JoAnne Artman Gallery is pleased to present, Women on the Verge, an exhibition introducing Swan Scalabre and Jenna Krypell. Addressing the thematic concept of being pushed to the brink, Women on the Verge explores both the conceptual and physical suggestions of the title. Highlighting their ability to create works that uniquely define the world around them, Scalabre and Kyrpell interpret the verge as a point of departure for their respective practices, allowing for the confrontation of any and all limitations in their complementary forms of expression.

For French artist Swan Scalabre, the verge is defined through the charged vulnerability of her subjects and the psychology behind the series. Poetic and nostalgic, the work communicates a constant desire to escape reality and temporality, while illustrating the common plights of women from classic movies, fairytales, and their iconographies. Painting with oil on wood, her small-scale works invite the viewer to get close in order to properly view the intricate details and surface textures. Intimate in subject matter and size, Scalabre’s paintings are placed in wooden shadowbox frames that she affectionately calls “secret boxes.” Exuding femininity, memory, and at times pain, with each new composition Scalabre reveals another glimpse into her fantastical world that begs to be visited.
Brooklyn based artist Jenna Krypell imposes clear restrictions on herself in the preliminary stages of production, with precise line work and edges characterizing her wall sculptures. Interpreting and reducing people’s everyday movements to both two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms, Krypell’s works are derived from the notion of displacement. Featuring materials such as MDF and hand-dyed resins and paint, her designs are composed with the distinct reconstruction and repetition of elements, pushing each surface’s boundaries to their limit. In constructing these abstract forms, she evaluates life’s challenges and restrictions, exploring the balance between choice and limitations while representing change; nothing is stagnant.

These artists’ work will inspire, provoke, engage and mesmerize. With visual perceptions always changing, peek behind the stories told and you’re sure to find the right artistic expression.