Andrew Holmquist: Worlds Collide!

September 9—October 15, 2011

Carrie Secrist Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Andrew Holmquist Worlds Collide! Integrating painting, drawing and collage techniques to investigate space and movement, Andrew Holmquist’s pieces explore the tension between representation and abstraction.

Our September show marks a new programming initiative at Carrie Secrist Gallery reinforcing our commitment to emerging artists. By interspersing exhibitions of younger talent with those of our current stable, we aim to foster new critical conversations.

In the main gallery, Andrew Holmquist shows a complete series of paintings embodying his intuitive gestures and logical problem solving. Employing both recognizable and imaginative imagery, the artist utilizes thick, layered brushstrokes that reveal his internal thoughts and viewpoints. He also mines art history for referents, making nods to the limited palette of Rembrandt or the ribbon-like brushstrokes of Titian.

Holmquist’s daily series, experiments in technique and vocabulary meant to capture fleeting thoughts and images, are on view in gallery two. Comprised of small-scale paintings, drawings, and assemblages, the daily works emphasize the artist’s presence in the studio. The momentary resolutions made in these small works are often visible in Holmquist’s larger paintings.

Holmquist will install two daily series, one completed set made in advance of the opening of his solo show, and another cycle beginning on September 9 and continuing through the duration of the exhibit. Viewers are challenged to visit the gallery multiple times in order to understand the artist’s process and the various speeds at which he works.

Worlds Collide! is Holmquist’s first solo exhibition at Carrie Secrist Gallery. A 2008 graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the artist has exhibited widely in Chicago, including Slow and GOLDEN, as well as Jolie Laide Gallery, Philadelphia.