JOHALLA PROJECTS

art curatorial collective






Stephen Eichhorn

Various Fades

September 5, 2014 — October 12, 2014

Johalla Projects is very pleased to present VARIOUS FADES, an exhibition of new works by Chicago-based artist Stephen Eichhorn. In his first solo presentation since 2012, Eichhorn reexamines his practice, producing collages that further complicate the dimensionality of the picture plane. The exhibition will run from SEPTEMBER 5 to OCTOBER 12.  An opening reception will be held on Friday, September 5 from 7-10pm.

Stephen Eichhorn’s method to making is at once quiet and intense. By working to establish new constants in his practice, Eichhorn manages to arrive at the unexplored — a middle ground that is overgrown and elegantly exotic. Here, the environment where Eichhorn’s current work resides is formal in its clustered stratification, hearkening to both gestural painting and the constructed photographic image. In this sense, spatial ambiguity becomes a steady, invigorating force that pulses through the exhibition.

More so now than ever, the works in VARIOUS FADES exemplify Eichhorn’s keen sense of cultivation and compositional play – they seductively writhe, bloom, and swell, all while achieving an unnerving constancy. Moreover, the artworks range in size and include many large-scale pieces, which in turn has enabled the artist to erect his signature plant forms with a hyperconscious sense of balance between broader imagery and smaller, more intricately cut paper plant parts. For the exhibition, Eichhorn will install his works in simultaneous response to the gallery’s architecture and to the specificity of his materials, thus endeavoring to create a viewing experience that calls for an extended look at the vivid plantscapes.

Stephen Eichhorn (b. 1984) lives and works in Chicago, IL. In 2006, Eichhorn received his BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work has been included in numerous national solo and group exhibitions, with highlights including CES Contemporary, Los Angeles (2014); Ebersmoore, Chicago (2012, 2011); the Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL (2012); Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (2012); Bucket Rider Gallery, Chicago (2008); Josée Bienvenu Gallery, NY (2008); and Cairo, Seattle (2008). His work is included in the new Zioxla publication Strange Plants, which was released in July 2014 to critical acclaim.

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