Joseph Hart

KISS IDIOMS

May 10 – June 21, 2014

Press Release

In Gallery Two, Mark Moore Gallery proudly presents new work by Brooklyn-based artist Joseph Hart. An inaugural solo show for the artist in Los Angeles, "KISS IDIOMS" will showcase several works on paper and paintings on canvas that demonstrate Hart's trademark marriage between whimsical mark-making and Brutalism.

Navigating the tension between serenity and chaos, Hart presents abstracted renditions of physicality; both space and objects become reconstituted gestures or collage. Like blurry snapshots or excerpts from Hart's active process, elements of his compositions coalesce into a survey of tactility. Abrupt line work, colorful snippets of studio debris, pieces appropriated from his daughter’s sticker cache, and smudged, quilt-like patterns in oil paint, all form loose aesthetic references to Twombly, Joan Mitchell, and Mondrian, but retain a distinctive sense of process and impulse. Through Hart's methodical destruction and re-building of materials, the cut collages presented in "KISS IDIOMS" appear as edited, autobiographical assemblages, while Hart's large-scale paintings relay a more primal, latent psychology. Through both techniques, Hart poetically explores the cyclical, nuanced complexity of being, as well as the relationship between chance and kismet.

Originally from New Hampshire, Joseph Hart is a New York-based artist. His work has been exhibited at Galerie Vidal Saint Phalle in Paris, Galleri Tom Christofferson in Copenhagen, Cooper Cole Gallery in Toronto, Alexander & Bonin, CRG Gallery, Klaus Von Nichtssangend Gallery, David Krut and Halsey Mckay Gallery in New York, among others. Hart’s work has also been included in notable shows at the Bronx Museum of the Arts (NY), Santa Monica Museum of Art (CA), and The Elizabeth Foundation for The Arts (NY). His work has been featured in periodicals such as FlashArt, Modern Painters, and The New York Times. He is currently a resident artist at the Dieu Donné Workspace Program, in New York. Hart holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design.

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