Cover Image: Sarah Bedford, Dark Hollow, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 38 inches
Making Time
June 14 - August 23, 2024
Sarah Bedford, Juan Angel Chavez, Isabella Cuglievan, Michael Dumontier & Neil Farber, Robert Heinecken, Paul Heyer, Ben Houtkamp, Kysa Johnson, Sung Jang, Tony Matelli, Kristoffer McAfee, Alessandra Norman, Carolyn Ottmers, Sterling Ruby, A.V. Ryan, Claudia Peña Salinas, and Jacqueline Surdell
Photographs by Nathan Keay
Making Time
Making Time was presented in conjunction with the solo exhibition Stephen Eichhorn: Voidground at 1801 West Hubbard Street from June 14 - August 23, 2024
SECRIST | BEACH is pleased to present Making Time, a salon presentation coorganized by artist Stephen Eichhorn.
The title of the exhibition is taken from a concept called “The Archeology of Time” which states that if we want to understand what time is, we must accept that things, or objects, do not just exist in time, they make time Featuring seventeen artists working in a variety of media, each work on show represents an array of philosophical and metaphysical ideas about how objects exist within, and interact with, the framework of time.
The artworks in Making Time use elements of organica as a way of exploring the dichotomy between objects and time With materials made from - or representingflowers, wood, fiber, rock, light, seeds, clay and the human figure, each work offers profound insights into the human experience. How these objects merge and exist within the framework of time oscillates between the existence of the natural world and how we interpret, utilize, ingest and embrace or reject it. If these interlocking elements of the physical world around us and the objects it produces form what we know as the macrocosm, its excavation leaves us with wonder
Through metaphor and symbolism, the themes in Making Time revolve around ideas of ownership, transcendence, entropy, and perception. By using the earth as a starting point for understanding an object's place within the structure of time, the positive and negative elements of human interference in our complex ecosystem are revealed In elevating these objects with their alchemic approaches, the artists here individually decipher the macrocosm through the act of slowing time and illuminating the microcosms that surround us.
SARAH BEDFORD New York
All works courtesy the artist and Mrs gallery
June Azure, 2023
Acrylic and oil pastel on canvas 24 x 18 inches
Little Room on Dunn Mountain, 2023
Acrylic on linen 9 x 12 inches
Buttercup, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
8 x 6 inches
Alpine Sunflowers + Firewheels, 2020
Acrylic, Pastel and Gouache on canvas
12 x 9 inches
Center Sway, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
20 x 16 inches
Dark Hollow, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
50 x 38 inches
BEN HOUTKAMP
Chicago
Stained glass as an historical form of art has long been synonymous with spiritual symbolism. Houtkamp’s artwork retains this, in addition to its specified placement within architecture, but updates in a contemporaneous manner maintaining light as the activator Here, translucent stained glass pieces combine shapes, line and natural light to reveal enigmatic characters with an expressive nod to nostalgia.
All works courtesy the artist
Hooked on Phonics, 2024
Traditional leaded stained glass panel in steel frame 35 inches, diameter
Traditional leaded stained glass panel in steel frame
35 inches, diameter
Magic Water, 2024
The Ranch, 2024
Traditional leaded stained glass panel in steel frame 35 inches, diameter
The Discovery Center, 2024
Traditional leaded stained glass panel in walnut frame, LED lights, electrical plug 32.25 x 32.25 x 6.5 inches
MICHAEL DUMONTIER & NIEL FARBER
Dumontier & Farber’s deceptively simple paintings of flowers with phrases mimic the complexity of daily life and the whimsy of nature. These delicate depictions of flora painted on monochromatic backgrounds somehow perfectly match with the accompanying lines of text, which range from melancholic to prophetic, and are often humorous. Presented in multiple, the combined artworks create an accumulative poetic discourse that is both visual and literary.
All works in the series are acrylic on board, 10 x 8 inches All works courtesy the artists
The first time I was reborn was the last time I was afraid
That spell you're under, it belongs to me.
I'd call in sick, but who would I call?
Today, we continue our ascension.
You're welcome to be a part of my life, as long as you don't mind being seriously tangled
What looks like two flowers in one reality is in fact one flower in two realities
I was planted where the wine was spilled, where the blood was spilled
Own your own now
The ground and the seed each kept their promise I need a question with no answer, so I'll always have something think about.
Where we were once damaged, we were now joined.
We've always been together, but I have no idea who they are.
Today was two days, so tomorrow won't be long
Growing is victory
Perfect, but just for this one moment
Some days require a united front
I'm inside a bad mood, but I know there's a way out.
I believe that my birth created the universe, and that yesterday there was only nothing, but what do I know, I’m new here.
Why not tell me in the beginning that it would be fine in the end?
KRISTOFFER McAFEE
Chicago
The Universal Identity series of paintings reinterpret the third dimension by presenting the five Platonic solids: fire, air, earth, water and ether (aka “the heavens”), that connect to every living entity on the planet and the known universe as a whole. The combination of historically-based theoretical physics, the earthly elements that make up the universe and the utilization of abstract mark-making to represent it, culminate in a sublime dynamic.
Universal Identity, 2020
paint, illustration board, gold foil
5 parts, 30 x 30 inches each
Courtesy the artist
Acrylic
A.V. RYAN
New York
Ryan’s steel sculpture reveals the dimensional iteration of a cube being constructed, or traced, by the arc of a compass. Through this act, this arc becomes a wing, revealing a star and moon. According to Ryan, these sacred geometries bely sacred structures; the cube is a fragment of a cosmic, dynamic order a sturdy form from forgotten wings. As these basic building blocks incorporate an organic math, a science is born of an inviolate nature
Swing an Arc I, 2021 Steel
48 x 48 x 24 inches
Courtesy the artist
ROBERT HEINECKEN
New York
Heinecken’s historically significant re-processed photographs focus on the female form, revealing conceptual links that hint at humanity's complex relation with itself and its surroundings. Here, by cutting and reassembling a photograph of a nude woman, body parts combine into an abstraction that is simultaneously familiar yet alien. Notably, 12 Figure Squares (1967), is considered to be a sculptural work by the artist, further challenging the conventions of what photography is and can be.
12 Figure Squares, 1967
12 silver gelatin prints, mounted
8.75 x 11.75 inches
Courtesy artist’s estate
STERLING RUBY
Los Angeles
Cryptic and perplexing, the mixture of imagery and words in Ruby’s work purposefully blends symbols and semantics, creating a call to arms. The nebulous nature of what that proclamation is may have to do with the battle between something that is clearly defined (geometry) versus completely the opposite (amorphism) Ultimately, by denouncing form and its mathematical and aesthetic properties, Ruby’s work asks what are we left with?
Anti Print 1 (Minimalism Tried to Kill the Amorphous Law, This Won't Last), 2004
Giclee print
19 x 13 inches
Courtesy private collection
CLAUDIA PEÑA SALINAS
New York
Salinas’ diptych of photographs depict displaced rocks from the archeological site at Uxmal, Yucatan, extracted by looting and tourism. One rock found its way to - and was photographed by - the American Museum of Natural History: the other via a tourist shop in Mexico (circa 1970) to the ubiquitous reseller agent Ebay. The scale of the stones is intentionally effaced to emphasize their similar materiality and migratory paths. The level of sharpness for each respective photo subtly reveals different measures of culpability, emphasizing the viewers responsibility.
Uxmal III, 2021
Inkjet prints
2 photographs at 12 x 16 inches each
Courtesy the artist and Galería CURRO
KYSA JOHNSON
Los Angeles
Johnson states that her paintings explore patterns in nature that exist at the extremes of scale, using these as a way to reflect on our place in the physical universe and history. Using the shapes of microscopic or macroscopic landscapes, such as subatomic decay patterns, maps of the universe, or the molecular structure of pollutants or of diseases and cures, Johnson depicts a physical reality that is invisible to the naked eye. Often these micro patterns are built up to form compositions that relate to these invisible landscapes conceptually.
All work courtesy the artist
Ghosts in Common – 1348/2022 (Fill Your Empty Sun With Flowers) –
Subatomic Decay Patterns and Wildflowers 2, 2023
Ink, watercolor, and acrylic on linen
78 x 63 inches
Ghosts In Common - Eat the Sun - Subatomic Decay Patterns and Fall Flowers 1, 2024
Acrylic, ink and watercolor on linen
27 x 24 x 1.5 inches
Ghosts In Common - EatThe Sun - Subatomic Decay Patterns and Tangled Flowers 1, 2024
Acrylic, ink and watercolor on linen
27 x 24 x 1.5 inches
TONY MATELLI New York
Matteli’s trompe l'oeil bronze sculpture of a dandelion weed tucked into the corner between the wall and floor of the gallery belies an exercise in contrast An art object made from bronze in the guise of a rugged plant of dubious distinction and located in visually pristine setting. The metaphorical weight of this art object is secondary to its
Dandelion, 2012
Painted bronze
19.25 x 8.75 x 12 inches
Courtesy private collection
JUAN ANGEL CHAVEZ Chicago
Chavez repurposes found wood, figuratively and conceptually, through controlled public burns and the use of seemingly random words - phrases and nouns - that confound and placate. Encased and presented in heavy duty plexiglass, the artworks become specimen-like in their appearance creating a dialogue between the industrial and natural worlds This reconstitution of both materials and phrases reveal some of the mysteries contained in the world around us
All work courtesy the artist
Drunk Tank, 2024
Burnt plywood, charcoal, bird feathers and artificial flower
36 x 36 x 6 inches
Gift Detail, 2024
Burnt plywood, bison fur, ash, mourning dove feather
36 x 36 x 6 inches
Philsophers Stone FLOR DE OASIS, 2024
Burnt plywood, charcoal, fake hair and acrylic
36 x 36 x 6 inches
Chicago
Jang’s painting and sculptures utilize natural materials such as wood, rock and sand to draw meaning from memory and explore how our recollections inform our current experiences. Inspired by the first world map of Korea made over 300 years ago, a speculative and crude amalgamation, Jang’s artworks are constructions of imagination representing the past and present - as well as a mnemonic device for the future.
All work courtesy the artist and Volume Gallery
Shape of Land, 2024
Inked sand, acrylic on linen
64 x 49.5 inches
72 x 15 x 20 inches
Given, 2024 Oak and stone
Given, 2024
ISABELLA CUGLIEVAN
Lima, Peru
Cuglievan’s paintings, from the series titled “Reaching for a leaf as it spirals down,” are dimensional, hypnotic, colorful, abstract accumulations “stitched” organically, brushstroke by brushstroke. These small works (measuring 8 inches square) are among the smallest the artist has made to date and represent an exercise in restraint, stopping right after what would usually be the beginning of a painting. The resultant artworks are potent examples of abstract mark-making: simultaneously exquisite and robust
All works courtesy the artist
for a leaf as it spirals down I, 2024
Reaching
Acrylic ink on wood panel
8 x 8 inches
Reaching for a leaf as it spirals down II, 2024
ALESSANDRA NORMAN
Chicago
Norman’s painting investigates the space between perception and perspective by playing with reality and its landscapes, straddling the conceptual frameworks of the artwork’s medium. Here, two-dimensional imagery is at odds with the three-dimensional form of the underlying surface. This is an exploration into defining “real-life” as our current reality, or “in real life” is increasingly becoming flattened through digital experiences.
Work courtesy the artist
Drawing the Shades, 2024
MDF, acrylic, spray enamel
18.375 x 35.875 x 2 inches
PAUL HEYER Chicago
Heyer’s paintings imagine a concurrent fictive world that reveals ardent imagery with a lexicon of landscapes, flowers, humans, and skeletons. It’s through this guise of perception and illusion that the spectacle of nature appears - creating a context for illusory moments that primarily concerns itself with life and death The symbolism that exists along this trajectory, between the beginning and ending, creates a narrative that suggests a protagonist whose fate will only be revealed after a prolonged journey.
New Sky, 2024 Oil on linen
18 x 21 inches
All works courtesy the artist and Night Gallery
Four Leaf Clover, 2024 Oil on linen
16 x 20 inches
JACQUELINE SURDELL
Chicago
Surdell’s monumental fiber-based wall sculpture is inspired by Giotto’s 14th century fresco of The Last Judgment in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy with it’s fiery depiction connecting the “present-day” world of the faithful, the world beyond time, and the finality of the Last Judgment Surdell’s depiction of this event incorporates the element of landscape, further emphasizing a cosmic connection to the spiritual domain. Utilizing thick ropes, woven fabrics and steel structures along with warped perspectives, voids and windows, the duality of religious morality and a sublime panorama create an enigmatic contemporary experience.
