52.1 x 74.9 x 29.8 cm
Martos Gallery is pleased to present I drive and I think and I look, but I don't know. Lanquidity, a solo exhibition by JPW3 on view from February 20 – March 28, 2015. An opening reception for the show will take place on Friday, February 20 from 6 – 8 pm with performances by Sara Gernsbacher and M.V. Carbon starting at 7:30 pm.
JPW3 engages with a variety of materials—relating found, fabricated, and raw elements to create lushly textured surfaces in both painting and sculpture. Layering images and densely applied wax and returning frequently to materials such as popcorn or automotive parts, the artist distorts both the smooth surface of his supports as well as recognizable visual motifs. The works on view recall the artist’s active engagement with each sedimentary layer while illustrating wax’s ability to record, reveal detail, and mimic movement. Each piece functions as both signal and fossil, active and still, synthetic and natural.
Inspired by jazz musician Sun Ra’s 1978 album Liquidity, the exhibition’s title establishes a cosmic vocabulary that reverberates within each piece. An amber hue fills the gallery, evocative of heat and friction. Each piece seems to melt and emit an inherent mystical glow. A portrait of H.R. Giger and repeated images of a hot plate, an extension chord and parts of Ferrari engines are symbols that yield an esoteric exploration of the travel of energy and the collaboration between man and machine. Situated throughout the gallery are “RECARO wheely chairs” decorated with sage on which the artist invites viewers to sit and journey through the show.
