Underdonk

press release

Kristen Jensen and Nick Sullivan

Opening Friday, June 7th, 6-8 pm

Curated by Leonora Loeb and Pooneh Maghazehe

On view June 8th – July 14th

Underdonk is pleased to present “Spitting Image,” a two-person exhibition featuring Kristen Jensen and Nick Sullivan. The show encompasses a drawing and a ceramic wall piece by Jensen, and two steel and mixed media floor sculptures by Sullivan. Both artists use materials that are at times found, repurposed, or attentively constructed. Their process liberates the objects from their conventional associations to explore new meanings. The exhibition emphasizes the artists’ shared interest in re-contextualizing objects, imbuing them with new significance, and exploring the tension between an original and its representation

Jensen’s drawings are maps made using graphite, charcoal, and pastel on tracing paper to capture the form and material idiosyncrasies of the collage constructions from which she makes the drawings. The original collage is discarded, making the map rubbings the sole record. Often these maps inform the patterns for potential sculptures and bear a resemblance to the ceramic wall sculpture in the show. Sullivan’s work similarly transforms familiar objects, preserving the energy of their form beyond a practical use. His inquiries begin with obsolete forms and functions, such as stoves and irons, freeing these objects from their temporal and spatial contexts. His steel sculptures are coated with materials like sprayed car paint, charcoal, and collaged paper, adding to their complexity and inviting the viewer to make new associations.

Kristen Jensen:

Jensen’s artistic practice comprises sculpture, drawing, and performance: each playing a role in questioning subjective relationships to physical and mental space, form and emptiness, and the often-imperceptible division between. Recent shows include those at GEARY and Stand4 and she has been the recipient of a Lighthouse Works Fellowship and the St John’s Pottery Jerome Foundation Emerging Artist Fellowship.  She holds a BFA in Printmaking from Syracuse University and an MFA in Combined Media from Hunter College.  Jensen is based in Brooklyn, New York.

Nicholas Sullivan:

Sullivan is known for standalone or wall-mounted sculptures that serve as surfaces for collage. Sullivan sees them as bodies and objects on the brink of obsolescence—where, stripped of function, they become pure form. Recent exhibitions include; Everblue, International Waters, New York, NY; Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Galeria Mascota, Mexico City, MX;  Make Hay in the Sun, HG, Chicago, IL; NY; Domino, Shoot The Lobster, New York, NY; Comfort Animal, A-L Gallery, Seoul SK; Neu, No Place Gallery, Columbus OH, ; The World Without Us, Brennan & Griffin, New York NY; Gist & Gesture, Kavi Gupta, Chicago, IL; Foster Prize Exhibition, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA.  Sullivan earned his M.F.A. in Sculpture from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA, and his B.F.A. in Sculpture from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA  He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Install images by Ocean Studio