KRUGER GALLERY CHICAGO ANNOUNCES EXHIBITION OF NEW WORK BY MARFA ARTIST LESLIE WILKES
\nOPENING RECEPTION THURSDAY\, SEPTEMBER 8\, 6-8pm
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\n\nCHICAGO - Pareidolia\, a solo exhibition of new work by Marfa\, Texas artist Leslie Wilkes\, will be on view at Kruger Gallery Chicago\, 3709 N Southport Ave\, from September 8 - November 19\, 2016.
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\n\nBeginning with a geometric pattern\, Wilkes divides an initial compositional sketch into sections resulting in a shape that becomes the basis for a painting and/or gouache. \; On top of this shape Wilkes places another pattern\, adds color\, and isolates new shapes into symmetrical arrangements\, each decision being influenced from the previous choice of form and color. \; Paint is applied without the use of masking tape creating soft\, hard-edges that contain slight irregularities and subtle shifts in pattern. \; Considering them &ldquo\;accidental mandalas&rdquo\;\, Wilkes&rsquo\; process continues until she defines the last shape and color\, resulting in an organic\, spontaneous\, kaleidoscopic image.
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\n\nPareidolia\, the tendency to perceive a specific\, often meaningful\, image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern\, aptly applies to the five paintings and seven gouaches on view. \; Each work approximates a Rorschach ink blot which encourages the viewer to seek recognizable form in the image\, playing on the mind&rsquo\;s proclivity to conjure recognizable images where none actually exist.
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\n\nAccording to curator/author Jim Edwards\, &ldquo\;Her geometric abstractions are uniquely her own\, a twenty-first century response to geometric painting explored in Europe and America in the last century&hellip\;.Beautifully articulated\, the colors of these works exhibit an opaque\, smoothly painted surface - colors that are brilliant\, yet so evenly brushed onto the surface of the canvas or paper that they hardly seem to be hand-painted at all.&rdquo\; \;
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\n\nAn Athens\, Georgia native\, Leslie Wilkes received a BA from the University of Texas at Austin and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. \; She attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and was the recipient of the Milton and Sally Avery Fellowship Award at the McDowell Colony. \; She has had solo exhibitions in Austin\, Dallas\, Chicago\, Los Angeles\, New Orleans\, New York\, San Francisco and Milan. \; Her work was published in Texas Abstract - Modern and Contemporary (2015) and her work appears on the book jacket for James Elkins\, The Object Stares Back (1997). \; Reviews of her work have appeared in the Los Angeles Times\, Chicago Tribune\, Denver Times\, Dallas Morning News\, Southwest Spirit Magazine\, Big Bend Sentinel and New Art Examiner.
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\n\nThere will be an opening reception for the artist Thursday\, September 8 from 6-8 pm.
\n LOCATION:Kruger Gallery Chicago 3709 N Southport Ave. Chicago\, IL 60613 UID:e.1819.3591 SEQUENCE:3 DTSTAMP:20260420T065422Z URL:https://members.lakeviewroscoevillage.org/events/details/leslie-wilkes-pareidolia-opening-reception-at-kruger-gallery-chicago-11-19-2016-3591 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR