Brian Kapernekas: shapeshifter
@ 65GRAND
1369 W Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60642
Opening Friday, September 24th, from 7PM - 10PM
On view through Saturday, October 30th
Brian Kapernekas‘ new body of work, featuring paintings and constructions oscillate between narrative and non-narrative structures and between representational and the non representational.
Kapernekas’ omnivorous practice defies seriality and has recently led him into an exploration of archaic technologies on the brink of obsolescence, ranging from blacksmithing and stone masonry (Smithy, Freemason) to the vinyl LP (Record).
His re-articulation of these artifacts leads to their reinvention, with his subject informing his process just as much as his process becomes his subject. Some surfaces are built up using burlap shapes and thick oil paint, often eschewing the paintbrush for the finger or comb, and others are bound by string, rope and screen, with a terrific amount of tension constraining an incredible spatial depth.
By conflating art and life, medium and subject, and indeed personal narrative with a shared historical one, Kapernekas has created a body of work that, like the titular shape shifter, seems able to change form at will.
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