182.88h x 152.4w x 5.08d cm
Page Bond Gallery is pleased to present Hiding in Plain Sight: Recent work by Nancy Murphy Spicer and Field of Play: Paintings by Amy Chan opening Friday, September 8, 6 to 8 PM. The exhibitions will run September 8 to September 30, 2017.
For her second show at Page Bond Gallery, Nancy Murphy Spicer showcases works that play with viewers’ perception of “what is seen and what is present but unavailable to the eye.” Paintings on paper feature visible brushwork, allusive materials, and abstract shapes on the verge of representation, at once familiar and strange. The rough edges and wrinkles of wallpaper, cheesecloth, or pasted rice paper blend with thick paint and drips, creating obvious layers of form and color. Hints of phrases are partially hidden, as organic forms nudge and overlap rectilinear blocks, suggesting objects or interior spaces. Murphy Spicer is interested in what emerges and is transformed through multiple iterations, and layering serves as metaphor for the accumulation of lived experience.
Complementing the paintings is Hanging Drawing, “a physical…line” hung on hooks “that is activated to create an unending series of distinct drawings.” Hanging Drawing further blurs distinctions between mediums, reflecting an urge to turn inherently flat creations into objects with actual texture and dimension. Occupying space and alluringly tactile, Hanging Drawing adds a more obvious performative dimension to works that engage body and mind.
Based both in Chicago and Charlottesville, Nancy Murphy Spicer is currently a graduate student at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. She has exhibited and is included in private collections in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Her work has also been featured in publications including the Boston Globe, Art Papers, and Sculpture Magazine.
Sharing similar forms and layering effects, the playful abstract paintings of Amy Chan are on view in the side gallery. Moving away from her earlier biomorphic forms, but retaining her interest in bright, almost artificial color, Chan has come to pursue simpler, cleaner shapes and design over decoration. “This series is a product of a year of reflection after the birth of my son…The compositions are a shift from my normal subject matter that reflects the major shift in my life. Over this year I have become interested in an overhead view of a sports field seen from the parking garage at my school. This field led to research into other sports arenas and those flat, symmetrical designs have grown into the framework for this series. They combine with my biologically influenced shapes to create meditative pieces that experiment with layered transparency.” Chan works on multiple pieces at once, layering gouache, acrylic, screen printing, and airbrushing with help from an auto detailer.
Amy Chan received her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is currently an adjunct professor at both University of Virginia and VCU and lives in Richmond. Her work is in several collections including the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU, Capital One Bank, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS and the Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital in Baltimore, MD.
