McKenzie Fine Art to Present New Exhibit by Reed Danziger, Begin. 9/8

McKenzie Fine Art is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works on paper by Bay Area artist Reed Danziger, opening on Sunday, September 8, with a reception for the artist from 6 to 8 p.m., and running through Sunday, October 13, 2013. This will be the artist's fifth solo exhibition with the gallery and her first here devoted solely to drawings.

Reed Danziger has always made works on paper-here with watercolor, gouache, ink and graphite-alongside her paintings. The new drawings continue the development of a greater abstraction in her work, as well as the feeling of dynamic forces at play in rhythmic compositions. Overlapping forms in the work often reference the worlds of science and nature and are combined with purely abstract gestures. As the elements contort and converge, an energetic and frequently off-kilter composition emerges from their coalescence. Each work captures a moment within this transformational process. While there is great movement, energy, and tension of oppositional forces in her compositions, the abundant negative space serves to contain that momentum and isolate Danziger's images as instants in time.

Reed Danziger has written the following on her new work:

Broken Symmetry, 2013, watercolor, gouache, ink and graphite on paper, 38 x 35 1/2 inches

I'm interested in the moment when shifts in a pattern occur, or new patterns begin to take form. Like clouds gathering into a storm, or shards and particles merging to form strata, or glaciers and ice shelves calving and morphing, these paintings are a study of the tension and beauty that results when the elements coalesce to take on a rhythm and pattern of their own. I allowed the language of marks, and the process of how the materials interact, to determine the development of each piece. By allowing the ink and watercolor washes to inform and dictate the compositions, the structure of each work follows an organic development. The build-up of marks with graphite and gouache represents numerous small events that relate, merge, fuse, repel and attract, simultaneously. Unlike oil painting, where I'm able to build up layers and manipulate the surface indefinitely, the fragility of the paper and indelibility of the ink and washes act as a more permanent cause and effect. The accumulation of marks reveal the "before and after" occurring at the same time.

Danziger has been exhibiting her work nationally and internationally for nearly two decades. Recent exhibitions include group shows at the Sonoma State University Art Museum in California, the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans, and Barbara Seiler Galerie in Zurich, as well as solo shows at Hosfelt Gallery in San Francisco and Robischon Gallery in Denver.

Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11 to 6 p.m. On Sundays the gallery is open from noon until 6 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays are by appointment.

Image: Navigating the Pull, 2013, watercolor, gouache, ink and graphite on paper, 32 x 32 inches