Kenise Barnes Fine Art is pleased to open the inaugural show of 2006; Plaisir, new paintings by Margaret Lanzetta and Patricia Spergel.
The repetitive patterns of Margaret Lanzetta’s new body of work are deeply familiar and satisfying. Taken from sources as diverse as Indonesian textiles, industrial die cut metal or calligraphic text; they are simultaneously ancient and fresh. Lanzetta is commenting on the commonality of historic and contemporary visual systems in our shrinking world.
Digitally manipulated patterns are carefully hand stenciled and painted on the canvas further blurring the line between past and present, the mechanically generated and hand wrought.
The artist’s work is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum. She has shown, lectured and taught widely in the US and Europe. Lanzetta is a graduate of Holly Cross College, MA and has an MFA from School of Visual Arts, NYC.
Patricia Spergel’s new paintings exude unstructured sensuality; loosely applied color is layered and washed over itself. The veils and cells of color evoke the natural world, plant forms, fleshy body parts. The titles are often autobiographical referencing human experience and spiritual growth. The paintings contain oblique glimpses of clues and details but the omission of specific information, they invite the viewer to wander through the lush, painterly canvases in a leisurely and languid pace.
Continuing her longtime interest in printmaking Spergel has produced a new suite of monotypes for this exhibition.
The artist has shown widely in the US, her work is in the Citigroup Art Collection, NYC and Philadelphia National Bank, PA and many others. Spergel is a graduate of Cornell University and has an MFA from School of Visual Arts, NYC.