STUDIES // a group show

On view February 3–February 29, 2016
Opening reception Saturday, February 6, 2016 (3–6PM)

For this exhibition, co-curators May Barruel and Gabi Lewton-Leopold asked a group of artists to respond to the idea of a “study,” as either a single stage in a larger process, or as a continual meditation on a single subject, both being a place to test out ideas and experiment. The result is a diverse group of styles, perspectives, and ways of working. 

Jaik Faulk and Justyn Hegreberg both use collage to work out ideas that often remerge in finished pieces, while Fredrik Averin explores the many possibilities of image appropriation through simple folds. With her collages culled from images of coloring books, Elizabeth Allen-Cannon shares the source material for her newsprint book, Native Tongues. Studies, from sketches to experimental painting, are integral to Ty Ennis’s and Elizabeth Malaska’s respective studio practices. For Oriana Lewton-Leopold and Ním Wunnan, the study is a place to express multiple ways of depicting specific objects in space. Full bios below.

Although every piece is representative of a small moment in a larger body of work within each artist’s practice, they are also objects and worlds unto themselves with their own formal and conceptual concerns. With their stops and starts, imperfections, ruminations, and empty spaces, these collages, sketches, and paintings are visual notes offering a rare and intimate view into the creative process.  

IMAGES

To request a price list for this exhibition, please email info@nationale.us

BIOS
Originally from Kansas City, MO, Elizabeth Allen-Cannon lives and works in Chicago, IL. Her work has been exhibited at Roots and Culture Contemporary Art Center in Chicago, IL, Blue Gallery in Kansas City, MO, and Brown University in Providence, RI. She recently was a recipient of a Gallucci Creative Fund grant and an ArtsKC Inspiration grant for her artist book Native Tongues, available at Printed Matter in New York and Good Press Gallery in Glasgow. She received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2011, and is currently working towards her MFA at the University of Chicago.

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Fredrik Averin received his MFA from Konstfack – University College of Arts, Crafts, and Design in 1998. His work is included in the following libraries: University of Oregon, University of Washington, University of Buffalo, Columbia University, Stanford University, SFMOMA, and MACBA: Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, and in Portland, OR, at Division Leap, Passages Bookshop, and Nationale. Averin currently lives and works in Portland, OR.

Originally from Spokane, WA, Ty Ennis lives and works in Portland, OR, where he graduated from Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2003 with a BFA in Printmaking. His work was previously included in the 2006 Oregon Biennial at the Portland Art Museum. He has exhibited widely across Portland in such venues as Open Gallery, New American Art Union, Pulliam Deffenbaugh, and the Art Gym at Marylhurst University, and in Seattle, WA, at Prole Drift. Ennis is the recent recipient of a Project Grant from the Regional Arts & Culture Council and a Career Opportunity Grant from the Oregon Arts Commission. He is represented by Nationale.

Jaik Faulk is a native of Lafayette, LA, where he currently works and lives. He received his MFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2013 and his BA in Art from Portland State University in 2006. He has been the focus of several solo exhibitions at Nationale, as well as other Portland galleries including FalseFront and Launch Pad. Faulk’s work has also been included in group shows at such establishments as The Lab, the San Francisco Art Institute, and The Old Mint, all in San Francisco, CA; Littman Gallery in Portland, OR; and Gallery 549 in Lafayette, LA. He is represented by Nationale. 

Justyn Hegreberg grew up in Coeur d'Alene, ID, and Napa, CA. He currently lives and works in Portland, OR. Concurrent with this exhibition, his work can be found at S.O.I.L. (Seattle) and Elizabeth Stone Harper Gallery (South Carolina). He has shown at Art in America, curated by Julie Torres, at Artist Run (Miami), Jeffrey Thomas Fine Art (Portland), c2c project space (San Francisco), The Alice (Seattle), and FalseFront (Portland) where he has had two solo exhibitions. His work has appeared in New American Paintings.

A Portland native, Oriana Lewton-Leopold has exhibited her work widely in New York and Portland, OR, most recently at Blackfish Gallery. She received her BA from Hampshire College in 2003, studied painting and drawing at the New York Studio School and the Universität der Künste Berlin, and earned her MFA from PNCA in 2012. 

Born in Portland, OR, Elizabeth Malaska earned her MFA from the city’s Pacific Northwest College of Art. She has exhibited nationally at various institutions including Portland’s Froelick Gallery, Disjecta, Portland Center Stage, and San Francisco’s California College of the Arts, where she also received her BFA. She was named a finalist for The Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant and the Fine Arts Work Center fellowship in Provincetown, MA. In 2015, Malaska received grants from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund and the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Most recently she was honored with a 2016 Individual Artist Fellowship through the Oregon Arts Commission. She lives in Portland, OR, where she is represented by Nationale. 

Originally from Michigan, Ním Wunnan first came to Portland in 2000 where he currently lives and works. He graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 2008 with an Honours Degree in painting. He has shown paintings, sculptures, and installations at Glasgow International, FalseFront, Worksound International, and Place Gallery; has lectured at PNCA, PSU, Ignite Portland, and Transmission Gallery Glasgow; and has received grants from the Regional Arts & Culture Council for both his visual art and his work with the community organization Research Club.

Image credit: Elizabeth Malaska, From the Dark Side of History, 2013, charcoal, ink, and pencil on paper, 15 x 11”