c.nichols project is pleased to present Science Fiction, an exhibition of process-driven abstract painting by Los Angeles based artist Fritz Chesnut. Science Fiction marks the artists first solo exhibition with the gallery.
Chesnut’s inspiration stems from the ocean and coastal areas of Southern California, where he grew up. Although abstract, the work also alludes to the macro and micro nature of pattern reproduction through cosmic phenomena, waves, oil spills, aquatic and geologic formations, and other topographical imagery.
Chesnut is drawn to the limited palette of Andy Warhol's silkscreens and photocopied punk rock fliers as much as he is drawn to the color field abstractionists such as Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis.
His work generally begins with the canvas laying flat horizontally. After pouring pools of thinned paint, he intervenes by lifting and tilting the canvas; an intuitive process that allows for the interaction of paint based on subtle shifts in viscosity and accumulation. Gravity and climate then take over to create pools, ravines and fields of color on the canvas.
With Chesnut’s recent paintings he has opted to use spray paint that, when sprayed over wet acrylic paint, forms a skin and resists. The paint then breaks apart and drifts, a process similar to the geological evolution of the earth (glaciers, rivers, and land mass). These works can be appreciated for their beauty in the traditional sense of the sublime, or could be seen as depictions of sinister events like climate change. His paintings capture a dynamic event that both emphasizes the physical make-up and doubles as a hyper-realistic image.
Fritz Chesnut was born in 1973 in Santa Fe, New Mexico and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He received his BA from University of California, Santa Cruz in 1995 and his MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University in 1997. He has had solo exhibitions at Country Club, (Los Angeles and Cincinnati) and Bellwether Gallery, (New York). His work has been seen in such venues as Public Fiction, Los Angeles, Pepin-Moore, Los Angeles, White Columns, New York, The Bronx Museum, New York, and Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago, among many others. This year he closed a solo exhibition at Cult/Aimee Friberg Exhibitions, San Francisco, and completed the LAXART façade, Los Angeles (January – April). He is a receipiet of the 2014 Peter S. Reed Foundation grant.
c.nichols project is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon-6pm. Please check the gallery website for details and additional programming or call 310-915-1930 during gallery hours.
Press Inquiries: please contact Christine Nichols or Justin Cavin at info@cnicholsproject.com. To download Chesnut's full biography and press dossier please click here.