The Sikkema and Jenkins Co. Gallery in Chelsea is featuring a two-part series of new works by Midwest based artist Kay Rosen in the exhibit Wide and Deep. The show includes several of Rosen’s paintings and drawings, on canvas and paper and on walls. With these works, Rosen attempts to understand language by using it in a visual form.
The first series features Rosen’s grayish paintings that also contains enamel “sign-paint” on canvas. In addition there are two wall paintings titled Between a Rock and a Hard Place and Wideep, which highlight relationships between space and form. Both these paintings are similar and intriguing in that the artist tries to communicate a language through use of horizontal, vertical, upside down brushstrokes.
The second series consists of Rosen’s gouache and pencil drawings on watercolor paper, a wall drawing and an illuminated stained glass edition. The inspiration for these works came from a set of words the artist encountered in which the letters were layered on top of one another.
For example, Sweet Jesus, shows letters that are stacked and are transparent, revealing the outlines of the letters underneath. In Open Kimono, the letters are only half transparent, while Kiss on the Cheek shows only the outer contours of each word so that they appear as opaque silhouettes.
“When it comes to reading my work, throw out all the rules you ever learned: spelling, spacing, capitalization, margins, linear reading, composition…all your old reading habits will be useless,” the artist explained in a 2010 interview. At the Sikkema & Jenkins Co. Gallery, 530 W. 22 St., through March 10. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
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