CLOUD DOGS

Recent work by Amanda Konishi

The Art at 575 Madison Avenue
Curated by Matthew López-Jensen
2022

The natural world provides a hidden structure in the biomorphic paintings of Amanda Konishi. Mountains, stars, acorns, clouds, fish, waves, and thorns all reveal themselves to a patient observer. Some paintings contain full environments in the space of a few inches. And almost every work in the show derives from the artist’s experience in specific landscapes.

Color is a celebration in Konishi’s work. Coral red and mustard yellow create gradating sunrises and sunsets along twisting horizons. The blues in a single painting might slide back and forth between midday and midnight skies. All these colors are held in place by painfully intricate lines that draw viewers into microcosms blooming with pattern. The edges of most pieces in the show are defined by dramatic cuts. The gesture gives the pieces a slightly more natural feel because, while paper comes in rectangular sheets, rectangles are seldom found in nature. Punctuating brass grommets and embellishments in thread push some pieces even further into a sculptural place. The cosmic, sometimes dark, work of Lee Bontecou, and the playful canvases of Elizabeth Murray, may come to mind.

The dreamy narratives found within each piece might be evidence of Konishi’s prior work as an illustrator. She grew up in Southern California and spent time in the desert landscapes throughout the Southwest. Nature is important to her and it emerges in the work. The titles of some pieces in the show offer clues. The largest piece titled Baker refers to Mount Baker in Washington. The series of antler-shaped works titled rutting season takes its name from the time of year when deer mate. cloud dogs iii, a small painting with black star shapes, references the natural phenomenon where rainbows appear in the frozen crystals of cirrus clouds high in the atmosphere. Many of the works are very recent, like snow day thorns, made last winter when heavy snow and the pandemic quieted the city.

In her artist statement, Konishi points to the importance of books and the inner life they help to cultivate. She remembers one of her first favorite books, at four years old, was The Color Kittens from the Little Golden Book Series. First printed in 1949, it was illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen and the original version is packed with inky chromolithographs. The kittens, named Brush and Hush, liked to mix and make color, and just like Konishi, out of these colors they made all the colors in the world.

Curated by Matthew López-Jensen

Exhibition supported by Steinberg & Pokoik Management Corp.

Leading image: Amanda Konishi, untitled, 2020, Acrylic gouache, charcoal and colored pencil on paper. 11 x 8 1/2 inches