David Lefkowitz: Facilities and Grounds

October 22—December 3, 2011

Carrie Secrist Gallery is pleased to announce Facilities and Grounds, a solo exhibition by David Lefkowitz opening on Saturday, October 22 from 4-7 PM.

Facilities and Grounds features new work by David Lefkowitz that reflects his recent forays to the scrap heaps of consumer culture to cull materials that the artist transforms into ad-hoc proposals for re-envisioning the built environment.

Lefkowitz’ exhibition will include several new bodies of work; the first, a set of watercolors on repurposed flattened cardboard, imagine urban infrastructures comprised of cardboard. Relying on the austerity of the ubiquitous material, these pieces refer to the utopian project of Modernist architecture and to more pedestrian (yet practical) approaches to constructing shelter. The virtual cardboard structures present an ideal of strength, solidity and security that is contradicted by the reality of the flimsiness and vulnerability of the material.

In addition, Lefkowitz will debut Terrain vague, a series of topographical maps made in part with “mistinted’ paint abandoned at hardware stores. Comprised of oil, acrylic and latex on wood panel, Terrain vague depicts overlooked segments of the landscapes we inhabit – empty lots, highway medians, and abandoned industrial sites. Inspired by Catalan architect Ignasi de Solà-Morales’ term, Terrain vague draws attention to what usually goes unseen and encourages a reconsideration of our relationship to place.

Finally, in the project room, Lefkowitz will present a salon-style hanging of his small paintings, Pictures of Common Detritus. This work features meticulously painted insignificances (lint, flies, a Cheerio) painted to scale.

Facilities and Grounds marks Lefkowitz’ fourth solo exhibition at Carrie Secrist Gallery. An Associate Professor of Art at Carleton College in Northfield, MN, Lefkowitz has exhibited widely in the United States, including the Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN; Neuburger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY; and Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL. His work is included in the collections of the Walker Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN, Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL, and The Langen Foundation, Neuss, Germany, among others.

For more information please contact Stevie Greco at 312.491.0917.