING: Friday, February 9, 2019 from 6 to 8 PM

FEBRUARY 10, 2019-MARCH 10, 2019

Maria Calandra

Carl D’Alvia

Alexander Ross

"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.” —William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, 1790.


Nature seen “through the looking glass:” fish-eye distorted, kaleidoscopic, molded in plastic, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, reduced to essential geometry, sci-fi visionary, melting and undulating on acid, a vast and exploded cosmos, microscopically detailed… beheld in rapture.

Maria Calandra’s drawings present a multifaceted vision that the viewer is invited to enter. Working from an amalgam of memory, imagination, and direct observation, she creates scenes that come and go, and reappear in other contexts. Paths run through some, suggesting a way in, a way to go further, but there doesn’t seem to be a way out. Animals gaze on, somewhat suspiciously often seeming to confront the viewer directly. Matter seems to disintegrate and coagulate recalling natural cycles. Time is a future past -- possibly taking place in a world after the dominance of humankind. The water-borne graphite Calandra uses in these works is more than a tool for depiction; it feels like a material embodiment of the dissolving lands she makes visible. Orb-like forms suggest either a divine realm or more menacingly an eye in the sky.

Carl D’Avlia’s work is a masterful balancing act between two disparate artistic impulses. Looking at a sculpture such as Nozedoze, the viewer may pick up on traces of minimalist works by artists such Tony Smith. But the stark reductivism of this reference fades away as one begins to see the swarming textural relief of what could be feathers or leaves covering the entire piece. The modernist project of “purifying” nature into its most basic forms is turned on its head as organic textures subsume the work, bringing it to life in unexpected ways.

In addition to several works on paper, Alexander Ross presents two oil paintings that hint at a romantic undercurrent that is seldom acknowledged in his work. These pieces, heavily textured and roughly rendered in a predominantly earth green hue, evoke the disorienting uncertainty of the “Predator” jungle as much as the enveloping beauty of a late Monet arbor. Ross’ drawings and collage in this show represent samples of his work that span constructed figuration, organic subject matter and abstractions that evoke qualities of light and coalescence of imagery in landscape.

Maria Calandra lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She is the artist and writer behind the blog Pencil in the Studio which she started in 2011. Her work has been exhibited in New York, NY; Brooklyn, NY; Toronto, Canada; and Portland, OR. Calandra has been included in group exhibitions at Underdonk, Brooklyn, NY; Shrine Gallery; New York, NY; Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY; and Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY.

Website: https://www.mariacalandra.com

Instagram: @maria_calandra

Carl D’Alvia lives and works in New York City and West Cornwall, CT. D’Alvia is represented by Nathalie Karg Gallery. His work has been exhibited in New York, NY; Brooklyn, NY; Paris, France; Toronto, Canada; and Rome, Italy. D’Alvia has been included in group exhibitions at Van Doren Waxter, New York, NY; Crush Curatorial, New York, NY; and Underdonk, Brooklyn, NY. In 2012-2013 D’Alvia was the recipient of The Rome Prize, Henry W. and Marian T. Mitchell Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy.

Website: https://www.dalvia.com

Instagram: @carldalvia

Alexander Ross is represented by David Nolan New York. He has shown with Paul Kasmin Gallery, Mary Boone Gallery, Derek Eller Gallery and Feature Inc., among others. He is represented in Los

Angeles by Daniel Weinberg Gallery, and in Germany by Nolan Judin Berlin. He has also shown his work in London with Stephen Friedman Gallery, in Paris at Art Concept in Stockholm at Wetterling Gallery. Robert Storr wrote a feature article about Ross’ work which appeared in ArtForum in 2003. Alexander’s work was exhibited at the Biennial at Site Santa Fe 2004 in a show called “Our Grotesque”, curated by Robert Storr. In 2005 Alexander was one of the eight artists participating in the “Remote Viewing” show at The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Among the awards Alexander Ross has received are a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, an Art Production Fund Fellowship and Residency at the Musée Claude Monet in Giverny, France and an Artist Fellowship Grant from the Tesuque Foundation.

Website: http://www.alexanderross.work

Instagram: @splandexterity