August 10, 2009
Chris Gentile: Reincarnation Blues
Currently on view at Gregory Lind Gallery is an exhibition of new photographs titled Reincarnation Blues by New York-based artist Chris Gentile. Continuing his series of temporary sculptures which are produced and photographed in the artist's studio, Gentile creates ambiguous forms from everyday materials such as cardboard, plaster, electric tape, and plastics. The artist then photographs the sculptures or installations and presents the work solely in the photographic form, removing the viewer from any sense of physicality or scale that the materials embody. The result is beautifully ambiguous forms that leave the viewer with only clues to the original shape, material, scale, method of construction and environment. Many of the photographs, such as Human Nature and Saint John (Tide of Regret), contain a performative element capturing a series of actions which question not only material and scale but also the element of time. Reincarnation Blues is not simply attractive formally, but demands the viewer to ask and answer questions through a series of implied visual and metaphorical clues. Gentile carefully shapes our perception of his works by intentionally reducing information and capturing the object in a two dimensional form, leading the viewer through a game of perceptual questions and answers.
Reincarnation Blues marks the second solo exhibition for the artist at Gregory Lind Gallery. Other exhibitions include Always the Sun at Richard E. Peeler Art Center, Greencastle, IN, Half Colors of Quarter Things at Jeff Bailey Gallery in New York City and Shot Spot at the Geoffrey Young Gallery in Great Barrington, MA.