New York, NY (January 26, 2012) - Hionas Gallery is pleased to present Re- Make/Re-Model, a solo exhibition of new works by Charles Lutz comprised of a selection of the artist’s signature Post-Pop paintings and sculpture, from his Equivocal Voids and High Life series’, on view February 9 – March ... Read more
New York, NY (January 26, 2012) – Hionas Gallery is pleased to present Re- Make/Re-Model, a solo exhibition of new works by Charles Lutz comprised of a selection of the artist’s signature Post-Pop paintings and sculpture, from his Equivocal Voids and High Life series’, on view February 9 – March 3, 2012.
Lutz’s wandering eye is keen to the satirical, the sexual and the absurd, found in objects both mundane and iconic, from Warhol’s appropriated Brillo boxes, re-appropriated by Lutz for a somber result in cold black stainless steel, to Franz Kline’s fluid action brushstrokes, re-made to reveal disparate body parts lustfully intertwined. With each work, Lutz begins and ends with a simple premise: to extract from a particular source only its most vital information, and with that information find some new way to communicate. For much of his source material Lutz takes familiar symbols and brand names one might find in a magazine or on a billboard, and given the solarized, monochromatic effect that’s inherent in much of Lutz’s work, what he chooses to extract can appear to some a harsh, if not apathetic commentary on the very imagery and iconography that feeds off our minds and wallets.
“I like to think this work reveals a sober and real portrait of us as a culture,” says Lutz, “one that is constantly shifting yet has remained largely unchanged.” Indeed, the unambiguous origins of this body of work may inspire some to recall readymades or the cold steel constructions of the early Minimalists. Whatever one’s perspective, the originality, or lack thereof, of abstraction, Pop and other artistic modes is brought into question here, and becomes the crux of Re-Make/Re-Model. By synthesizing what is consumable and what has, in a sense, already been consumed, Lutz’s work evokes a false déjà vu, wherein we recognize the objects at hand, but clearly we have not witnessed these very things before.
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Brillo (Black Box) (2011). Silkscreen on stainless steel, 17 × 14 × 17 in. Edition of 10
The gallery will be holding a public opening reception for Re-Make/Re-Model on Thursday, February 9, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.
About the Artist:
Charles Lutz (b. 1982) grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. His Pop- and Conceptualist- inspired work delves into the nature of basic human desire, as well as the economic, social and financial markets, with a particular emphasis on the insular world of the contemporary art market. Commissions of his work include projects for Surface Magazine, Time Out New York, and the Terminal 5 exhibition (2004) at JFK International Airport.
Solo exhibitions of his work include the lauded What Makes an Icon? (2010- 2011) billboard installations throughout New York City; Charts, Pricelists, Corrections and Other Relevant Statements (2010) at FiveMyles, Brooklyn; SOLD (2008) at the Tribeca Grand, New York; and Denial & Acceptance (2007) at PEP Gallery, Brooklyn. Before the closing of Re-Make/Re-Model, Lutz’s work will be included in the group show In the Event of Andy Warhol (March 1 – April 1, 2012), at Olin Gallery, Roanoke College, Salem, VA. Lutz earned his BFA in Painting and Art History from the Pratt Institute in 2004. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
