Evri Kwong solo show Januray 2007
2007
LIMN gallery is pleased to present Looking Both Ways, an in depth presentation of the latest work by San Francisco artist Evri Kwong.
Evri Kwong is mostly well known for unique combinations of painting and drawing in a single canvas and for his fascination with all the aspects of violence of our society. His paintings of domestic violence, gang violence and social or cultural violence can be disturbing, but they always engage the viewer in the relationship between form and social content. Idealistic landscapes meticulously painted, like picture perfect representations of innocence are juxtaposed with frenzied figurative sketches in grid-like compositions. In the sketches, rendered in permanent Sharpie ink, Howdy-Doody-style puppets interact, fight, and brutalize each other. The sense of urgency of the drawings clashes with the calm and serene feel of, for example a golf course. The work demonstrates how two different kinds of people living side by side can also ignore each other. The viewer is asked to face head on the realities of our society.
Kwong chooses his headlines from the news - and there are plenty to choose from. But, unlike the dutiful reporter who merely presents the facts, Kwong transforms the sensational aspects of the televised headlines into stories with deeper meanings and concerns. For a moment, Kwong, the painter turns into Kwong, the social anthropologist. “I am doing my own reporting in a surreal narrative context. The larger whole is often fraught with conflict and contradiction, exposing both the candy coated surfaces and dark circumstances of contemporary America.” says Kwong of his work. One of the largest paintings in the exhibition, titled “May I Help You?”, exemplifies Kwong’s other major concern: corporate America, our consumer society and the destruction of small enterprises.
It may come as no surprise that Evri Kwong is the son of a Zen master and approaches his subject matter with calm and peace. The world we live in is complex and comes with its challenges. While most of us just try to fit in, Kwong tries to understand. Evri Kwong has exhibited his paintings and drawings in solo and group gallery and museum shows across the United States, in Mexico, and in Europe, This is Kwong’s first solo exhibition with LIMN Gallery. His work will be introduced in Beijing during the CIGE Art Fair in May 2007.
Evri Kwong is mostly well known for unique combinations of painting and drawing in a single canvas and for his fascination with all the aspects of violence of our society. His paintings of domestic violence, gang violence and social or cultural violence can be disturbing, but they always engage the viewer in the relationship between form and social content. Idealistic landscapes meticulously painted, like picture perfect representations of innocence are juxtaposed with frenzied figurative sketches in grid-like compositions. In the sketches, rendered in permanent Sharpie ink, Howdy-Doody-style puppets interact, fight, and brutalize each other. The sense of urgency of the drawings clashes with the calm and serene feel of, for example a golf course. The work demonstrates how two different kinds of people living side by side can also ignore each other. The viewer is asked to face head on the realities of our society.
Kwong chooses his headlines from the news - and there are plenty to choose from. But, unlike the dutiful reporter who merely presents the facts, Kwong transforms the sensational aspects of the televised headlines into stories with deeper meanings and concerns. For a moment, Kwong, the painter turns into Kwong, the social anthropologist. “I am doing my own reporting in a surreal narrative context. The larger whole is often fraught with conflict and contradiction, exposing both the candy coated surfaces and dark circumstances of contemporary America.” says Kwong of his work. One of the largest paintings in the exhibition, titled “May I Help You?”, exemplifies Kwong’s other major concern: corporate America, our consumer society and the destruction of small enterprises.
It may come as no surprise that Evri Kwong is the son of a Zen master and approaches his subject matter with calm and peace. The world we live in is complex and comes with its challenges. While most of us just try to fit in, Kwong tries to understand. Evri Kwong has exhibited his paintings and drawings in solo and group gallery and museum shows across the United States, in Mexico, and in Europe, This is Kwong’s first solo exhibition with LIMN Gallery. His work will be introduced in Beijing during the CIGE Art Fair in May 2007.
