The Hogar Collection is very pleased to present the upcoming
debut solo exhibition by the emerging Brooklyn, New York based
artist, Walter Markham. Verticals / Graphites will feature a
selection of work taken from two recent series that explore
the limitless boundaries of the slight variation. In a mindset
where subtlety and ephemerality rule supreme, the works meditate
on the process of their making and the evident traces of their
individual creations are the focus of the final incarnations.
With a pronounced influence in Eastern philosophy, his works
are loose, yet obsessive investigations about the duality of
sameness and individuality. Magnified through minimal and direct
approaches, Markham utilizes an amazing sense of control and
freedom that combines with an edge of whimsy. The results are
Zen-like explorations that truly bring a refreshing and innovative
look at contemporary minimalist abstraction.
In the most recent mixed media series he uses as the base material
criteria, un-manipulated planks of found lumber. Using a canvas
that has a random and unreliable surface, the planks take on
and reveal their compositions from the direct interaction of
artistic intervention using materials such as oil paint, collaged
canvas, crayon, graphite, tape and the like. Alongside in his
series of obsessively rubbed graphite drawings, the dark, light
and fluid works are imbued with a sense of simplicity where
the subtleties in the application produce compositions of effortless
ephemeral moments.
Walter Markham has been in two previous group shows at the
gallery, has exhibited in other venues in New York, Chicago
and elsewhere, including the Hyde Park Art Center and The University
of Indiana. He is the founding curator of The September 11 Photo
Project which premiered in New York, traveled to other cities
and is now included in the permanent collection of the New York
Public Library. Currently he is the directing curator of a forthcoming
book of 100 contemporary artists crayon self portraits to be
published by Spuyten Duyvil Press in 2009.
• For more information or images, please contact the gallery.
Subway directions: L or G Train to Lorimer
St., exit on Metropolitan, walk under BQE towards Manhattan,
Left on Marcy Ave., 2 blocks turn right on Grand (@ the corner
of Marcy) also: L Train to Bedford Ave. walk south on Bedford
Ave. to Grand St. left on Grand St., walk 3..5 blocks (between
Havemeyer and Marcy) and the JMZ to Marcy Ave., walk 5 blocks
north to Marcy, turn left on Grand St.
By car from Manhattan: Drive over the Williamsburg
Bridge. 2nd immediate exit at S. 5th St., Left at light on Havemeyer.
Right on Grand Street, 3/4 block on right
