Vibrance, April 2, 2008 - May 3, 2008
A reception for the artists will be held on April 3rd, from 6 to 9 p.m., featuring live music by Albey Balgochian, Dave Ross, Andre' Martinez and legendary vibraphonist Gunther Hampel.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Salomon & Martinez are pleased to present Vibrance, a show dedicated to capturing the texture, movement and patterns of music and showcasing the works of Rafael Leonardo Black, Christopher Wynter, Bobby K. Hill, Scott Endsley, Scott Weingarten and William Claps.
Rafael Leonardo Black uses fine detail to draw the viewer into small worlds. One piece of note is a realist work of The Jimi Hendrix Experience done on Formica in pencil, making the wistful daydreaming of a suburban youth into a resonant work of art.
Also working in this pop culture idiom is Bobby K. Hill. One work includes the rap-artist Biggie Smalls, using the palette of graffiti and oversized letters to capture the stentorian timbre of the deceased artist's voice.
The strong personalities depicted in these works are balanced by the abstract paintings of Christopher Wynter, who renders works in colors that are closer to earth-tones than billboards.
Additionally, Scott Endsley's black and white work offers a balance to the colorful nature of the show, but maintains the spirit of movement, and William Claps's figurative drawings in pastel offer a muted palette as a balance as well. Scott Weingarten's photograph uses a similar color scheme with a more innocent appeal.
Taking its cue from music, Vibrance shows the various moods and tones of music in painting, drawing, collage and photography. Like a well-mixed track, the show captures bright color and texture, supported by deeper, more mysterious lines.
ARTIST'S STATEMENT Christopher Wynter's paintings and sculpture combine non-representational and subtle representational images in abstract compositions which create an introspective environment, stressing the interaction of these elements as symbolic forces. The shapes and images are evolved from personal ideograms, and various cultural symbols and altar structures. The arrangement and interaction of the forms is an evocative metaphor for the various tensions and dynamics created by individual and collective social hierarchies, particularly as viewed through the African-American experience: stratification, exclusion, containment, isolation, and movement. Simultaneously the combination of images and the space they create may evoke those moments where individual or collective aspirations and awareness transcend the weight of social structures and history. Mr. Wynter's work has been exhibited in the United States, Germany, the Dominican Republic, and Cote d'Ivoire. His work is in museum, corporate and private collections in the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Cote d'Ivoire, as well as public commisions for the cities of New York and New London, US. Mr. Wynter has received grants working with traditional artists in West Africa and the Dominican Republic, and looks forward to an upcoming project with the Ainu people of Hokkaido, Japan.
