FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Curated by Andrea Teschke
Opening reception: Saturday, September 10, 6-8 pm
Friedrich Petzel Gallery is pleased to present "I have thought deep into this trouble", a solo exhibition by Los Angeles-based artist Jon Pylypchuk. The exhibition will be comprised of large-scale sculpture and painting.
Continuing to populate a sad sack universe of lovable losers, the artist has added feline characters to his menagerie. Composed in tableaus that deal with violence, illness and loss, his figures never descend into melancholia, but retain a wry humor that affirms life. In the past his anthropomorphized animals have suffered a multitude of mishaps- a litany of car crashes, manslaughter, falls from snowcapped mountains, war- but here they engage as pugilists. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a boxing ring, with both combatants wearing orange trunks. In Pylypchuk's vision, the referee has been transformed into a gravedigger, preparing an eternal resting place for the chump.
A second large-scale sculpture is of another cat, this time suffering from a head injury. The battered figure is slumped and eating a bowl of soup. The table on which the meal is propped is an abstract field encased in resin, containing detritus, shards and sparkles, which bridges the artist's three-dimensional works with painting.
This is Jon Pylypchuk's third solo exhibition at Friedrich Petzel Gallery. His work can also be seen in an upcoming solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland in January 2006.
"i have thought deep into this trouble" will be on view from September 10 – October 8, 2005, with an opening reception on Saturday, September 10, from 6-8 pm. The gallery is located at 535 West 22nd Street, New York, NY, 10011. For further information, please contact the gallery at info@petzel.com, or call (212) 680-9467.