In Bounds: J.T. Kirkland
121.9 x 372.1 x 2.5 cm
BLANK SPACE is pleased to announce “In Bounds” the first solo exhibition of works by J. T. Kirkland at the gallery. The show will open on Thursday, September 22 and continue through November 6, 2016. Kirkland uses spatial tension through geometric shapes that conceptually redefines a framed space.
Kirkland’s reductivist style and execution is part of his desire to strive for clarity and resolution in line, color, and form. The intention is to challenge viewers’ perceptions of surface and space through simple, precise gestures on wood; a celebration of wood as art. His series is best appreciated over several viewings with focused attention.
These latest works, a continuation of his ongoing series “Subspace,” include pieces that create a new painted plane contained within the confines of the plywood panel. Tension between the painted form and windowed internal spaces, invites the viewer in for-closer inspection.
“The works comprising In Bounds strive to establish a dialogue between rigorous, formal painting and industrial, common materials such as plywood and house paint. I defined for myself a set of constraints in which to operate: each painting would be executed on a plywood panel with measurements in a 1:3 proportion, the form within the painting would stretch to and just touch all four sides of the panel, and in all paintings except for one outlier the painted form would be halved such that a window back into the wood grain creates a central focal point. The various treatments of the painted form attempt to bring a sense of dynamism, a push/pull or twisting sensation when viewing the work.”
J.T. Kirkland received his BS from Centre College and has since had solo exhibitions in cities including New York, NY, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, LA, and Richmond, VA, in addition to many curated group exhibitions across the country. In 2012, Kirkland was awarded a Professional Artist Fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. In January 2010, Kirkland was an artist in residence at the Vermont Studio Center. He received the Robert Riddick Memorial Award from the Rawls Museum in 2009, and in 2007, his work, Synapse, was acquired by the University of Kentucky Art Museum for their permanent collection.
