Mark Wethli: New Work

exhibition dates: March 25 - April 19, 2014

reception: Thursday, March 27, 6 - 8 pm

Mark Wethli uses hand-woven paper as the underpinning for rectilinear compositions whose contours sometimes align with the edges of the weave and sometimes don’t, suggesting a negotiation between the inherent characteristics of the physical object and other criteria that are less readily apparent. While their equivocal figure/ground relationships and the visual tension between their color, surface, shapes, and proportions are their primary characteristics, their simplicity and slight formal variations also suggest a linguistic or symbolic reading of the work. Inspired by Shaker drawings, Tantric art, amateur sign painting, and the history of geometric abstraction, among other sources, the paintings’ reductive design, burnished color, and deliberate yet make-do brushwork blur the boundaries between functional and aesthetic readings as well as the experiences we bring to each. Mark Wethli lives and works in Brunswick, Maine, where he is also the A. LeRoy Greason Professor of Art at Bowdoin College. http://www.markwethli.com/