Into Gray explores a transitional period in painting for Maldonado. Moving away from organic, tropical forms inspired by her Caribbean roots, Maldonado steps outside of her comfort zone to embrace new techniques and articulating the human experience with color. During this process, the artist encountered feelings of frustration, rage and madness as she deconstructed her past. By painting over her familiar naturalistic forms with more angular strokes richly layered with darker colors, Maldonado took an introspective approach to the creative process. Still, glimpses of her recognizable Caribbean palette shine through as she delves into this new body of work.
In this exhibition of large-scale canvases, the viewer will encounter explosions of dramatic line work through colorfully layered palettes including metallic, shades of grays and bulky drips of yellow. The paintings are considerably more about lines, performance of texture and the layering process of acrylic and urethane. Bold brushstrokes converge with thick colorful paint drippings. Paintings that comprise the everyday elements encountered in New York City living, including the bleakness of winter, and the welcoming of spring.
Sofia Maldonado (b. 1984) was born from a Cuban mother in Puerto Rico where she grew up. She received her MFA from Pratt Institute, New York in 2006. Most recently, Maldonado was awarded the Manhattan Community Arts Fund by the LMCC and had her first solo museum exhibition at the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico in 2012. Additional exhibitions include CAAM, Canary Islands, Spain; Museum of Art and Design, New York; Mint Museum, North Carolina; The Ringling Museum, Florida; El Museo del Barrio, The Queens Museum and The Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York. Public projects include Time Square (Time Square Alliance), the 10th Havana Biennial and Real Arts Ways. The Artist currently lives in New York.
For more information or images, please contact the gallery at[email protected]
Sofia Maldonado Into Gray April 26th – June 1st
521 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001
Photos by Jamie Martinez
