JOHN GNORSKI & JOHN VITALE // Intangible Flights

On view August 29–October 11, 2021
Artist reception Sunday, August 29 (1–3 p.m.). Please RSVP to the event HERE.

The pull of the wind, an errant ray of sun, what animates the works of John Gnorski and John Vitale are the very details these artists move to incorporate into their practices. As the natural elements shift and change, so do the characteristics under which we come to understand our personal existence in their space. For their first two person show at Nationale, Intangible Flights, Gnorski and Vitale echo off of one another to build a spirited, colorful and ultimately emotional exhibition. 

Working heavily from repurposed materials, Gnorksi has given new life to his sculptural figures which aim to be as migratory as their assembly process. Tender, light, and ephemeral, his “kites” are coated in monochromatic “quilts” of woven paper. Floating from the ceiling of the gallery and resting on the windowsill they take in and refract the outside light. They’re influenced by the space, the movement of gallery-goers, and in their fragile build they resist permanence. They perhaps also illuminate a deeper reckoning with our own particularly untethered world—we, much like the sculptures, seem to be hanging on by a thread. Where Gnorski relies heavily on chance, moving to shift the elements of his delicate skeleton shapes before the ink and paint should set and become immovable, Vitale’s paintings offer a subtle contrast of controlled abstraction. One might expect that the panels similarly devote themselves to fate, yet the multitude layers of thick paint and pencil instead reveal a methodical and precise problem-solving. Rough, seemingly rash lines scraped into the panels reveal their bare surface while simultaneously toeing the edge of a softer, time-consuming build up of paint. Expansive swaths of pastel and neutral colors consume large portions of the paintings yet the foci live in the minutiae—bursts of color, clusters of shapes, opposing energies. These extremes give life to the surfaces; the duality at play is in a constant state of flux. Within the works of both artists we can witness the highs and lows, the strength and uncertainty, and above all else the interconnectedness that might accompany the phases leading to a completed piece. 

Time has the fantastical property of rendering something magical in an instant—to live in that moment reads as the defining exercise for both Gnorski and Vitale. The pieces on display intentionally reflect the artists’ meditative relationships with their practice. Just for a while, in our highly emotive and ambient world, these works aim to give into this cyclical force, and to trust the nature of time and its enduring presence. 

John Gnorski (born 1983, Virginia) received a B.F.A. from Bard College in 2005. He has had solo exhibitions in Portland, OR, at Lowell, Nationale, and was the recipient of the Stumptown Artist Fellowship in 2019. His work was also recently shown at Pt. 2 Gallery in Oakland, CA. Gnorski lives and works in Pt. Reyes Station, CA, where he is also half of the performance duo EARTH BABIES.

John Vitale (born 1979, Illinois) is a self taught multidisciplinary artist. He has had solo exhibitions in Portland, OR, at Association and Never Lab. Vitale is a creative director, graphic designer, as well as the founder and creative mind behind The Killing Floor skateboard brand.

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