Chris Cran: Waiting in the Waiting Room at the Loewenbraeu-Kunst, Zurich

Chris Cran : Waiting in the Waiting Room
Solo Exhibition 
On view through to 28th of February, 2018
Loewenbraeu-Kunst on Mezzanine E1,
Limmatstrasse 270, 8005 Zurich
 

Mylona Gallery, in cooperation with TrépanierBear Gallery from Calgary, Canada, is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in Switzerland of Chris Cran: Waiting in the Waiting Room, an exhibition of new and recent work at the Loewenbraeu-Kunst.  This brewery-turned-arts complex is located in a building dating to 1897, and houses both the Kunsthalle Zurich and Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, two of the most important museums for contemporary art in this Swiss city, and provides spaces for visual arts presentations and exhibitions.

For Chris Cran: Waiting in the Waiting Room, the artist investigates the genre of portraiture, and the myriad possibilities of re-presentation of this genre, and the interpretations it elicits amongst viewers. The exhibition is anchored by new work titled Found Portraits, a series of portraits on paper of abstracted faces composed as constructions of geometric shapes in positive and negative space. Installed as an elaborate grid, at first glance, each visage presents a unique expression, such as smiling with delight, or looking askew or askance, grimacing, or simply glancing at the viewer with a placid countenance, for example. The abstracted physiognomy invites a longer gaze, allowing the viewer to reinterpret the image portrayed by the artist.

His play on perception puts him close to Roy Lichtenstein and Agnes Martin, artists, whose work had a strong influence on Chris Cran. As the artist explains: “The influence of Roy Lichtenstein was perhaps one that was most powerful, but not in terms of imagery but rather in terms of the punch with which it was delivered.“ In regards to Agnes Martin he adds: ” Agnes Martin has been a powerful influence on how I think about painting because her work is inexplicable as to the dichotomy (to me) between how it appears and how it affects.”

To read the entire press release, please open the PDF listed below or click here.

Image Credit: 
Zig-Zag Filmstrip (Orange), 2018
Acrylic on board / 40” x 60”