Nashville artist Lain York’s multi-cultural and architectural exhibit, “Bedrock,” explores the human experience through paintings influenced by documentary photography and archeological sites.
York, whose work has appeared in New American Paintings, New York Arts Magazine and Art Papers, is coming to Belmont’s Leu Art Gallery to host a reception and gallery on Wed., Jan. 11 from 5-7 p.m. Students who attend the gallery talk at 5:15 p.m. will receive convocation credit.
“Bedrock” will stay on display until Jan. 26 at the gallery, located inside the Lila D. Bunch Library.
York is the gallery director of Zeitgeist Gallery in Nashville.
According to York’s artist statement, “Bedrock” is inspired by African, Mayan, Middle Eastern, Greek Archaic masks, ritualistic figures and archeological sites. Visitors of this exhibit must look beyond the surface of each multidimensional painting to fully realize the various mixed media elements that make up York’s artwork.
“The surfaces carry the record of the many stages the paintings go through and follow a tradition of burying and applying elements in order to activate their potential,” York wrote.
It takes an observant eye to notice the pits, ruts, layers and fragments of uneven white lines that form figures on his panels.
For York, “the image exists somewhere between the excavated surface and the added elements.”
His color scheme explores various blue hues, ranging from cobalt to navy.
With “Bactria (swimming pool design)” and “Untitled (Permian Chapters),” both vignettes of 12 panel pieces, York plays with scale. “Bactria (swimming pool design)” incorporates a series of 6.5-by-6.5 inch panels, whereas “Untitled (Permian Chapters)” nearly spans an entire wall with its skewed panel pieces.
York tries to make sense of the intangible through concrete imagery in his mixed media paintings, while keeping in mind that the records and artifacts that inspire his work demonstrate former attempts to understand culture and society.
“The record of this attempt, the art objects, the sites, is common to all societies past and present,” York writes. “All human societies in one way or another manifest art and architecture; we all share this basic need.”
See more of York’s work at www.lainyork.com.