Opening Thursday, Jan 12, 6-8
Janet Culbertson “Possible Peril”
&
Mitch Miller “Natural Selection”
Accola Griefen Gallery, 547 W27th St., NYC (#634)
In her most recent series, Industrial Park, Culbertson re-imagines a future of disastrous consequences. By mixing mica and iridescent pigments into her paint the artist simulates the appearance of broken glass, mine tailings and oil spills. The resulting surfaces lend a lustrous yet threatening quality to her subject matters - jungles of twisted roads, acres of concrete cylinders, massive oil rigs and an unnaturally scorched earth. Primates often appear amidst these dark landscapes as poignant reminders of the many species we have threatened in striving for a rich future with little mind to sustainability.
Mitch Miller’s work is rooted in a fraught relationship with the natural world that which began in formative visits to the awe-inspiring sites where his father worked as a petroleum engineer. In Natural Selection, creature-like sculptures in reclaimed Styrofoam, perch on pedestals and hang suspended in the air. The largest hanging pieces are literally moving targets. After assembling and painting, the final stage of production involves participants shooting the glacial craters with a bow and arrow. This activity causes the structures to spin, gouges the textured surface and splinters off pieces that are then reassembled to create the smaller-scale works.
