MERYL PATAKY
SOLO EXHIBIT
JULY 6 - 28, 2018
OPENING RECEPTION
FRIDAY, JULY 6, 2018
7-10PM
ON VIEW
JULY 6 - 28, 2018
For more info about available works by Meryl Pataky, please contact info@stephaniechefas.com
Payment plans are available upon request.
PRESS:
Exhibition feature on Juxtapoz Magazine
'The Five Art Openings That We're Most Excited to See This Week' in Willamette Week
Stephanie Chefas Projects is delighted to welcome Oakland-based artist Meryl Pataky back to the gallery for a stunning collection of new work. Breaking new ground while fortifying her devotion to light, Pataky continues to explore her aesthetic to mind-blowing effect. Flexing her experimental muscles for this exhibit, she adds a quick cast of resin and black pigment to the neon tubes, simulating the leak of a transformer. "By experimenting as much as possible with my medium, I find that I continue to see joy in the medium", says Pataky. "Right now experimentation is a huge part of my process".
In addition to a new level of attention towards materials, Pataky is creating a new series of brightly colored miniature palm trees. These sculptures first made their debut in 2013 at Art Basel Miami Beach. Hoping to upend a common cliche in the neon world, Pataky made the palm trees small and multi-colored, modernizing them in the process. To further the concept, Pataky has incorporated the quick cast 'drips' to each frond and trunk.
In the artist's own words: "The work has become self-aware. It knows how ubiquitous it is and yet so misunderstood. It knows it will be in pop-culture’s favor for now, as it has seen itself before so many times in its past, but soon fall again when it becomes oversaturated and squeezed for all of its luster, turned to kitsch and trifle through the scramble for profit on a trend. Fossilized in Instagram moments, glowing truisms hung over beds, and cliches on nightstands. In every artists portfolio. It’s all happened before. When a neon transformer begins to die, it leaks tar. The motor has been turning for a while. And then it dies."
The opening reception will be held at Stephanie Chefas Projects on Friday, July 6th from 7-10pm. Stephanie Chefas Projects is located in Portland, Oregon at 305 SE 3rd Avenue on the second floor of the Urban Row building. The exhibition will be on view through July 28th, 2018 and is free and open to the public.