Jennifer Coates
September 9 – October 25, 2008
JENNIFER COATES' metaphysical paintings utilize the conventions of landscape as a vehicle for hallucinatory visions and psychological spaces. Expanses of sky or sea coalesce into reflective pools of paint; intricate geometric galaxies warp into ecstatic vortexes, and tiny specs of color form clusters of luminescent light. She contrasts atmospheric radiance with meticulous detail, and iconic directness with allusive abstraction. Varied painterly approaches are positioned against each other to create a disjunctive but idealistic experience of place.
Her dense black and white ink drawings delineate haunting woodlands and rocky passages that we want to cautiously and carefully explore. Coates' magical works echo the immenseness and mystery of the stars at night, the smallest natural wonders around us, and her own inner cosmologies. With a sense of awe, and somehow connected to the crevices of our minds, we wish to follow the alluring pathways of her imagination.
Coates lives and works in New York City and Pennsylvania and has exhibited frequently since earning an MFA from Hunter College in 2001.
Written by Miriam Kienle and Joelle Jensen
