| Tsehai Johnson and Andy Miller at Plus |
| Written by Ken Hamel | |
| Thursday, 24 July 2008 | |
Tsehai Johnson and Andy MillerPlus GalleryJuly 18 - August 23, 2008Opening reception Friday July 18th, 6:00 - 9:00 pmSidebar exhibition from painter John Hull   Tsehai Johnson (left) and Andy Miller (right) - Photos by Ken Hamel/DenverArts.org Plus Gallery director Ivar Zeile has a knack for pairing his artists, and even when the combinations aren't perfect, they somehow work (of course the brick and concrete ambiance of the gallery's space plays a role as well.) The current show's artists Andy Miller ("Flat and Empty") and Tsehai Johnson ("Disorderly") are a clever match with the works riffing off each other while still approaching their subject matter from distinctly different backgrounds. Both artists feature lush objects suspended on the gallery walls with a stark presence in a muted palate and per Zeile, "I knew for sure I wanted them together." Johnson's sculptures feature orgasmic splashes of energy reminiscent of Harold Edgerton's historic and iconic milk-drop flash photographs, but where Edgerton's images show object meeting liquid and liquid reacting harmoniously, Johnson's sculptures feature liquid revolting against unseen forces propelled off into a random oblivion. The unabashed sexual energy in Johnson's explosions are nicely contrasted by the flaccid, drained phalluses of Andy Miller's post-orgasmic vinyl sculptures. Click here for pictures from the opening... Plus+Gallery 2350 Lawrence St Denver, CO 80205 303.296.0927 Wed-Sat: 10:00-6:00 pm http://plusgallery.com
         photos by Ken Hamel/DenverArts.org (from the press release) PLUS GALLERY TO FEATURE LEADING DENVER SCULPTORS TSEHAI JOHNSON AND ANDY MILLER FOR EXPLOSIVE SUMMER EXHIBITION Denver CO - On July 18, 2008, Plus Gallery will open exhibitions from two local sculptors Tsehai Johnson and Andy Miller as well as a sidebar exhibition from painter John Hull. Johnson's new work, "Disorderly," although a similar aesthetic to past exhibitions, is a theoretical departure from her works in porcelain. In the past she worked with ideas directly related to domestic objects, but in this exhibition she has expanded her concept to include domestic narratives and the balance between order and disorder. Miller's new work presented in, "Flat and Empty," is also a conceptual departure from past exhibitions. In this exhibition, Miller peels "the skin" (vinyl) away from its form, specifically organic objects. In doing this, Miller conceptually removes the aesthetic from the sculpture. Finally, a sidebar exhibition, "The Most Beautiful Woman in Town and Other Stories," will feature a series of drawings from John Hull. Each drawing explores the relationship between a man and a woman and is inspired by short fiction from Charles Bukowski. The exhibitions will remain on display through August 23rd. - Artist's reception Friday, July 18th from 6 to 9 pm. - The exhibitions will be on view from July 18th until August 23rd, 2008. DISORDERLY Tsehai Johnson's exhibition features six works of porcelain, five wall-based sculptures and a large installation on the floor. They are elegant, precise, tedious and a careful parity of aesthetics and concept. Each examines a delicate balance or coexistence of chaos and peace, reality and fantasy, order and disorder, and labor and pleasure. Deeply rooted in maternity and domesticity, "Disorderly" pushes the boundaries of these concepts further by approaching them with juxtaposition and subtle subversion. Johnson describes her work as "cultural and social documents that transmit information about the most intimate details of human life. Neither descriptive nor literal, the works in this exhibition portray humdrum events, domestic conditions and everyday tensions through formal representations." Her works beg the viewer to classify them as fantasy's perfection or reality's mess. Some will see the installation as beautiful and deliberate representations of carpets and wallpaper, while others may see the disorder inherent, and intentional, in the patterns. While her sculptures are static, each is a record or a prediction of an event. The subtle variance in each pattern is the specific record - it marks change and deconstruction. These works also autobiographically explore Johnson's own domestic experiences. "Exploding Carpet" in particular, shows not only the patterns of a carpet, but also explores the physical reaction of spilled liquid splashing up from the ground. In many of her works, Johnson has experimented with fluids and the body (i.e. milk) and their relationship to functional objects, such as carpets. FLAT and EMPTY Andy Miller, another local sculptor, has radically departed, aesthetically, from his previous works. In the past his installations have included lights, neon, horse hair, pearls, foam and vinyl. "Skins" is a simplified version of those works, using just beautifully stitched vinyl pieces. "Skins" features three wall-based works, and one large floor work. In these pieces, Miller has literally skinned a sculpture, removing the surface layer from its internal infrastructure. Conceptually, this is part of the artist's experimentation with removing the aesthetic from the object. The formless sculptures allude to the shape of helicopter seeds. While this is a more direct reference to organic objects than in many of his past works, Miller sees a logical progression between his subtle use of organic references in the past with the blatant references used here. The seed itself suggest the beginning of a life cycle, conception and pregnancy. It is something that is life giving and purely natural. Miller distorts this concept slightly by showing a man-made, vinyl skin. The skins, while theoretically referencing life and birth, are, in reality, flat and lifeless and made from inorganic materials. Where nature effortlessly creates its helicopter forms, Miller has created skins with painstaking detail and superb craftsmanship. In the past he has used decoration on his sculptures, but this exhibition features work sans ornamentation and stands to be some of the most conceptual work Miller has exhibited. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN TOWN AND OTHER STORIES The work presented in "The Most Beautiful Woman in Town," is a series of small drawings on paper from famed painter, John Hull. The collection is based on a series of short stories by Charles Bukowski and examines the possible relationships between men and women in various vignettes. In a recent essay on a series of his paintings, writer Annie Proulx described them as follows, "Hull's paintings, taken one at a time, are a little like sections cut from a movie, the viewer must imagine the missing action leading up to, or following, the subject depicted. They are like a collection of poems where each poem can stand alone but is also related to the others enclosed within the same covers." This also holds true for the drawings shown here. The works are inter-related, but each also presents a complete and intimate narrative. Hull says he's "what he's trying to reveal to the viewer is the present, and not the ideal limit whose place is neatly marked out between past and future. Beyond this present time there is nothing, since the future does not exist yet. The present rises up from sources unknown to us and forever begins anew." He effectively does this by showing relationships at different times of life. Some show passion and desire, others express cruelty, heroism or tenderness, but each is a depiction of a moment in the present. |
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