CITYist

Good and Lonely Luminous Structure no. 2, 2010

At times colorless color can hold the most complexity. Miles Mendenhall’s solo show of grey, white and black screenprints opening at HALF GALLERY on Tuesday, August 24 proves this with an uncommon vibrancy. The intimate space is well-suited to host the reflective work of this young, talented finalist from Bravo’s Work of Art. (On a side note, check out judge Bill Power’s article on the show.) The Midwesterner, whose innocent fresh face could be more easily seen as a Disney channel heartthrob than a rising art world star, is exploring the subjectivity of digital distortion in this show.

The surreal, slightly eerie prints on cotton are the ultimate optical illusion. Is something coming towards us or fading away? Are the grey areas taking foreground or sliding back? Perhaps this is also a comment on the unknown land technology is throwing us into; a grey amorphous landscape removed from the sharp lines and obvious colors of reality.

Mendenhall is suggestive of this concept in titling such as “Black, white, but more so the grey in between.” It is outside of the black and white extremes, in the grey inbetween, that we so often find ourselves. Mendenhall has visually materialized this state powerfully. Check out the exhibit at HALF GALLERY (208 Forsyth St.) through September 14th.

Gray Area no. 3, 2010