Solo exhibition of works on paper by New York-based artist Roland Flexner opens at D’Amelio Gallery

NEW YORK, NY.- D’Amelio Gallery presents a solo exhibition of works on paper by New York-based artist Roland Flexner. Over the last decade, Flexner has been expanding his drawing practice, which relies on elements of chance, spontaneity, and the self-directedness of his materials. Through a restrained approach to mark making, including indirect gestures such as tilting the paper to encourage gravity’s effect on ink, or using his breath funneled through straws, the artist creates images unified by the natural properties of his medium and method and their embrace of both contingency and control. Recently, Flexner has introduced liquid graphite into his process, producing images of abstractions in cool tones that endlessly fold into themselves.

Roland Flexner, Untitled, 2012. Violet calligraphy ink on paper, 5 1/2 x 7 inches.

In this installation, Flexner presents 100 framed drawings, each of which can be read individually or as part of a larger group. On two opposite walls in the main gallery, Flexner has installed two symmetrical groups of 26 liquid graphite drawings in a larger format than his previous work at 9 by 12 inches. On the remaining walls, Flexner introduces the element of color for the first time, presenting three square grids of drawings of a smaller scale made with violet calligraphy ink on one wall, and an ensemble of 21 drawings made with black and gold calligraphy ink on the other. The vibrant color and intense pigmentation of the calligraphy ink introduces a new depth to his spontaneous abstractions, evoking saturated terrestrial and galactic landscapes. While the compositional range of the images as a whole is varied, the installation is united in the artist’s focus on his material and method of application, revealing the ink’s natural life and tendencies as it is pushed forward into pictorial imagery.

Roland Flexner was born in Nice, France and lives and works in New York. A group of 30 of his liquid graphite drawings will be included in the forthcoming group exhibition “Graphite,” on view at the Indianapolis Museum of Art from December 7, 2012 through April 7, 2013. Recent solo exhibitions include Galleria Massimo de Carlo, Milan, Italy; Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris, France; and D’Amelio Terras, New York. He was a participant in the 2010 Whitney Biennial and has been included in exhibitions at the Albright Knox Museum, Buffalo; Royal Academy of Arts, London; The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; and The Daejeon Museum of Art, Korea. Public collections include The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Albright Knox Museum, Buffalo; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; and Centre Pompidou, Paris, France.

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