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Thursday, September 30, 2010

Opening at Kehler Liddell this Sunday during CWOS

Kehler Liddell Gallery
873 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 389-9555
Keith Johnson and John Harris
Sept. 30—Oct. 31, 2010
Opening reception: Sun., Oct. 3, 3—6 p.m., with Artist Talk at 3 p.m.

Press release

Kehler Liddell Gallery is pleased to present a two-person exhibition of new works by painter John Harris and photographer Keith Johnson. This will be Harrisʼs debut at Kehler Liddell Gallery, and Johnsonʼs third show.

John Harris isolates and exaggerates forms, colors and sequences found in nature. His large-scale, photorealist paintings take months to complete, as he meticulously works to recreate various environmental complexities from photographs and memory. His process begins with mapping out large shapes of color on his canvas, the paint is allowed to dry and then details are added. The repetition of this careful glazing technique results in the dramatization of hundreds of translucent layers—a visual effect that is conceptually harmonious with its subject: water.

Harris is most interested in exploring waterʼs physical properties-- reflection, turbidity, rhythm, pattern, that make up its unique viewing experience. He addresses these issues by isolating a moment in time in various bodies of water, painting from a birds-eye view. The result is a series of hypnotic and fleeting images, in which water is disguised as tree canopies and the skies above.

Keith Johnson photographs environments with the control and excitement of an anthropologist excavating a new civilization. Johnson is captivated by the hidden language of images, and makes photographs to explore 1) the intrinsic meaning of images, 2) how and why these meanings change over time, and 3) how position, context and presentation affects their meanings.

Johnson photographs a wide range of subject: landscapes, cityscapes, waterscapes, interiors, isolated forms, aerial panoramas. The exhibition will feature new work from his Grid Series and Extended Landscape Series, in which Johnson presents multiple photographs as one work. His presentations vary from involved grids of 4 images across by 4 images down, to simpler triptychs of 3 large images across. The works challenge the traditional notions of photography by implying that sometimes a single photograph does not aptly describe the idea.

There will be an opening reception for this show this Sunday from 3—6 p.m. during City-Wide Open Studios.

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