Jed Foronda: Metamorphosis (plus Jason Webb: Discard Piles)

McMurtrey Gallery presents the exhibition Jed Foronda: Metamorphosis on view July 11 through August 8.  Daytime opening reception July 11, 2pm-5pm.

Houston artist and recent Lawndale Art Center exhibitor Jed Foronda’s Metamorphosis is a series of sculptural paper works created by “excavating” periodicals. Pages of familiar imagery are both retained and reduced creating a topographical map of the original periodical.

The final result is a familiar abstraction pulling the viewer in and out of the once flat space of the page:

“My work is comprised of a delicate balance between drawing and sculpture by way of hand carved paper mediums. I employ paper as my main medium to produce the body of my current work. I source material from full periodicals, such as Art Forum and Playboy, to monochromatic Bristols. I systematically excavate patterns into each layer resulting in abstract mandala-esque forms that subvert the objects original content/intention.

I am interested in the formal aesthetics the work explores in addiction to its’ origin. The convergence of shapes and forms is derived from a combination of elements in nature, daily observations, and personal memories. In this way, I work subjectively and intuitively from my own experience towards more generalized, objective, and shared histories.”

-Jed Foronda

PLUS, in the micro space
Jason Webb: Discard Piles
July 11 – August 8, 2015
Brooklyn based artist Jason Webb will be exhibiting a new series of small paintings in the micro space. Meticulously rendering piles of discarded objects, Webb’s work investigates the beauty of impermanence:

“Discard Piles’ is a series of paintings which take as their subject matter piles of bulky trash set out on curbs for city collection and disposal. These found assemblages only exist for one day; put out on Sundays, and hauled away on Mondays. I spend my Sundays driving through unfamiliar neighborhoods, photographing the once private, now publicly expended possessions. From those photographs, I studiously paint select piles isolated against clean, white backgrounds. Individually, every pile is a unique glob of colors, shapes, and textures; organized or disorganized based on the unknowable whims or personality of their former owner.

When viewed as a series, the piles present anthropological findings. Patterns emerge, with certain objects undeniably common: cheap plastic toddler toys, rotting lumber, leaky garden hoses, mattresses, stained rugs, and unsalvageable furniture. Other objects are noticeably absent: appliances, grills, lawn mowers; essentially anything with a motor or made of metal. On collection days, I see these absent objects stacked high, skating past in a flurry of rattling trailers towed by distressed pickups. Fundamentally, my work, and this series in particular, is concerned with impermanence and the careful examination of places and possessions exhausted of their value.”

-Jason Webb

 Pictured above: Jed Foronda, Untitled, hand carved publication, 11″ x 8″, 2015.