27 Mar 2008 to 3 May 2008
Hours : Tuesday through Saturday, 10 - 6 pm
Reception March 27, 6-8 p.m.
Robert Miller Gallery
524 West 26th Street
10001
New York, NY
New York
North America
p: 1 212.366.4774
m:
f: 1 212.366.4454
w: www.robertmillergallery.com
Joseph La Piana Joined, 2008 Enamel and acrylic on canvas, 67.5 x 103.5 inches
Robert Miller Gallery is pleased to announce the first New York solo exhibition of the artist Joseph La Piana. The paintings and sculptures included were created especially for the show.
La Piana relies on light, movement and ideas surrounding kinetic energy as central components of his work. Beginning with physical interaction with materials such as ink, vellum, and canvas, he transforms sketches and studies into abstract paintings in shellac based inks, dyes, and acrylic and sculptures in steel, resin and fiberglass.
In his �kinetic blow paintings,� the artist engages the intimacy of his breath to create unique, vernacular and organic forms on the canvas. These abstract formations seem to collide in motion, creating three-dimensional effects. One sees a satellite image of the weather, of a hurricane or typhoon, a flock of birds or a school of fish, a spiral reaching to infinity. In another series of paintings, La Piana introduces primary and intermediate colors in solid splotches that float across the canvas. The distinction between figure and ground, between solid and incipient forms blurs. La Piana�s sculptures extend his ideas into three dimensions. The artist�s interaction with a flat surface becomes modeled and cast into large scale pieces and cut into smaller works comprising an enveloping installation.
The dynamic gravitational interaction and suspension that exists in La Piana�s paintings and sculptures attest to his dedication to transcending mediums. The viewer is invited to play an active role in understanding the artist�s emotional, intellectual and theoretical journey. La Piana�s work resonates with the principles of the Kinetic movement artists Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Harmut Bohm and Jean Tinguely.
Joseph La Piana was born in Brooklyn in 1966 and received his BA from Florida State University in 1988. His work has been seen recently in group shows at the Leila Heller Gallery in New York and at the International Photography Biennial and Poissant O�Neill Gallery in Houston. La Piana�s work is included in the collections of The Financial Security Service Assurance Holdings Corporation, the First National Bank of Arizona, and in several private collections.
