AMY FELDMAN 

TRICE ELECTRIC

Amy Feldman's abstractions are impactful considerations of form: pure in composition and powerful in subtext. Her paintings serve one-two punches of immediacy and resonance, humor and critique -- compelling the viewer to consider the initial broadcast of image as only one facet of a sophisticated whole. The initial impression upon seeing Feldman's paintings is visceral -- scale, stark contrast of figure and ground, and the expanse of form all grab one's attention -- after which the eye and mind pivot as subtleties are revealed and the malleability of form becomes apparent. What reads as concrete becomes complicated and exploratory. Feldman is consciously reshaping formal traditions in her practice: creating a stripped-down painting language of her own making which, among other intentions, significantly addresses the cultural changes in how images are perceived, and registered, in popular culture.

In Trice Electric, Feldman's second solo exhibition at ANNAELLEGALLERY, the artist presents a new series of paintings which embrace and push the boundaries of figuration, dark humor and ambiguous narrative. Characteristic urgency and vibrancy remain at the core of her works, which make solid allusions to the body, landscape, and architecture. In Goddess Congress, psychedelic triangular shapes are doubled, and then adorned, as if part of the entablature on a formal facade. Her baroque line against the pristine surfaces of her canvases, allows the viewer to see the white grounding as its own negative presence. The uneven and implied borders confuse the viewer's perception and remind us that no thought nor image, ancient or modern, is fully firm.

Feldman is a unique contemporary voice in painting. She is able to bridge complete facility and control, along with deep knowledge of art history, to a rare spontaneity and vigor -- intrinsically connecting the viewer to larger questions regarding painting's potential to distill human experience. 

Amy Feldman (1981) received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2003 and MFA from Rutgers University in 2008. She has had solo exhibitions at Blackston, New York; Sorry We're Closed, Brussels, Belgium; ANNAELLEGALLERY, Stockholm, Sweden. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany; Museo Britanico Americano, Mexico City; Musée d'art Moderne, Saint-Etienne, France; New Britain Museum of American Art, CT; The American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY; Bronx River Arts Center, New York, NY. She is the recipient of numerous awards, residencies, and grants including the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant (2013), the Marie Walsh Sharpe Residency Fellowship (2012), the Robert Motherwell Fellowship at the MacDowell Colony (2011), a Yaddo Residency Fellowship (2011), the VCUarts Fountainhead Fellowship (2008-09), and a Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Fellowship (2009). Feldman's work has been reviewed and featured in ArtForum, The New York Times, Art in America, Art Info, Manhattan Magazine, Time Out New York, BOMB Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, The New Criterion, NY Arts Magazine, Figaro Scope, Télérama Sortir, Le Quotidien de l'Art, The Art Economist, The San Francisco Chronicle, Vogue Mexico, and The Huffington Post, among other publications. Feldman lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.  

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Amy Feldmans abstraktioner är reduktiva men effektfulla i sitt språk. Bildelementen är tuffa och djärva, enkla och kraftfulla. Konstruktionen i varje målning ges ett enda försök. Hennes till synes anspråkslösa kompositioner kräver logik i sin direkthet, stabilitet i sitt omedelbara gehör. Motiven är flyktigt geometriska, vagt symmetriska med oregelbundna konturer och färgen varierar i intensitet. Medvetet kombinerar Feldman formella traditioner med ett innovativt, avskalad måleri. Medvetna antydningar om att en förändring pågår i hur bilder uppfattas och registreras, medvetna anspelningar på att konstens har en alltmer instabil roll i vår samtida kultur.

I sin andra separatutställning på ANNAELLEGALLERY presenterar Feldman en serie nya verk – alla med kopplingar till sociala ikonografiska egenskaper. Med bildelement i form av kropp, bild, landskap och arkitektur skapar Feldman med enkla och kraftfulla gester en siktbar berättelse. Feldmans målningar slår betraktaren med sin grafiska kraft och kroppslighet samt med sin påfallande subtilitet och finess.

I verket Goddess Congress isoleras och dubbleras psykedeliska triangulära former, former prydda med rosetter och ovolos - liksom delar av entablementet på en klassisk arkitektonisk fasad. De orörda ytorna är besläktade med vit marmor täckt av både historia och drama. 

Övriga verk kontrasterar mot Goddess Congress. I verket Heaven’s Oven använder sig Feldman av grova penseldrag och cartoon- liknande former. Här ligger spänningsfältet i de tyngdlösa ytorna i mellanrummet av färg och duk. Dess kyliga palett sammanfaller med kraften i den till synes nonchalant utförda gesten. Formerna studsar, pulserar och störtar fram över duken, utgör motiven av mullrande strukturer som är karaktäristiska för Feldmans typiska barockstil.

Amy Feldman (1981) har en BFA från the Rhode Island School of Design (2003) och en MFA från Rutgers University (2008). Feldman har haft soloutställningar på Blackston, New York; Sorry We're Closed, Brussels, Belgium; ANNAELLEGALLERY, Stockholm, Sweden. Hennes verk har också vistats på Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany; Museo Britanico Americano, Mexico City; Musée d'art Moderne, Saint-Etienne, France; New Britain Museum of American Art, CT; The American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY; Bronx River Arts Center, New York, NY. Hon har blivit tilldelad the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant (2013), the Marie Walsh Sharpe Residency Fellowship (2012), the Robert Motherwell Fellowship at the MacDowell Colony (2011), a Yaddo Residency Fellowship (2011), the VCUarts Fountainhead Fellowship (2008-09), och a Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Fellowship (2009). Feldmans verk har blivit recenserade i ArtForum, The New York Times, Art in America, Art Info, Manhattan Magazine, Time Out New York, BOMB Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, The New Criterion, NY Arts Magazine, Figaro Scope, Télérama Sortir, Le Quotidien de l'Art, The Art Economist, The San Francisco Chronicle, Vogue Mexico, and The Huffington Post. Feldman bor och arbetar i Brooklyn, New York.