Conversagence: New Sculpture by Sharon Engelstein and
New Paintings by Aaron Parazette
1 September – 16 October 2004
Reception: Thursday, September 9, 5:30 – 7:30 pm
The work of sculptor Sharon Engelstein and painter Aaron Parazette marks
a lively articulation of shape through abstractions with recognizable
elements. Conversagence, a made-up word that combines “converse”
and “convergence,” describes the complex perceptual and kinesthetic
dialogue between the works of these artists, who happen to be married
to each other. While their techniques and themes diverge, both Engelstein
and Parazette utilize an inventive, continually evolving method that contributes
to lively, often peculiar, arrangements in form and hue.
Sharon Engelstein deals with the tension, humor and novelty in anthropomorphic constructions. Her work is derived from both the organic and the manufactured, and evokes issues of identity, sexuality, technology, and nature. Engelstein’s past work has been inspired by industrial design, inflatables, and children’s toys. Her bulbous forms resembling pared-down animals appeal to our instinct for tenderness and sentimentality. At the same time, Engelstein’s sculptures, however cute or disarming, raise many questions about human desire, fetishes, and the tenuous relationship between the corporeal and mass-produced. Conversagence will feature a new body of Engelstein’s painted ceramic sculpture, including “Blue Top,” a contemporary Venus of Willendorf whose abstract curves are enmeshed in existing paradigms of femininity. It is sensual in its voluptuous smugness, and equally suggestive of modern obsessions around body image. Engelstein deftly draws upon representational and abstract forms to remind us of the essential nature of the animate; the figure may not resemble a living form, but it immediately affixes itself to our intuition for analogy.
Aaron Parazette’s brand of abstract painting took form in the 1990’s, when he was employing an analytical, conceptual use of materials with clip art images of dripping and splashing liquid. These works assumed the appearance of authentic gestural abstraction, while maintaining a distance from the emotional investment generally associated with the genre. Parazette’s work has since shifted from an investigative, skeptical view of painting to genuine formalism—with a twist. His most recent paintings, five of which will be shown in Conversagence, engage the parameters and mathematics of formalist painting through the imagery of letter forms, specifically words drawn from surfer jargon (“Ding,” “Stoked,” “Insane,” “Set,” “Velo”). The merging of the materials and process of two distinct cultures, painting and surfing, makes for a surprising, dynamic event. Parazette begins each painting in the computer by establishing various color possibilities, then works in the studio using the traditional tools of formalist painting: canvas, tape, and paint. The result is a series of paintings in high key color with the fetish finish of a freshly minted surfboard. Indebted to the history of word paintings, concrete poetry, formalist cartography, and LA’s Cool School, these pieces function as signs for the 21st century.
Sharon Engelstein’s solo exhibitions include Tethertwin, at the Sioux City Art Center, Iowa, 2004; and Shapey, at the Mixture Gallery, Houston, 2004. Her group exhibitions include From the States, at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; New Files, New Territories, at the Gregory Lind Gallery, 2002; and Bandy, with Aaron Parazette, at the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, 2002. Engelstein’s distinctions include her participation in the International Artist in Residence Program, at ArtPace, San Antonio, 2002; and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, 1995. She holds a MFA in Sculpture from Claremont Graduate School, and is based in Houston.
Aaron Parazette’s solo exhibitions include Perspectives 141: Aaron Parazette, at the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 2004; and New Paintings, at the Finesilver Gallery, San Antonio, 2003. His two-person and group exhibitions include New Paintings: Esposito/Parazette/Rosmarin at the Texas Gallery, Houston, 2003; Beautiful Pressure, at Rocket Projects, Miami, 2003; and Material Morph: Aaron Parazette & Ken Price, at the Austin Museum of Art, 2001. Parazette’s distinctions include a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Award. He holds a MFA in Painting from Claremont Graduate School, and is based in Houston.