Gallery
Address:
845 W Washington Blvd.
2nd Floor
Chicago, IL 60607
312.480.8390
send
email
( scott at westernexhibitions dot com )
Gallery hours:
Wedensdays thru Saturdays
11am to 6pm
November 20 to December 19, 2009
JOE HARDESTY
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Gallery Talk by Joe Hardesty
Thursday, December 10th, 5:30pm
Joe Hardesty uses text to describe what the viewer is experiencing – that is, he hand draws a series of sentences that depict an evocative scene. As such, his drawings inhabit a space somewhere between text, image and the mind’s eye. Seemingly simple, Hardesty’s drawings on paper address contradictory aspects of our cultural landscape. The themes and issues in his current body of work include, among other things, German landscape painting, animal husbandry, the disappearance of traditional agricultural practices in the face of corporate food production, neurological disorders, and Vikings. The drawings often include images that invoke trauma and elation. By focusing viewers’ attention through the use of text, the drawings work both as a concrete reality created on the page and as a changing series of interpretations as each viewer “reads” the text differently. For this show, Hardesty will produce several large-scale drawings using graphite, and colored pencil. Together, the drawings develop a loose narrative for the show as a whole, endeavoring to articulate his personal feelings about living in the 21st century. The story might involve horses.
This is Joe Hardesty’s first solo show. He recently returned from a year-long stay in Berlin, Germany where he moved upon receiving the Gelman Travel Fellowship. In September, Hardesty was included in the group show “Access All Areas” curated by Arturo Herrera and Tanja Wagner at Galerie Max Hetzler in Berlin. His work has been seen in group exhibitions in Chicago at Western Exhibitions, Lloyd Dobler Gallery, devening projects + editions, and 40000. His drawings are included in the collections of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University and the Reed College Print, Drawing and Artist Book Collections. In January of 2010 his work will be included in an exhibition in Beijing, China. Hardesty received his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2008 and as he has just returned from Berlin, he does not yet have a permanent residence.
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