Gerri Rachins: In-Between
Exhibition Dates: october 27 – november 21, 2020
Reception: Thursday, October 29, 5pm - 8pm
The Painting Center is pleased to present In-Between, a solo exhibition of new works on paper by Gerri Rachins from October 27 – November 21, 2020.
The elaborate art of Gerri Rachins is like no other. The work features abstract shapes moving together as if they are connected by a delicate yet vehement thread in a whirlwind of force and energy. The ambiguity of the atmosphere relies on a visceral connection made between the maker and the viewer. Vertiginous compositions contain a plethora of sensations evoked through a masterful unification of color and a playful juxtaposition of textures. In her ongoing series In-Between, gestural marks of spirals and patterns on the paper will intrigue you and guide your imagination.
At her studio, Rachins developed a contraption with a chain, hung from a hook attached to the ceiling. At the end of the chain she created a tool that holds the graphite and can also accommodate a variety of weights. She created additional drawing tools from everyday objects that allowed her to use her knowledge to redefine the artist hand. The objects, consisting of a cooking spoon, hair accessories, and a rolling pin stand five feet and two inches tall. The contraption, being as tall as, or taller than the artist, creates a centripetal force, leaving traces of looping coils of graphite strokes on the vast sheet of the paper below. The results are unique. The white space of the paper, open at times and constrained at others, is as participant as the shapes, in creating illusions of a three-dimensional world in flux. The process led to the In-Between with Rachins exploring how gravity, motion, and force could help her in the creation of art.
Gerri Rachins is an American artist, living and working in Boston, Massachusetts. Her artworks are part of private and public collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Danforth Art Museum, United States Art in Embassies, Fidelity Investments, and others throughout the United States. Rachins has been a faculty member for twenty years at the School of The Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts in Boston, where she currently teaches Color Mastery, and also taught at Massachusetts College of Art & Design for numerous years. SShe received a Master of Fine Arts from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, MA, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Philadelphia College of Art, (now University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA), and also studied at The New York Studio School in New York, NY. Her paintings, drawings, and mixed-media collages are represented in the Boston area by Mobilia Gallery in Cambridge, MA, and in New York by The Painting Center in Chelsea.
For more information, visit: www.gerrirachins.com
