01.10 — 02.13.16
Scott Wolniak
To Break is to Build
January 10 – February 13, 2016 Scott Wolniak’s hybrid practice engages with material processes, temporality, a philosophy of craft and areas of overlap between the studio and everyday phenomena.
To Break is to Build presents a selection of disparate pieces, which are installed as a set. The three main elements in this show are shape-shifters: A painting too large to fit in the space becomes an improvised wall; a carved plaster painting bends over backwards; and a silent, projected video illuminates the micro-optical flow of dust in the (studio) air. These works each attempt to test material limits in particular ways that shift between gestural, comedic, violent, beautiful and contemplative.
In the studio, questions of damage and disintegration, and the intentional misuse of materials and techniques can be explored without negativity, recognizing that destruction is a fundamental aspect of creation.
A small selection of recent Tablet paintings will also be on view in the off space.
Scott Wolniak is a multidisciplinary artist, teacher and occasional curator based in Chicago. His work in drawing, painting, sculpture and video has been exhibited extensively and reviews of his work have appeared in Artforum, Art in America, Art News, New City, the Chicago Tribune and New American Paintings.
He has had solo shows at the Lynden Sculpture Garden in Milwaukee; The Chicago Cultural Center, The Hyde Park Art Center, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Valerie Carberry Gallery, Andrew Rafacz Gallery and 65Grand, in Chicago; Hap Gallery in Portland and Lump Gallery in Raleigh. Wolniak received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995 and an MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2002. He recently participated in the symposium,“Painting and its Humors” at University of Chicago and is co-organizing the exhibition,“Physical Painting” with curator Jennifer Samet, to be shown at SUNY Purchase Maas Gallery in February, 2016. He teaches in the Department of Visual Art at the University of Chicago.
www.scottwolniak.com
