Kim Piotrowski: Crowns
@ 65GRAND
1378 W Grand Ave, 3, Chicago, IL 60622
Opening Friday, January 8th, from 7PM - 10PM
On view through Saturday, February 13th
Kim Piotrowski‘s suite of mixed media painting and drawings on synthetic paper loosely interprets both the imagery and psychology of crowns. This in-depth exploration builds on Piotrowski’s past accomplishments, and the thematic consistencies and uniform size of the works are expertly counter-balanced by vigorous experimentation and a keen inventiveness.
Frothing pools of washy pigment are partially covered over with masterfully articulated opaque forms. Hatch marks made by felt tipped markers echo the streaky single strokes of sienna paint made by four-inch wide brushes. The Medieval medium of gold leaf is lavishly layered onto state of the art Yupo, a polypropylene plastic paper. The result is a tireless array of enticingly incongruent color combinations and spatial relationships. Chance and precision are at play in every piece.
Although abstract, the works bear, to varying degree’s, glimpses into the source material Piotrowski references; a cluster of small, candy colored blooms in She King, a drilled curl cascading over a wigged wearers shoulder in The Taker. These brief blinks of representation remind us of the historical richness and practical variation of Piotrwoski’s crowns. Like a royal flush, the highest and rarest of all poker hands, kings, queens and knaves are all represented and regaled in this body of work.
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