(HUDSON, N.Y.) – New works by Erik Schoonebeek and Christian Maychack go on view at Jeff Bailey Gallery with an opening reception on Saturday, August 13, 6-8pm. The works will remain on view through Sunday, September 11.

Erik Schoonebeek: Tender Trap is an exhibition of new paintings. Schoonbeek is a scavenger. Book covers, found paper, re-purposed paintings and thrift store finds serve as supports for his paintings.

Using acrylic and gouache, he builds on existing compositions or alters them entirely. Patterns morph into animals, the wrinkled lining of a book becomes the setting for a sun-drenched sky, a crumpled metal disc depicts a range of musical instruments. Found paper, folded in a curving pattern, turns into the curtain surrounding a stage. A broken fence reveals an empty pool.

In Too Much for Title, a marshy scene vies with two thought-bubbles, or are they characters in dialogue? Water is splattered throughout. Was it already there or recently painted? For Schoonebeek, what is shopworn or discarded presents a kind of visual puzzle, an opportunity for a tale to be told.

This is Erik Schoonebeek’s second solo exhibition with Jeff Bailey. He received his MFA from Rutgers, State University of New Brunswick, NJ in 2011 and his BFA from State University of New York at New Paltz in 2006. His work has been at exhibited at Dorsky Curatorial Projects, NY; David Shelton Gallery, Houston; Rawson Projects, NY; Brick Walk Fine Arts, West Haven, CT; DNA Gallery, Provincetown; Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington and other venues. He lives and works on Brooklyn.

 

Christian Maychack characterizes his work as operating on two tracks: the physical space of sculpture and the pictorial space of painting. Materials function as structure or support or provide for illusionistic space. The combinations of these approaches and materials allow for shifts in perception, both physically and cognitively.

In Compound Flat #56, a thin wooden strip curves and shifts line-like, sitting atop sculpted white epoxy inflected with color. Simultaneously, the strip acts as a support and link by holding an adjacent sculpted form to the right. Form and function are held in equal balance.

Similarly, in Compound Flat #50, two rectangular shapes are stacked vertically. Wooden strips function as both supports and frames: the bottom holds a sculpted form turning in on itself, while the top, devoid of an interior, frames the wall behind it.

This is Christian Maychack’s fourth solo exhibition with Jeff Bailey Gallery. He has had other solo exhibitions at Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco and the Sirius Art Center, Cobh, Ireland. Maychack’s work was included in the 2006 California Biennial at the Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach and his sculptures were featured in Bay Area Now 4, a group exhibition at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco. He received his MFA from San Francisco State University in 2002 and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2008. He has been an artist-in-residence at the MacDowell Colony, Edward Albee Foundation and participated in the Marie Walsh Sharpe Studio Residency . He is a 2012 fellow in painting from the New York Foundation of the Arts. Maychack lives and works in Queens, N.Y.

 

Jeff Bailey Gallery is located at 127 Warren Street, Hudson, N.Y., 12534.

Gallery hours are Friday – Sunday, from 12-6 and by appointment.

For further information or images, contact the gallery at info@baileygallery.com or 518.828.6680.