Opening reception at Reynolds Fine Art in New Haven Friday evening

Reynolds Fine Art
96 Orange St., New Haven, (203) 498-2200
Robert Reynolds & Mary Black
Oct. 5—27, 2012.
Opening Reception: Fri., Oct. 5, 5—8 p.m.

Press release from Reynolds Fine Art

Reynolds Fine Art is pleased to present a two-person exhibition featuring Mary Black, a California native, in her debut at the gallery, along side new work by Robert Reynolds.

Mary Black's primary concerns in her approach to art making have always been directed toward process, surface, and materials. Painting exclusively in encaustic paint for over a decade, Black has mastered an often unruly medium. Encaustic paint, a material comprised of wax, pigment, and dammar resin, that is heated and fused, is very difficult to control. The artist's relationship with this hot wax, however, is fluid and intuitive. She openly embraces the challenges that occur in the creation of a wide spectrum of surfaces, from flat and transparent, to dense and scarred.

Though Black has limited control over her material—it is her intention to trust her body's response to the medium—her work is a reflection of her interest in Jungian psychology, duality, and the unconscious mind. When viewed as a group, the array of oppositions in each piece, whether it is color, texture, or light and shadow, are ultimately attracted to each other like magnets to form a solid union. Black has said of her work, "There is a very destructive aspect to my work, as it is only through the process of destruction and creation that I am able to build the layered, raw surfaces I am attracted to...It's about creating chaos, organizing chaos, giving into unplanned responses, and then letting go of my intentions."

Robert Reynolds, the gallery owner and namesake, will be exhibiting a new series of work. Deriving from a collection of sketches made over the past twenty years, Reynolds has taken a bare bones approach to painting as a method of sorting through living. These minimalistic, abstracted oils on linen are documents of fragmented memories and disjointed pieces of time. Much like cut up negatives on a light box, each canvas is a vaguely remembered still frame from the artist's past.

This opening event will coincide with the Ninth Square first Friday event Create on 9, during which Mary Black, who will have flown from California to be with us at the event, will be available in the gallery to speak about her encaustic process. Additionally, this is the opening weekend of City-Wide Open Studios. Join us on Saturday as Robert Reynolds paints outside the gallery throughout the day.