Gray Contemporary is pleased to announce two exhibitions, Joachim West: the descent of man in the Main Gallery, Lael Marshall: Paper/Wood Constructions in the Second Gallery. Both exhibitions open May 19th from 5:00 – 8:00 pm, and will continue through June 23, 2018.
Main Gallery
Joachim West: the descent of man
The “Mother Earth Is a Dirty Whore” series is focused on metaphor and meaning. Strongly influenced by the spirit of social critique evident in the Fallas of Valencia, a city where Joachim has deep roots, this project is concerned with questions about the human proclivity towards violence and a criticism of contemporary society. Joachim is also strongly interested in the mythology of his ancestors, the west and near-east and uses the language of their mythos in his exploration of humanity and her violence.
Joachim’s graphic work is also informed by a variety of influences from the Gothic, Byzantine and Northern Renaissance classics to the infamous generation of the ‘East Texas Lizard Cult’ mentored by Lee Baxter Davis, a well-known group of contemporary artists to which his mentor Greg Metz belongs. German Expressionists like George Grosz and Otto Dix; and, especially, Goya’s ‘Los Caprichos’ have had a tremendous influence on the format and tone of this series.
About the Artist:
Joachim West (Michael Joachim Westfried Soriano), a first-generation American of Spanish-Jewish descent, was born in Connecticut in 1985 and currently resides in Galveston, Texas. Joachim earned an MFA in Producción Artística from La Universidad Politécnica de Valencia in Spain and a BA in Art & Performance from The University of Texas at Dallas.
Joachim’s work has at times captured the attention of the press both nationally and internationally. His work has appeared on CBS News, Artnet, the Dallas Morning News, D Magazine, The Dallas Observer, Arts & Culture as well as numerous other publications. Most recently he was interviewed on F Radio Valencia in Spain and his work was included in a tribute show to Lee Baxter Davis at the Meadows Museum of Art, an artist whose teaching has produced artists such as Trenton Doyle Hancock, Gary Panter, Robyn O’neil and Georganne Deen. Joachim has shown internationally and has been included in the Huntington Art Exhibition twice. He has been selected for solo shows, group and juried exhibitions in both the United States and outside of the United States, including exhibitions curated by Trenton Doyle Hancock, Wouter Van Loo, Benito Huerta, Aaron Parazette and Joan Davidow. His work was recently chosen for La Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo Emergente Eve-Maria Zimmermann in Spain.
Second Gallery
Lael Marshall: Paper/Wood Constructions
The works in this exhibition were made during my residency at Dieu Donné Papermill, New York.
Pigmented paper pulp, first pressed and then applied over wooden supports was the method I used for creating these small sculptural wall pieces.
This particular paper fiber, abaca, is amazingly strong and resilient to puncture as it dries and shrinks over the wood beneath.
Finding form by stretching fibers, whether paper, in this instance, or fabric in other recent works, has been a source of interest for me as I have expanded my practice beyond the flat, rectangular, paint on canvas model.
About the Artist:
Lael Marshall (b. 1968, Seattle Washington) received a BFA from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and an MFA as ‘Meisterschülerin‘ from the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany. Lael was a Dieu Donné Workspace Resident in 2014, and her work was selected for the publications: ‘100 Painters of Tomorrow,’ Kurt Beers, Thames & Hudson, 2014, and ‘The Outlaw Bible of American Art,’ Alan Kaufman, Last Gasp, San Francisco, 2016.
Recent exhibitions in the US and abroad include 57W57ARTS (NYC), Dieu Donné (NYC), BRIC (Brooklyn), ParisCONCRET (Paris), SNO (Sydney), Beers Contemporary (London), A/B/Contemporary (Zurich), A3 Gallery (Moscow), and mitart gallery, (Basel).
