Rob Wynne
Opening Reception: Friday, February 10, 6-8pm at GAVLAK Palm Beach
Gavlak Palm Beach is pleased to present OH2/H2O, a solo exhibition of new works by New York-based artist Rob Wynne. This exhibition marks the artist’s third show at the Palm Beach location and his fourth with the gallery.
Rob Wynne’s work embodies the Rococo style of asymmetrical forms, elaborate ornamentation, and Enlightenment sensibility of the 18th Century, combined with a contemporary and unexpected use of text and materials. His exhibition features words and phrases from Wallace Stevens to Baudelaire and Rimbaud, in combination with curves, serpentines and spiral forms of his signature poured and mirrored glass. Text works The Sound of Water, Atmosphere, and Translucent Threads of Dawn point to Wynne’s long investigation into language, image, and meaning.
Wynne’s works, made of glass, glitter, and beads, are lyrical poetry in motion—glossy and gleaming, almost breathing as the oxygen and water in the exhibition title suggest. In molten form, glass runs clear, slipping and spilling like water. Through these poured and mirrored abstract installations, Wynne encapsulates fleeting moments of exhaled breath and meditative spaces. The title OH2/H2O represents the elements of air and water respectively. Waves of the ocean and fluttering butterflies are Wynne’s way of offering a fantastical and dreamy escape for the viewer - a light and lovely respite to the heaviness of the day.
The hand-beaded drawings on vellum, each of which take upwards of fifty hours to complete, are an intimate counterpoint to the poured glass works. The sparkling embroidery contains a web of threads that is visible through the transparent paper it is attached to, offering additional layers of intricacy. Similarly, his new glitter paintings on silver mylar capture the best of Wynne’s glimpses into multiple layers of observation as the viewer contemplates the words, such as Frenzy or Romance, as they are confronted with their own reflection.
Rob Wynne (B.1950 New York, NY) lives and works in New York City and has had numerous solo gallery exhibitions, including Galerie Mitterrand, Paris, France (2016); The Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL (2012); and Locks Gallery, Philladelphia, PA (2011). His work has been featured in group exhibitions at the Flag Art Foundation, New York, NY (2013); Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (2010), McNay Art Museum, Austin, TX (2005) and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (1990). Wynne’s work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of Art, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; Centre Pompidou, France; The Norton Museum of Art, Florida; the Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio; and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris.
For more information concerning the exhibition, please contact Jeremy Lyon at Jeremy@gavlakgallery.com, or (561) 833-0583. For press inquiries, please contact Lauren Wood at lauren@gavlakgallery.com, or (323) 467-5700.