June 20 - Aug 1, 2008
Leo Koenig Inc., New York, NY
For her first solo exhibition at the gallery, Wendy White has produced a body of work that is visually striking, physically confrontational and intellectually engaging. White’s compositions utilize a distinctive abstract language that alludes to the bombardment of the everyday. Urban sprawl, space junk, graffiti, buried hazardous material, and the accumulation of refuse are punctuated by heavy black areas that map a direct trail from the ubiquitous to the subconscious.
Built organically and intuitively, her balance of scrappy paint handling and compositional coherence outweighs any overarching desire to impress. Gestural sweeps and purposeful flaws are proof that White is unafraid to conjure real feeling and emotion. In this group of paintings, the artist gives new form to the bombast of rock concerts and the mass elation of sports arenas. Accident and spontaneity seem borne of confidence and authenticity. While White seems to work with reckless abandon, her off-kilter compositions prove well considered with time, though perhaps deliberately confounding.