Chris Teasley

recent paintings

March 4– 29, 2003 -- Artist reception on Friday , March 7th, 5.30 to 7.30 pm
CLIFFORD • SMITH GALLERY is pleased to announce its March exhibition of recent paintings by Chris Teasley.

Chris Teasley's exhibition focuses on his current series of paintings that he calls "hyper realist abstraction". The seeming oxymoron is a deft reworking of the trompe l'oeil tradition employing the visual language and precision of a digital age with the inherently organic process of gestural painting. Chris Teasley is currently studying at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.

 

 

Chris Teasley

Hatch (detail)

2003

oil on panel

96" x 144"

 

 

(detail actual size 6" x 8")

 

 

 

 

Teasley's work adroitly walks the line between natural and fabricated. The applied abstraction floats either over a flat ground of oil paint or the natural abstraction of wood grain. However, given the viewer's knowledge of wood, the abstracted grain appears nearly figurative next to the fabricated abstraction applied to its surface. In this instance the artist plays coyly with our visual perception and the information we bring with us in the process of seeing.

 

Chris Teasley

Listen

2002

oil on panel

48" x 48"

Teasley's paintings also move swiftly from micro to macro. In a series of three 24" x 24" paintings installed in a row, the impression is of varying degrees of magnification. In this case one could be moving from a full exterior view of some organic object - to its surface - finally to the level of its individual cells.

Below:

Left: Pajama Painting, 2003, oil on panel, 24" x 24"

Middle: On the Dot, 2003, oil on panel, 24" x 24"

Right: A Photgenic Memory, 2003, oil on panel, 24" x 24"

Yet, the paintings keep a sense of humor about them, some employing the occaisonal star burst of a comic book Pow! or a pattern that could be repeated on a pair of pajamas.

 

 

Chris Teasley

The Optimist

2002

oil on panel

48" x 48"

 

 

Chris Teasley

Make Way

2002

oil on panel

48" x 48"

 

For more information please e-mail the gallery or call 617 695-0255.