Castor Gallery to Exhibit Work by Heath West and Elizabeth Winnel, 1/15

By: Jan. 05, 2015
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Castor Gallery is pleased to present its first curated exhibition, featuring the works of Heath West and Elizabeth Winnel. Opening January 15, 2015, the ground floor gallery will feature Transparency/Reflection, a solo exhibition of Heath West's algorithmic paintings that combine digitally-inspired patterns with abstract traditions. Elizabeth Winnel, whose self-portraits take the form of sumptuous, juicy lips, will take over the lower level gallery with Bigmouth, featuring new oversized paintings and a new body of smaller mixed media works called Mirror Kisses. Both exhibitions will be on display until February 1, 2015.

Trained in Advanced Architectural Design (Columbia GSAPP, 2009) and a working architect, Heath West approaches the picture plane as a convergence between movement, time and perspective. West sees each piece as an opportunity to relate the tactile with the spatial, creating his own language that uses material property based algorithms as point of departure for picture-making. West debunks the traditional approach to the canvas, instead using the frame as a means to control and organize his system of parallels, points, lines and diagonals into a visual equilibrium that the viewer reads as a flood of lush colors, textures and spatial layers.

For Transparency/Reflection West explores the relationship between the picture plane and the many screens that have become our means for consuming information. The constant flicker of screens-on laptops, information kiosks, in airplanes and of course our obsessive checking of our smartphones-have become contemporary references for these pieces; which focus on the color, socio-spatial relationships, and varying optical characteristics that these information displays bring into our daily lives. The multi-media works in Transparency/Reflection heighten the familiar algorithmic patterns that go unnoticed in our daily lives with West's expert usage of bold color and textural contrasts.


In the lower level, Savannah-based oil painter Elizabeth Winnel brings her unique approach to self portraiture with Bigmouth. The exhibition features a rainbow of Winnel's signature lips, rendered in larger-than-life size, in candy colors. Paired with the oversized paintings are the artist's new Mirror Kisses, smaller mixed media works on mirror that complement each larger portrait.

Winnel's self-portraits shirk a layer of identity, by removing the artist's face and reducing the image to only her intensely expressive and colorful mouth. With her mouth, the artist expresses an array of relatable emotions, caught in moments of verbalizing, lust, surprise and disgust. These sensuous and bold photorealistic mouths, in bright red, purple, black and green, toe the line between self portraiture and iconic Pop Art. About Heath West
Based in Houston, Texas, Heath West is both a working artist and architect, extending the impressive influence from his Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University, a visiting student at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria, and his Master of Architecture from the University of Houston into his fine art work. Recently named as one of Tumblr's artists in their to watch in their 2014 Year in Review, alongside big names such as Marina Abramovic and Rafael Rozendal, West has made a name for himself with his abstract algorithmic pieces, which explore the structure and spatial effects of layering material relationships.

About Elizabeth Winnel
Elizabeth Winnel moved from Canada to Savannah, Georgia in 2006. She graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a B.F.A. in illustration, through the course of which she studied in Lacoste, France and New York City. In 2008, Winnel moved to Brooklyn, NY and worked as a painter and studio assistant. She returned to Savannah in 2010 to pursue an MFA in painting, which was complete in 2013. Winnel has exhibited work in the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Italy and Germany. Currently Winnel lives and works in Savannah, Georgia.

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