HVCCA: Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art

June 9 - December 16, 2007. HVCCA presents Size Matters: XS - RECENT SMALL-SCALE PAINTINGS, the first of a two-part exhibition investigating issues of scale in contemporary painting featuring many of today's most exceptional established and emerging artists. From the monumental to the miniature, a painting's dimensions are crucial to its context and success. e.g. massive wall murals commissioned for specific architectural spaces or small religious icons used for devotional purposes.

Michaël Borremans
Le Lievre - De Hass - The Hare, 2006
8.7" x 5.2"
Courtesy of Private Collection

Ever since the introduction of the Abstract Expressionist notion of the canvas as an infinite "field" of activity delimited only by its framing, the tendency of artists to produce large-scale paintings has often been associated with the pursuit of the sublime or the staging of a spectacle. An extravagant market for contemporary art has certainly played a role in validating such grand statements by artists, but a return to the more intimate and humble possibilities offered by small-scale painting is also very evident in recent exhibitions, especially those of younger artists. Demanding close inspection, smaller works are often the result of a meticulous activity and therefore contain a legibility that more expansive gestures deny.

For the first installment of Size Matters, the HVCCA brings together a diverse group of international artists for whom working in minute proportions is an integral part of their respective practices. Abstraction, figuration, photo-realism, and caricature are just a few of the art historical genres being refreshed with new approaches by artists in the exhibition. With an average size of approximately one-foot square, these paintings attest to the fact that many artists are producing complex and unconventional statements that are enhanced rather than restricted by the tight confines of the picture plane. Featuring work produced within the last five years, the exhibition includes several artists, such as Thordis Adalsteinsdottir, Andrew Sendor, Aaron Johnson, Ridley Howard, and Skyler Brickley, offering new paintings specifically for Size Matters.

Ross Chisholm
Couple & Dog, 2006
Oil on linen 12.2" x 8.1"
Courtesy of Private Collection (New York)

Including works by:

Thordis Adalsteinsdottir
Justin Allen
Francis Alÿs
Hernan Bas
Amy Bennett
Michaël Borremans
Skyler Brickley
Guillermo Caivano
Ross Chisholm
Nigel Cooke
William Daniels
Paul Doran
Tim Eitel
Adrian Ghenie
Trenton Doyle Hancock
Ridley Howard
Aaron Johnson
Charles Karubian
Tala Madani
Alex Pollard
Ulf Puder
Clare Rojas
Andrew Sendor
Anj Smith
Mathew Weir

Amy Bennett
Against the Wall, 2006
Oil on canvas 2" x 3.75"
Courtesy of the Barry Belkin Collection (Los Angeles)

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