Artwork by Guzzo Pinc and T.J. Ly-Donovan
The new paintings by T.J. Ly-Donovan hint at the long-practiced Japanese art of kintsugi as a philosophical and material influence. Kintsugi—with origins in 16th-century tea ceremonies—is the art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted with gold, silver or platinum. It is similar to wabi-sabi, the Japanese tradition of embracing the flawed or imperfect. Deeply rooted in this ideology is the belief that beauty, wonder and the exquisite can emerge fully from the fragments of something irrevocably altered by an unfortunate accident. This wonderful sense of positivism grounds the work featured in Oily Foam, Ly-Donovan’s first solo show with Devening Projects.
These are paintings that bring pleasure and joy from a sense of optimism that one only achieves when realizing that what has been repaired and loved is superior to a new replacement. The stuffed animal whose split seams are sewn back together; the neglected empty lot transformed into a community garden; the abandoned building renovated to reveal the beauty of its architecture and the skilled work of long-gone craftspeople. These gestures of hope express the desire to reuse rather than abandon. Evoked most profoundly in the work of this exceptional young artist is exactly that: the willingness to reveal the new wonder in what may have been lost in a previous incarnation.
Another wonderful aspect to the paintings of Ly-Donovan is rooted in his inventive material use. Humble craft foam and oil paint are rarely seen together in contemporary painting, but the combination is deeply connected to his life experience. Being a father of small children as well as a skilled painter, his exposure to materials used both by kids and professional artists are celebrated in the work with a high degree of intelligence and nuance.
Opening August 26, closing October 7.
In the past few years, Pinc has developed a particularly euphoric visual language deeply rooted in the patterns and motifs he’s shaped from decades as a painter and deft artist on paper. The swirls mentioned earlier might suggest waves of stylized wheat fields or the rhythmic tracks one might make with a hand in sand. The movement is what’s important. That sway and swing is the dynamic energy that feels driven by sound, a beat or repetitive pulses. Those patterns, whether interpreted visually or aurally, have been the foundational basis for so much of Pinc’s work. How those hypnotic characters are woven into the main subjects of each piece brings the complexity of his subjects forward.
Recently there’s been a slight shift in Pinc’s notion of space; we can see it clearly in some of the new paintings featured in Winnetka. These new pictorial structures are in fact well-understood and familiar systems for the history and tradition of painting. Scale, perspective, and color intensity are all now fully deployed as devices to activate the image of the suburban landscape. Here we have recognizable—although highly stylized—vistas. Having grown up in Oak Park, Illinois, the bucolic features of quiet tree-lined streets trigger a new sense of contentment. Peaceful and serene, these canvases bring in Paul Bonnard or André Derain as influences. Without sacrificing any of his inherent unruliness, the work fully utilizes picture systems to take us deeper into panoramic locales rich with narrative inference.
Winnetka looks at a particular vein of interest in this artist’s practice. Whether this passion will sustain remains to be seen. Regardless, the audience is offered an opportunity here to enter—literally—an exciting new vista with potential to carry him and us to even more exciting places.
Opening August 26, closing October 7.
Friday: closed
Saturday: 12-5
Sunday: closed
