Thomas Solomon Gallery

Thomas Solomon Gallery is very pleased to announce that the current exhibition by gallery artist ANALIA SABAN was the subject of a review by Anne Martens in the May/June edition of Flash Art:

ANALIA SABAN
THOMAS SOLOMON - LOS ANGELES

Analia Saban sets out to deconstruct the practice of painting, questioning its status as a two-dimensional medium. In “Grayscale,” painting becomes sculpture and vice-versa. Monochromatic shades on raw canvas seem understated, perhaps to balance bold conceptual gestures. In Cover (2011), for example, a thick layer of dark-gray paint is peeled back from a corner, revealing pristine canvas.

Paintings in the series “Erosion (Grid, Doodle, Two-Point Perspective, and Cube)” describe two-dimensional mark making. Although clever in their reference to the illusion of three-dimensional space (and unique by being laser-cut to shape the paint) they also seem a little forced to make that point. However, they are seductive, with areas of ripped and rust-hued canvas showing between areas of glossy paint.

Saban studied with John Baldessari, and her paintings seem to reflect that influence — especially for their sculptural qualities. There’s also a Baldessarian wit in how she toys with visual perception — hanging a canvas askew to form a diamond or casting physical objects (a chair, an apple, a canvas stretcher) for trompe l’oeil effect.

There are other nods to mid to late 20th-century artists. Representation of a Chair and Representation of an Apple (both 2011) evoke Robert Rauschenberg’s architectural layering of found objects. Three works that include the word Decant in their titles are made with encaustic, a signature medium of Jasper Johns.

But lest you think Saban’s conceptualism owes too much to others, it’s astonishing to see the original strategies she comes up with. Apparently weighty shapes are affixed to surfaces with paint, visually defying gravity. Gravity is also the primary means by which Saban makes work, imbuing her paintings with form and mass: the qualities of sculpture.

What’s most original is when Saban collects large pools of wet paint, sealed in a plastic bag and enveloping an entire canvas. One of these, Paint Bag (Gray) (2011), doesn’t hang on a wall, but sits weighted like an anchor on the gallery floor. The painting’s wet paint, oozing and bloating, seems a rebellion against all notions of constraint.

Anne Martens



 M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 1 • FlashArt 157