On the evening of Friday, June 21, Non-Fiction Gallery held a reception for the exhibition "4 AM," a collaborative effort featuring works by Jane Winfield, William Singer, Todd Schroeder and Alessandra Hoshor, who along with Munich-born Alycia Linke, serves as Non-Fiction's co-director.
The exhibit built upon Non-Fiction's history of showcasing experimental, thoughtful contemporary works of art.
"They go together in a strange way — they share a fearlessness," said Hoshor of the 20 or so paintings of varying dimensions that hung on Non-Fiction's white walls. Apropos, a near-reckless assortment of fine art and quotidian materials were legible in the show's set of abstract and non-objective paintings. Layers of oil, acrylic and latex house paint; plaster; enamel and tape continued the exploration of material possibilities that has become central to Non-Fiction's identity.
In addition to that commitment to testing the technical support, the paintings of "4 AM" once again pressured the two-dimensional plane, a tactic observable in Non-Fiction exhibitions such as April's "Ecstatic Matrices."
To that end, Charleston-based artist Jane Winfield, who was featured in "Ecstatic Matrices," contributed a group of paintings whose impromptu protrusions of colored matter oozed in tentacular fashion from the confines of the pictorial surface.
On the subject of Winfield's "Regular Eyes," a sizeable composition of latex house paint, industrial enamel, acrylic and graphite on wood, Hoshor reported that the artist left the artwork out in the rain, surrendering authorial control and embracing nature's modifications to the work of art.
In like manner, openness to uncertainty struck a refined balance between intention and happenstance in many works featured in "4 AM." Fearless acceptance of risk, change and chance, in Hoshor's idiom, allowed the exhibiting artists to test material conditions while still offering viewers a "freshness of palette and taste."
Collaboration, too, was a salient theme of the show, evident in Winfield's partnership with precipitation and in paintings by Hoshor and Addison Adams. Hoshor was eager to describe the dialogical process of collaborative painting:
"Instead of a monologue, the work takes the form of a dialogue, so it has more dimension and strength," she said. "The other offers a critical response, and you can take it further — there are more ideas and so much more complexity."
After two years at Non-Fiction's helm, Hoshor will be heading first to Slovenia then to New York City for two exciting artist residency opportunities.
In Slovenia, Hoshor will be paired with an international artist whom she'll meet upon arrival. They'll work for three weeks, during which time Hoshor hopes to experiment with animation and drawing. An exhibition featuring the products of their labor will take place during the fourth week of the residency.
Next up for the native Savannahian will be a New York residency secured through the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts.
While she pursues those opportunities, a quartet of local artists will take over management of Non-Fiction: Sam Bryer, Ben Tollefson, Heather MacRae-Trulson, and Naimar Ramírez.
Tollefson was on hand at the "4 AM" reception to discuss the gallery's future. While small shows will likely occur over the summer, the space's grand re-opening comes in September. A painter by training, Tollefson said he and his fellow gallerists will continue Non-Fiction's commitment to medium diversity.
"We're three painters and photographer, but we don't want to put on painting show after painting show. We're going to push the diversity of art forms even more," he pledged.
"We also want to keep putting on SCAD student shows, and to continue to be an independent art space where artists put together the exhibitions."
To celebrate the changing of the guard, the Non-Fictioners are putting on "Volume 2," a show/fundraising party on Friday, June 28 at 7 p.m.
All are invited to congratulate Hoshor, welcome the new gallerists, take in artworks by Non-Fiction alums and to help support a premier destination for intelligent, bold artistic experimentation.
