MARCH 14 - APRIL 22, 2023
Endless Illusions
KATE BONNER
ANNA WEHRWEIN
MEET THE ARTISTS RECEPTION: Friday, March 17, 6 - 8 PM | Talk at 7 PM
Pentimenti Gallery is thrilled to present Endless Illusions, a two-person show by Kate Bonner and Anna Wehrwein.
Endless Illusions calls attention to the visual texture qualities that are immediately perceived, but where work of opposite ends of the spectrum meets. The artworks selected were based on the following principles of art making: line, layers, movement, and the unique use of color. While sharing common values, the use of different mediums dictates the outcome of the works.
KATE BONNER comments on our experience living in a world where we scroll, zoom in or out and navigate thousands of images through digital platforms. The artist’s process includes folding or cutting her own photographs, scanning them to produce a new picture, and finally manipulating the results using computer software. These layered images are then applied to a shaped aluminum panel, which compels the work to oscillate between photograph, painting, and sculpture. Ignoring the context of the original photograph, Bonner lets us marvel at the beautiful details of her snapshots without getting distracted by the subject.
Kate Bonner received her BFA at Calvin College and her MFA at California College of the Arts. She has exhibited nationally, including Luis De Jesus, Los Angeles, CA; Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA; San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA; Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA; Et al., San Francisco, CA; and many more. She has been awarded artist residencies at the School of Visual Arts and Inside Zone in Romania.
ANNA WEHRWEIN investigates her intimate relationship between herself and her surroundings and how the physical qualities of those spaces inspire her work. The characters depicted in those works on paper seem to be aware of the viewer but are too absorbed in their domestic activities to acknowledge someone’s presence. By selecting a specific hue of vibrant color-aid paper for each work, Anna purposefully leaves traces of the paper to reveal her specific paper color choice among her rich surfaces of charcoal or colored pencil. Another defining characteristic of Anna’s work is her fluid and expressive gestures made with the use of charcoal, chalk pastel, acrylic, and other media. The vulnerability of our existence or the naked truth of our everyday life serves as the driving force behind the artist’s unvarnished imagery.
Anna Wehrwein received her BS and BA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her MFA at the University of Tennessee. She has exhibited nationally and internationally: Thierry Goldberg Gallery, New York, NY; The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC; Troost Gardens, Kansas City, MO; The Warbling Collective, London, UK; and more. She was awarded the Saatchi Art’s Rising Stars, The Josephine Mercy Heathcote Fellowship, MacDowell, and shortlisted for the The Hopper Prize. She was an artist in residence at VCCA, Vermont Studio Center, Anderson Ranch Art Center, and MacDowell. Her work was featured in New American Paintings, Friend of the Artist, West Branch Literary Journal and ArtMaze Magazine.
For all inquiries, please contact us at [email protected] or +1 215.625.9990.