MARCH 14 – APRIL 25, 2020

BLUE

Steven Baris
Kiki Gaffney
Judy Gelles
Mark Khaisman

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 14, 5:00 – 7:00 PM

Pentimenti Gallery welcomes the spring season with the group exhibition BLUE. More than just a primary color, blue has held numerous meanings and associations throughout human existence. Each of us has experienced blue, whether in mood, music, politics, art, or nature. For this exhibition STEVEN BARIS, KIKI GAFFNEY, JUDY GELLES & MARK KHAISMAN present work that speaks to their individual relationship with BLUE.

STEVEN BARIS
Steven Baris is interested in spaces that are designed to be placeless — spaces that are created to be passed through as quickly and efficiently as possible, airports, expressways, and lobbies; most recently massive, horizontal structures variously called distribution centers or logistics centers. Through his focus on space within his work, Baris makes sense of his own biography, having grown up on American Indian territories and later moved to the most built-up area in the continental US.

Steven Baris received his MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA. He studied at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA and at Instituto Allende, San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. Baris has exhibited widely in the US and internationally, in museums and institutions: Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA; Institute of Visual Arts in Kielce, Poland; Museum St. Wendel, Germany; Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Penzance, UK; Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT; Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE; Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ; Atelierhof Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany; INTERNATIONAL BIENNIAL OF NON OBJECTIVE ART, Pont de Claix, France; Kunstlerhaus Dosenfabrik, Hamburg, Germany; Carnegie Mellon University Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA; The Drawing Center, New York, NY, and more. His work is included in numerous corporate and private collections across North America, Europe and Australia. Steven Baris has been represented by Pentimenti Gallery since 2006.

KIKI GAFFNEY
Gaffney’s work looks to bring into focus the stunning visual patterns and order within structures we come across daily that can oftentimes be so ingrained in our lives that we give them little thought, or even overlook altogether. By juxtaposing organic, animate shapes with organized design elements, she enables us not only to re-experience but rather opens a space for contemplation and deeper examination into the relationship between our natural and created ‘atmospheres’.

Kiki Gaffney received her BA from Loyola College, Baltimore, MD, and an MFA from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA. Gaffney’s work has been exhibited at museums and institutions: Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA; Abington Art Center, Jenkintown, PA; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE; University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA; Immaculata University, Immaculata, PA; and more. She has been selected for a residency at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Amherst, VA (2018, 2016, 2014, 2012, 2010). Philly Voice listed her as the “10 Female Artists You Need to Know”. Her works are in various public and private collections. Kiki Gaffney has been represented by Pentimenti Gallery since 2004.

JUDY GELLES
Judy Gelles presents photographs from her “Trailer Park” series. This work spawned from her father’s decision to buy a mobile home in Melbourne Beach, FL, to escape the icy New Hampshire winters. Her technique illuminates this community, embodying the dream of retirement, but for many, it is actually the end of the road.

Judy Gelles received her MFA in Photography from Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI. Gelles has exhibited her work most notably at: the National Portrait Gallery, London, UK; Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, Sunderland, UK; Arts Club of Washington, Washington, DC; Coreana Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea; Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles, CA; Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie, Trenton, NJ; Santa Fe University of Art and Design, Santa Fe, NM; Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA; Philadelphia Foundation, Philadelphia, PA; Granary Arts Center, Ephraim, UT; Berlin Foto Biennale, Berlin, Germany; Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami, FL; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland; Photo Center NW, Seattle, WA; Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA; and more. She has been awarded the CENTER Award, Second Prize “Curator’s Choice” (2016); CFEVA Alumni Travel Grant (2016); First Prize, Prix de la Photographie Paris (2013); Lomax Family Foundation Grant (2012); among others. Her work is in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY; Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA; Harvard University Fine Arts Library, Cambridge, MA; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; among many others. Judy Gelles has been represented by Pentimenti Gallery since 2011.

MARK KHAISMAN
On the gallery’s front window, Khaisman presents a site-specific tape installation paying homage to the neighborhood’s historical heritage. This work will feature the use of various new tape applications, adding to Khaisman’s already extensive tape vocabulary.

Born in Kiev, Khaisman studied Art and Architecture at the Moscow Architectural Institute, Moscow, Russia. Notable exhibitions include: Community Arts Center, Wallingford, PA; Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA; Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany; BYU Museum of Art, Proto, UT; and more. He has been the recipient of many awards and works are found in the collections of: Comcast Center Campus, Philadelphia; Brandywine Trust Collection, Philadelphia; British Airline Collection, London; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington; NBC Collection, New York; Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany; West Collection, Philadelphia; MOMA, New York; and more. Mark Khaisman has been represented by Pentimenti Gallery since 2010.

For all inquiries, please contact Pentimenti Gallery at [email protected] or +1 215.625.9990.