An exploration into the manifold complexities of human relationships both from a psychological and metaphysical perspective…
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ALICE BLACK is pleased to present Marty Schnapf: Santa Ana Winds, the artist’s debut solo exhibition in the UK.
Santa Ana Winds brings together a new body of Schnapf’s paintings, created between 2017 and 2018. The title of the exhibition refers to a psychogeographical phenomenon distinct to the artist’s home state. In his 1955 essay, ‘Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography,’ situationist Guy Dubord defined psychogeography as “the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behaviour of individuals.” The Santa Anas are hot dry winds that blow over coastal Southern California and are thought to suffuse the region with a surreal and mystical tension.
Schnapf’s paintings often begin in a flurry of gestural abstraction. He then draws directly on the canvas without studies, pictures or models. Unencumbered by any single art historical allegiance, he employs a wide range of rendering techniques. With each step he reacts to the one before. Ghosts of previous forms and figures hover just behind the surface.
Marty Schnapf, born in 1977, lives and works in Los Angeles California, USA. Schnapf is celebrated for his multidisciplinary practice spanning painting, performance, video, installation and sculpture. Central to his creative and conceptual investigations is an exploration into the manifold complexities of human relationships both from a psychological and metaphysical perspective.