Asemic Writing: Meaning Less, Making Sense

Asemic Writing: Meaning Less, Making Sense BLAIR VAUGHN-­‐GRULER ERNST GRULER KATHLEEN HOPE LORI SCHAPPE-­‐YOUENS LINDA KING FERGUSON ELLE MACLAREN RENEE LAUZON

JUNE 22 – JULY 13, 2018

241 Delgado Street | Santa Fe, NM 87501 | info@gvgcontemporary.com | gvgcontemporary.com | 505.982.1494

With historical precedents in a broad range of genres and pursuits, from graffiU to calligraphy to visual poetry, Asemic wriUng refers to a process that is like wriUng, but with no actual words. It is not as contradictory as it sounds. By gesturing towards the suggesUon of language, the vacuum created by its absence opens a provocaUve space to expand how meaning is made. The task of Asemic wriUng is to tell without telling, to suggest, to invite, to seduce, and to intuit, all while leaving the meaning to the viewer.

The show includes painUng, mixed media, sound installaUon, and three-­‐dimensional objects from naUonal and regional arUsts.

Each of the seven arUsts featured in this exhibiUon approaches the idea of Asemic wriUng differently. Working with the formal elements of language, the visual arUsts employ language devices including imaginary alphabets, formats and structure of literary genres, obfuscaUon, and erasure, and references to graffiU, among others.

Sound arUst Renee Lauzon approaches the concept by deconstrucUng exisUng texts and pulling out the original meaning to create an experience that operates in a different way. Meaning less, making sense.

One sound installaUon is in the main gallery and the other is in the back portal.

BLAIR VAUGHN-GRULER

WriUng on the Sky I & II | oil on canvas | 48 x 36 each | $5000 each

Flip Side | oil and mixed media on canvas | 60 x 48 | $7500

Blair Vaughn-­‐Gruler approaches the ideas of space and geometry t h r o u g h l a r g e -­‐ s c a l e , m o n o c h r o m a U c , s t r u c t u r a l painUngs, which contemplate the relaUonship of the physical body to the painted object. Vaughn-­‐ Gruler’s images subvert rather than build upon geometry, exploring the materiality of paint and the structure of paint as it exists when applied to a surface: “My visual vocabulary includes references to s t r u c t u r e , r e p e U U o n , deconstructed geometry, and the physical qualiUes of the paint itself.”

Web We Weave | mixed media on claybord | 40 x 30 | $3600

OverwriUng | oil and mixed media on claybord | 48 x 36 | $5000

Grayscale | oil on canvas | 30 x 48 | $4500

Her Shingle PainUngs and Objects series–oil paint on wood or cardboard, mounted on canvas or panel–“eschew pictorial imagery in favor of allowing the materials to speak on their own.” The paring down of these pieces oken results in a limited palele of neutral colors. The white, gray, and taupe have a special richness that seems to calm the nervous system for painter and viewer alike. Their expressive geometry is explored throughout their infrastructure. “These dimensional pieces are another way I use paint to glue ideas and experiences together.”

EvoluUonary LinguisUcs I & II | oil, wood, and mixed media on canvas | 30 x 40 each | $3600 each

Poem in Three Verses (triptych) | oil and mixed media on panel | 10 x 24 | $1125

Blueprint | gouache on claybord | 30 x 24 | $2400

Bedspread | oil and graphite on claybord | 20 x 16 | $950

“ T h e r e p e U U v e pracUce of laying down mulUple layers of media, someUmes drawing between the layers, and repeaUng t h e p r o c e d u r e , makes physical the t h o u g h t p r o c e s s itself.”

Morning Paper I | oil and mixed media on claybord | 24 x 18 | $1400

ERNST GRULER

Asemic Coffee Table | mixed media on wood laminate | 16 x 45 x 14 | $2600

Media and process inspire all of Gruler’s w o r k , w h e t h e r furniture, painUng, sculpture, or lighUng.

3 Piece Puzzle Sculpture | mixed media on wood laminate | 63 x 47 x 8 | $6500

As I Imagine 4 Top Dining Set w/ four chairs | mixed media on wood laminate | 48 x 48 x 30 | $14,000

The innovaUve, contemporary fine art furniture of arUst Ernst Gruler melds sculptural design and ergonomic comfort. Gruler has developed his design sensibiliUes over the past 25 years, aker receiving a BFA and a MA in fine art furniture making. His furniture, unusual lighUng and beauUful abstract painUngs exhibit technical mastery, creaUve design and arUsUc excellence.

As I Imagine #6 | mixed media on panel | 26 x 18 | $1200

As I Imagine #2 | mixed media on panel | 32 x 32 | $2600

As I Imagine #1 | mixed media on panel | 46 x 60 | $6900

KATHLEEN HOPE “Color always begins my process. When I start a painUng, I usually pick only one to three colors. I place the large color samples next to my wood panel as I am prepping. It takes many days to build up layers before I begin to paint. I observe the colors during t h i s p r o c e s s a n d t h e architecture of the painUng presents itself.”

Ulerance | mixed media on panel | 30 x 30 | $2400

*a collaboraUon between Kathleen Hope and Seth Fairweather

Bulerfly Kisses | mixed media on panel | 24 x 24 | $1600

Only Regret | mixed media on panel and cast glass | 72 x 24 | $6800

“The feeling or the psychological properUes of a color dictate the shapes I will use. It is important for me to arrive at only the essenUals in a painUng. SomeUmes when there is too much informaUon it looses its essence. I paint best when I push my medium to the limit, make good design decisions and maintain a playful spontaneity.”

Working primarily with cement, plaster, acrylic, inks, and encausUc on canvas or board, Kathleen Hope’s work is richly textured, organic, and c o n t e m p o r a r y . H e r d i v e r s e background in interior design and color psychology is a significant influence on her work.

Script | mixed media on panel | 40 x 24 | $2500

LORI SCHAPPE-YOUENS

Your Words Move Me | oil and mixed media on canvas | 31 x 46.75 | $4550

I Understand You Too | oil and mixed media on canvas | 27.5 x 29.5 | $2650

“My work is a combinaUon of spirit, humour, and sensiUvity, as well as a hunger for growth. I am moved by colour-­‐ by how it translates onto the substrate and plays with the eye. I love texture as it gives grit and substance to what I do-­‐ where I am-­‐ where I am going. Grit is good.

I believe that there is humour in most of this life-­‐ if you look simply enough at it, and that oken is translated into quite wacky, wonderful half human, half animal-­‐ insect-­‐plants, smiling at the frailUes of this human/animal condiUon. I paint because I have to-­‐ I will not be whole if I do not put brush or palele knife to paper or canvas.”

Our Secret Language Tumbled From the Sky | oil and mixed media on canvas | 51 x 27.5 | $4500

The Energy of Our Words As They Tumble | oil and mixed media on canvas | 35 x 23.5 | $2650

LINDA KING FERGUSON

The Birdverb works overlay a torn paper surface with a d e n s e l y l a y e r e d p a i n t e d surface on wooden panels.

These works disperse a visual syntax through floaUng spaUal forms.

Birdverb #8-­‐#12 | gouache and paper on panel | 12 x 12 | $650 each, $3000 for set of 5

Scores for the Between #2, #4, & #8 | graphite on paper | 32 x 24 each | $1500 each

ELLE MACLAREN

Hide and Be Seen | oil on cement | 36 x 46 | $6000

Recorded | mixed media on cement | 24 x 36 | $2900

Elle MacLaren’s creaUve process m a n i f e s t s a s a n e x p l o r a U o n o f environmental images. Material, color, and texture are the important elements of this exploraUon using encausUc, metal, cement, oils, graphite and various other media. Her work references l a n d s c a p e s , c i t y s c a p e s , a n d “planetscapes.”

NOLA | mixed media on cement | 48 x 17.5 | $2900

Turn the Page | encausUc and mixed media on panel | 24 x 24 | $ 2000

The Secret Life of Chalkboards | encausUc and oil on panel | 34.5 x 25.5 | $2900

RENEE LAUZON SOUND INSTALLATION

Bird Person, recorded birds of Northern New Mexico and digital music, audio installaUon, 4m 41s (looped), 2018

We Are Where We Are Not, recorded readings from “The DialecUcs of Outside and Inside” (Bachelard), audio installaUon, 1m 19s (looped), 2018

OperaUng within the pracUce of Asemic wriUng, "Bird Person" and "We Are Where We Are Not" are essenUally erasure poems in sound. By using sound as aestheUc material and source texts as conceptual prompts, these two sound installaUons break open semanUc meaning and push away cogniUon in favor of acUvaUng the senses.

GVG Contemporary is a gallery showcasing painting, sculpture, fine art furniture, and artist-made jewelry on the corner of historic Canyon Road and Delgado Street in Santa Fe, New Mexico, owned by husband-and-wife local artist team Ernst Gruler and Blair Vaughn-Gruler.

Â

241 Delgado Street | Santa Fe, NM 87501 | info@gvgcontemporary.com | gvgcontemporary.com | 505.982.1494