Monochromatic

Asya Geisberg Gallery is pleased to present "Monochromatic", an exhibition of works that are primarily black or white, and investigates how artists exploit the opportunities presented by an achromatic position. Displayed on alternating black or white walls, the artworks rely on texture, shape, positive and negative, surface, contrast, and content, all allowed to claim primacy when color is extracted.
 
Lauren Clay's wall works of draped and sagging papier-mâché tubes meld a biomorphic sensuality onto starkly minimal geometries, winkingly undermining the supposed power of symmetrical tautologies. In Rodrigo Valenzuela's photographic series "Hedonic Reversal", the artist starts with a black background and adds white material to construct a staged environment that belies its three-dimensionality, by breaking perspective and enforcing linearity. Anna Mikhailovskaia transforms simple monochromatic materials into unrefined geometries and shapes reminiscent of ancient monuments, Soviet Brutalism, and Constructivist painting. In Rachel Stern's diptych, her photographic practice, normally redolent of over-the-top decoration and color, is pared down into a mostly-black still-life that transforms in the second work through a black pour, suggesting life snuffed out, with blown out candles and dulled surfaces. Ricardo Gonzalez uses black as the signifier of Expressionist machoism or adolescent inky scribblings, with maniacal characters resembling nightmarish stick figures or primitive monsters. Tracy Thomason's paintings in oil and marble dust use an achromatic palette to highlight the symbolic nature of linguistic or gestural forms, resulting in sinewy lines and luscious textures.

Lauren Clay lives and works in Brooklyn. She received a BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design, and an MFA from Virgina Commonwealth University. Her work has been widely exhibited nationally, at venues such as TSA New York, NY, LVL3 Gallery, Chicago, Regina Rex, NY, Whitespace Gallery, Atlanta, and Tild Gallery, Portland.
 
Ricardo Gonzalez was born in Mexico City and lives and works in New York. He received an MFA from New York University after earning a BFA at New England School of Art & Design, Boston, MA and Madrid, Spain. He has exhibited in numerous venues in New York, Boston, Miami, Berlin, Mexico, and Belgium. He is a recipient of the Martin Wong Scholarship Award in Painting, and his work has been reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, Time Out New York, Art F City, and Pas un Autre.
 
Anna Mikhailovskaia was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and lives and works in Brookyln. She received a BFA from Brandeis University, and an MFA from The Rhode Island School of Design. Her work has been exhibited at Jeffery Leder Gallery, New York; Regina Rex, New York; Elga Wimmer Gallery, New York; and Sol Kffler Gallery, Providence. Press includes The New York Times, The Brooklyn Rail, NY Arts Magazine, Hyperallergic, and Artforum.
 
Rachel Stern lives and works in New York. She recently completed an MFA at Columbia University and received her BFA in 2011 from the Rhode Island School of Design. Stern has exhibited at Daniel Cooney Fine Art, New York; Invisible-Exports, New York; Pioneer Works, Brooklyn; and was included in Humble Arts Foundation's 31 Women in Photography at Hasted Kraeutler. Press includesBlink, Still, Art F City, VICE Magazine, and MATTE Magazine.

Tracy Thomason was born in Gaithersburg, MD, and lives and works in Brooklyn. She received a BFA from The Maryland Institute College of Art, and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, MI. Exhibitions include Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia; Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, Brooklyn; Jeff Bailey Gallery, New York; Allegra La Viola Gallery, New York; James Fuentes Gallery, New York; and Nudashank Gallery, Baltimore.
 
Rodrigo Valenzuela was born in Chile, and lives and works in Seattle, Washington. His work is in collections such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Frye Art Museum, Seattle; the Tacoma Art Museum, and the Microsoft Art Collection, among others. Recent solo exhibitions include Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, David Shelton Gallery, Houston, Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston, envoy enterprises, New York, and University of Memphis. Residencies include Sculpture Space, Core Fellowship, Bemis Center, Kala Art Institute, Skowhegan, Vermont Studio Center, and the Center for Photography.