Barry Pelzner | (Ir)regular
May 1, 2018, through June 2, 2018
Opening reception: First Thursday, May 5, 2018, from 5-8 PM
Exhibit tour & discussion with the artist: Saturday, May 19, 2018, at 11 AM
Froelick Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday from 10:30 AM- 5:30 PM
EXHIBITION INFORMATION
Barry Pelzner returns to Froelick Gallery with (Ir)regular, his latest collection of monochromatic paintings. Working within the self-imposed limitations of black gouache on white paper, he delves into illusory pattern-making. Expected symmetry is defied by placing these compositions just out of center within his margins. Infinitely repeating beyond the picture plane, Pelzner's shape montages exist in a territory between the academically graphic and the playfully handmade- wry visual non-sequiturs and eyeball-challenging formal shifts make for an intriguing tugof-war between negative and positive space. This imposed sense of movement , “to combat the inherent stasis of still images”, is made apparent in titles such as Devolve, Confluence, Concentrate, Weave, Switcheroo. Pelzner's orchestrations also extend to the temporal, as elements of these pieces have a sense of both coming together and apart, a simultaneous passage and reclamation of time.
ARTIST STATEMENT
"These paintings are the result of my ongoing interest in infinitely repeating two-dimensional patterns. The paintings are at once utterly abstract and utterly concrete. Abstract in that they allude to, without stipulating them, the rules that generate the patterns they contain. Concrete in that the paintings are about nothing whatever except the black and white shapes that comprise them. To combat the inherent stasis of still images, I've attempted, with varying success, to make time's arrow point in two directions in the work-toward becoming and also un-becoming." -Barry Pelzner
ARTIST INFORMATION
Born in San Francisco in 1946, Barry Pelzner earned both a BA and MA from Reed College, and a BFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA), where he has been a professor since 1987. He has also taught at Oregon College of Art and Craft, and at Portland State University. His artwork is held in many permanent regional collections including the City of Portland, the City of Seattle, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, and the Portland Art Museum.