Fold Curated by Jeff Bergman and Rachel Gladfelter April 24 ‒ May 27, 2015 Fold is an exhibition highlighting the work of four artists who fold, bend and manipulate their materials to express voluminous concepts. Curated by Jeff Bergman and Rachel Gladfelter, Fold’s concept began with their combined interest in Rachel’s grandmothers’ quilts and Jeff’s love of origami, along with their joint observation of the ways in which flat objects are folded, bent and battered in their daily lives. Their version of fold quickly transformed into something more abstract; some works are apparent and even transparent in their inclusion, like the folded bags of Anders Bergstrom. Others are more abstractions of the way our brains and organs function and the hidden, unexplorable dimensions of our universe. Rachel Ostrow reveals luminous layers of what might be lying in the hidden creases of her voluminous paintings. Matt Magee studies bends in coloration and linear progression, while improbability and multiple possibilities yield their folded results within Martha Lewis’s paper structures. Taking cues from origami, textiles, drapery and manufactured objects, the artists in Fold work in a variety of traditional media; paint, print, paper, and metal to diversify thoughts about three-dimensionality. Anders Bergstrom, with care and precision, mimics the colors of brown paper bags found at a New York bodega- the very bags which become crumpled around your 16 oz beer can, or hold bits of candy. Through a variety of printmaking methods, he replicates a pristine bag next to a bag with many stains- conceptualizing a natural occurrence by staging it so very precisely. Each bag has the name of its maker on it, exactly as the Duro bags that are factory born do. This time, it is the artist’s signature which exists on the bag, giving responsibility and ownership for what he makes, folds and puts out into the world. Martha Lewis folds large sheets of paper, highlighting areas of the three dimensional objects, bringing them to specific light and focus. These objects, called ‘Branes, take on both bio-organic form and theoretical dimensional forms. The resilient paper objects do not seek any representational form; rather they are a representation of their handling. Folds, created on purpose, embody the same seemingly random features of a mountainous landscape. The forms are lively, engaging and painted to highlight the choices that both the artist and the paper made when it was turned into a singular topography.Matt Magee creates paintings that enmesh geometric systems aside a painterly aesthetic. The path paintings, Whitepath and Greypath, flatten space and offer us a switchback or a glyph. They are folds only in a primary sense, a line folded back on itself into a smaller space than would normally contain it. Bandwidth takes on the form of a massive grid with shifting gradients, elaborating on the idea of folding light. Hollow Bottle, the only sculpture of Magee’s in the show, embraces a man-made form to accentuate the way in which a functional, industrial form can be repurposed as an object of aesthetic beauty long after its purpose has been fulfilled.Rachel Ostrow creates paintings which are finalized with a singular movement, after a lengthy preparation process. By squeegeeing the surface of a multi-layered oil painting, with one gesture, she re- veals the gem-like layering and color hiding under her signature old master-style browns and blacks. She creates forms which appear to be three dimensional and glowing from a light within, creases showing dimensionality and depth of a gem-like draped form. Ostrow’s folds are active in the making of the work, as she manipulates the squeegee to create skips and breaks in her painting. The distinctions we make between media segregates materials in favor of easy classifications. Rather than embrace a strict concept, curators often shine a light on the how and not the why or what. Fold is an attempt to show artists making work differently, towards what we believe it is a similar aim. The Fold here is not just a shape, but an idea of using space dimensionally. Whether in pigment or paper, metal or canvas, these artists show us the fecundity of dimensional space.
