Wednesday, February 1, 2012

ANETA BARTOS & NICK WEBER in JACK & JILL


AMH Industries

Image: Aneta Bartos, Together, 2011 (Digital C-print from Polaroid)
ANETA BARTOS & NICK WEBER in JACK & JILL
Curated by ANNE HUNTINGTON

February 2 – 28 2012
Reception: February 2 from 6-9pm
144 Tenth Ave NYC

AMH is pleased to present Aneta Bartos and Nick Weber in JACK & JILL curated by Anne Huntington on display at 144 10th Avenue (nr. 19th st) in Chelsea, NYC.

Bartos and Weber fluidly breathe haunting life into two-dimensional photographs and paintings, respectively, with such essence that the works bring forth a universal force. There is a duality of existence that is simultaneously light and dark; modern and nostalgic; erotic and romantic that invites the viewer into specific, yet open-ended worlds. Powerfully reflecting on the human psyche, childhood lessons learned, and acceptance granted or denied. The images arouse dangerous emotion with a fantastical dreamlike tone. We encounter humanity at its core, portals into ecstasy, challenging the viewer to experience various states of grace, to break through life’s defined states of sexuality in beautiful, disturbing and organic mediums. Bartos and Weber continue the figurative tradition, following the paths of Mapplethorpe and Bacon.

JACK & JILL references the boys and girls in us, as Bartos and Weber play the roles of artistic brother and sister. Instinctive parallels marry the works and blur the culturally formed lines ingrained in our visible and invisible worlds. The show delves into roles imbued in life’s mores and taboos through gender, gender bending, innocence and existence, linking to life’s complicated watered crown. JACK & JILL is the first time the artists are exhibiting together.

BARTOS: I’m very intrigued by human bodies as a spiritual, magical and mysterious energy, that appear to us as thinking beings, yet we know nothing of what they might be in themselves. I try to capture the dark and blurred space between the conscious and the subconscious, where I create the visual equivalent of memory recalled 'reality' one feels when jolted awake in deep r.e.m. sleep. However, my process is not a snapshot in the time, it is an eerie reflection of the body's spirits in the moment. It's my journey into the psyche of the body, where my passions, fears and taboos find it's home.

WEBER: The physical impact of my figures is what I attempt to convey, harnessing the energy of paint to conjure an actual person, not just a painting of a person. I subject my work to random destructive forces, molding the figure through a journey of memory versus form, layered by the processes of sanding and scraping, til what survives is the essential. Time’s passage is depicted literally and figuratively. The past lives in the present. I am haunted by female beauty, and the human ambivalence towards love and destruction.

Aneta Bartos, born in Poland, based in New York City, attended The School of Visual Arts. Most recently, Bartos was commissioned to create an art installation at ACME, New York, curated by Neville Wakefield. 2010, Bartos’ internationally acclaimed collaboration 4 Sale exhibited in New York City, Moscow and Poznan. 2009, Bartos debuted a solo show at Artsource, NY. 2007, Photo District News awarded Bartos as the top choice for Emerging Photographers. Bartos’ work has been featured in W Magazine, Interview Magazine, Conde Nast Portfolios, ARTINFO, British GQ, Panorama Newsweek, Zoo Magazine, GUP, Blow Photo and New York Magazine.

Nick Weber received his BA in Studio Art from Stanford, studying with Nathan Oliveira. Recent exhibits include solo and group shows at John McWhinnie in New York City and East Hampton as well as exhibits at the Fireplace Project in East Hampton and Scope Hamptons Art Fair. Featured press includes ARTINFO, New York Post, NBC Nightly News, Time Out Magazine, The Village Voice and CBS Sunday Morning. Work is collected by Richard Prince, Lisa de Kooning, Phil Aarons and Glenn Horowitz. Portrait commissions include Betsy Johnson and Abercrombie and Fitch. Weber is based in Amagansett, NY.

AMH Industries is the creative agency for contemporary culture – a full service art advisory and curatorial company. AMH produces and curates exhibitions, non-profit and for-profit events, corporate and personal collections, panel discussions, dinners and more. Founded in 2010 by Anne Huntington.


Inquiries: info@amhindustries.com

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.