Press Release - Mike Childs A Side / B Side
Mike Childs
A Side / B Side
November 27 - December 23, 2021
Artist Reception: Wednesday, December 1, 2021 5:00 - 8:00 PM
David Richard Gallery, LLC
211 East 121st Street
New York, NY 10035
212-882-1705
David Richard Gallery is pleased to present A Side / B Side by Mike Childs in his second solo presentation with the gallery. The presentation spans two distinct bodies of work that are both smaller in scale. The first group includes ten paintings mostly from 2020 and 2021, two of them his most recent works right off the easel, titled: A Side and B Side. A couple are part of a larger series that were originally painted in 2012 then revisited by the artist and “Recycled” in 2020, which means he added to and modified the original compositions little, mostly to enhance the colors here and there on each painting. There are also two earlier paintings from 2011 and 2008. The paintings are all acrylic on either canvas or linen and the sizes range from 14 x 14 inches to 20 x 20 “, 20 x 24” and up to 24 x 30”.
The second group of artworks in the presentation includes small ink and watercolor renderings on card stock, mostly 4 x 6 inches in size with one larger work measuring 6 x 9 inches. These ink and watercolor pieces span 4 separate series. As is typical with Childs’ work, 3 of the 4 series are rooted in geometric abstraction akin to his paintings but with narrower color palettes: yellow-ochre, black and white; red, pink, black; and the last, just black and white. The fourth series is different for Childs as it is about a specific person and incident, the arrest of a young black woman, Sandra Bland on July 10, 2015 by a Texas State Trooper for not signaling a lane change followed by her unfortunate death in jail three days later. Childs, horrified by this shocking news used his geometric imagery and iconography to document the tragic events in 5 drawings and honor Bland and her all too short life.
Childs’ paintings are largely geometric and in a range of palettes. The geometry is inspired by urban settings, architecture and nature, such as honeycombs, spider webs, leaf and plant structures as well as geology. The palettes vary widely depending upon the artwork and the artist’s inspirations. He also mixes all his own colors using a variety of acrylic media and pure pigments. Childs’ approach has a consistent trajectory in terms of the basic shapes and motifs, yet his work evolves to explore and include grids, patterns, curvilinear shapes, large passages of pure color and recently, textured surfaces and modeling of certain shapes and forms. The net effect is a range of compositions and dimensions, both literal and figurative.
This presentation contains several binaries or polarities in approach, size, medium, time frame and inspirations. Looking at the title of the new pair of paintings, A Side and B Side, it struck a cord and realized that the notion of one side of a vinyl recording (specifically a 45 rpm record, or single, as the origin of the term) or the other was an apt term or parallel for this range of artwork from the same artist. One side can be very different from the other, even though the artist and visual language is one and the same. It is the inspirations, motivations or sometimes cultural events or personal situations that allow an artist to use and alter their artwork to message and celebrate something very different from what they might otherwise do.
About Mike Childs:
Born in Toronto Mike Childs received his BFA from the University of Guelph, Canada, and an MFA from Florida State University. He is the recipient of several awards including a 2006 Pollock-Krasner Grant and a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Project Award. At 26 he received an award to live, paint and teach in Florence from Florida State that cemented his desire to work in the urban environment. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has had numerous solo and two person shows. He maintains a studio in the south Bronx.
After a childhood in Toronto, Childs moved to New York in 1995 and has been working on his patterned architecturally based abstractions ever since. The constantly changing urban environment and how humans negotiate this space is of main concern to Childs and continually informs his work. Influences of urban icons such as old bridges, crumbling walls, graffiti art and the signage of the south Bronx have began to seep into his work.
Associated Artist
Associated Exhibitions
- Mike Childs A Side / B Side
November 27, 2021 - December 23, 2021
MORE INFO
Associated News
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December 1, 2021
Press Release - Mike Childs A Side / B Side -
July 10, 2020
Mike Childs: The Journey: Grids, Color and Curvilinear forms, 2004 to 2020
The Brooklyn Rail
July 10, 2020
David Rhodes -
June 24, 2020
Mike Childs, A Journey of Grids, Color and Curvilinear Forms 2004 to 2020 on view at David Richard Gallery
ArtDaily.com
June 24, 2020 -
June 16, 2020
Mike Childs: The Journey: Grids, Color and Curvilinear forms, 2004 to 2020
GalleriesNow.net
06/16/2020 -
June 15, 2020
Press Release - Mike Childs - The Journey: Grids, Color and Curvilinear forms, 2004 to 2020