Buster Levi Gallery is pleased to present Diagrams, new paintings and works on paper by Eric Erickson at 121 Main Street in Cold Spring, New York. The exhibition will run from September 1 through October 1, 2017. The opening for the show will be on Friday September 1, 2017 from 6-8pm.
The sources for the subject matter used in Eric Erickson’s work are often everyday objects; faucets, lumber, bricks; or in landscape elements such as clouds. Influenced by both past and contemporary art, especially Philip Guston, Erickson employs these objects in fields of color that generally bare little or no content relationship to them. The fields function as surfaces; the paint handling in most are quite physical; where his subjects interact either upon or within the surface. The history of the painting and the decisions that go on while it develops are clearly evident. Subjects that are glazed over, appearing like ghosts are contrasted with others that are either broadly painted or freely drawn with the brush that emphasize the artist’s hand. In addition, Erickson digs back into the painting by sanding and scraping to reveal earlier decisions and subject matter.
Erickson’s current series, Diagrams, are as he states; “related to dubious diagrams often found with anything needing home assembly.” The subject matter in these works is dominated by pieces of lumber or shapes that recall lumber or objects used in the assembly of furniture. The objects are generally placed along the edges of the canvas. They are busy works with numerous objects depicted that contrast with earlier works such as Joinery, 2005 that contains three pieces of wood and traces of others buried beneath the field. The reference to assembly diagrams refers both to ‘everyday’ content as well as the directions one takes to assemble the final project. The paintings are not composed in an obviously orderly or symmetrical manner. There is a lack of apparent logic evident, almost haphazard as when all of the elements of assembly are spread out on the floor. This emphasizes or suggests ‘dubious paths’ taken as one works through the assembly that is often confusing. In a similar fashion, one’s eyes travel through the paintings confronting detours and uncertain paths. There is no one-way to read the paintings, no central focus or subject. The paintings are adventures in seeing.
Buster Levi Gallery is open Friday through Sunday from 12-6 pm.
