01.13 — 02.16.19
Devening Projects is very pleased to invite you to Stray Light Shadow Between, Cody Tumblin’s second exhibition with the gallery. The show opens with a reception for Cody on Sunday, January 13th from 4 – 7 pm and will continue until February 16th.
Stray Light Shadow Between is a sum of many moving parts. The paintings have a kind of restlessness on their surfaces; they don’t seek a specific end or conclusion. Many movements and gestures come together in irregular rhythms, often interrupted by sprawling seams and stray threads that stand as a testament to their making. Their faces show evidence of time and friction, odds and ends rubbing up against one another, creating sparks of light and swirls of murky indecision.
Some paintings start with light: an image of the Moon or Sun, or the Sky on a particular time of day–a distant memory sewn into the heart of the painting. But when light encounters resistance, it casts a shadow. This shadow stretches the light until it extinguishes, just as the evening sky smolders in its final moments. Bands of light eat one another until the stars show their faces. It is in these dark, infinite facets that we find countless moments of uncertainty, longing, and anxiety; a miraculous spectrum containing glistening bits of this and that.
That brings us back to the assembly of many parts; making a painting that starts off in a familiar place of memory and letting it slowly spin out of control and orchestrate its own character. Making a painting in this way is similar to making a soup – the kind of soup that uses the odds and ends of your pantry to arrive at a place that is both spectacular, strange, and hopefully edible. You start off with what you know, the foundations of your broth, and as you begin to gain confidence, the moves become riskier and you find yourself adding an unnecessary amount of fish sauce or unexplainable dashes of nutmeg. As the soup nears its completion, the flame turned down to a low simmer, you look down into the pot and witness a miraculous assembly of oil and fat– incandescent blips of light dancing on an amber surface.
Cody Tumblin currently lives and works in Chicago, IL where he received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2013. Recent solo and two-person shows include It Blooms Tomorrow at Good Enough in Atlanta GA, Today’s Special at Mild Climate in Nashville TN, Shits and Giggles with Keith Allyn Spencer at Skylab Gallery in Columbus OH, and The Outlet Gallery curated by Katy Cowan in Milwaukee WI. Other solo projects include exhibitions at SPF15, LVL3, Devening Projects, and the Packing Plant. Selected recent group shows include As If A Field Could Become Some Dream curated by Brian Scott Campbell at No Place Gallery in Columbus OH, Winter Romance at Andrew Rafacz Gallery in Chicago IL, Water and Dreams curated by Katy Cowan at Chicken Coop Contemporary in Portland OR, Mother Popcorn curated by Peter Shear and Kevin McNamee-Tweed at Big Medium in Austin TX, and PRTY PPL curated by Josh Reames at Circuit 12 in Dallas TX. Cody is expected to release a community collaborative recipe book titled Today’s Special this January and will be participating in an Ace Hotel residency in Chicago this February.
