For anyone who is a fan of puzzles and things which are unnecessary complex, Universe Backstory – on view at DIANA New York and presented by the Walton, NY-based KIPNZ gallery is a goldmine. Featuring works by conceptual painter Rhys Ziemba, narrative sculptor Paul Latislaw and indexical artist Annie Hayes, Universe Backstory features a suite of artworks that do anything but simplify the matter at hand.
(Above) Smiles are Contagious 2022. Rhys Ziemba. Oil on panel 12 x 9 inches Courtesy the artist and KIPNZ.
Ziemba elevates and complicates scenes of the everyday with his distinct artistic perspective and idiosyncratic imagery. Mining the junk that we at times trash, and at other times treasure, the artist takes the perspective of the viewer under consideration when juxtaposing the various objects presented in his quixotic compositions. At times presenting natural scenes eerily haunted by an unexplained object, or interiors pushed to the breaking point, contrasting everyday items with highly unusual constructions – arms laying sideways on plywood boards, a real skull side-by-side with a decorated, miniature one. Ziemba succeeds in layering the surreal times in which we live over the unexpected and Surrealist juxtapositions created in these oil on panel artworks included in Universe Backstory.
Where Ziemba muddies the waters, Latislaw completely obfuscates – creating sculptural compositions that defy clear definition. While devoid of color, the charm of these barely anthropomorphic sculptures lies in their organic curvature and compelling visual textures. Tails and fins merge to become shells, heads, eyes or ears. As soon as the viewer approaches these felted wood, miniature three-dimensional composition, the scene before them shifts. All is not what it appears, and hardly appears to be something to be made sense of at all.
Hayes seeks to find sense and meaning, but in symbols that hold the ghosts of the meanings found in their original symbol. Hovering and haunting, the artist’s ink and pastel works on paper feel more archaeological than architectural. Created from stencils of an indexical lexicon of objects – manufactured goods, schematics of farming equipment – Hayes presents works in Universe Backstory that somehow stand separate from, yet also completes, the visual vocabulary of the entire exhibition as a whole. Serving a Rosetta Stone of textures, color, line and shape, works such as ‘Weather Report 12” approximate known objects while morphing them into palpable presences on the picture plane.
On view through August 2nd, “Backstory Universe” is presented by KIPNZ: a contemporary art gallery founded in 2022 by Kenneth Pietrobono and Natalie Zayne and is located in the Western Catskills town of Walton, NY at Diana, 127 Henry Street in New York, NY. Hours are 12-6 PM, Tuesdays-Fridays.
Quiet Lunch is a grassroot online publication that seeks to promote various aspects of life and culture with a loving, but brute, educational tinge. When we say, “Creative Sustenance Daily,” we mean it.