The Ground: Conny Purtill with Felix Culpa, Jay Heikes, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Barry McGee, Todd Norsten, Tobin Yelland
March 7–April 26, 2014
Adams and Ollman is pleased to announce The Ground, an exhibition by Conny Purtill with Felix Culpa, Jay Heikes, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Barry McGee, Todd Norsten and Tobin Yelland. The exhibition will be on view March 7 through April 26, 2014.
In this exhibition organized and designed by Conny Purtill, five paintings — one each by Felix Culpa, Jay Heikes, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Barry McGee and Todd Norsten — line the walls of the gallery. Each of these works has been executed on a canvas gifted by Purtill to these artists in an ongoing project of exchange. The recipients are asked to consider them as they would any blank canvas or “ground.”
Purtill prepares these grounds, all measuring 17 x 22 inches, with alternating layers of gesso and gesso that has been toned with India ink. After eleven layers have been applied, the artist then makes numerous paintings, sanding each down upon completion. This happens until the ground is exhausted, at which time it is “neutralized” with pencil marks that create a monochromatic gray surface. In this penultimate iteration, Purtill’s canvas becomes the ground for another artist.
On an X-shaped, free-standing structure rest works called Hand-held Grounds, double-sided objects of ambiguous use. Their surfaces are created through a process of layering and sanding similar to the grounds mentioned above. Installed across from each of the four Hand-held Grounds are a collage, a drawing, a rudimentary puppet called Sam Fox, and a photograph of an airborne skateboarder by the artist Tobin Yelland that provides a sort of key to Purtill’s highly constructed installation.
Additional works by Purtill include pencil drawings in what the artist terms the “available spaces” on the pages of select books. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication of the artist’s drawings.
Conny Purtill is an artist and book designer living and working in Boston, Massachussets.
installation view: The Ground
installation view: The Ground
installation view: The Ground
installation view: The Ground
installation view: The Ground
installation view: The Ground
installation view: The Ground
installation view: The Ground
installation view: The Ground
installation view: The Ground
installation view: The Ground
installation view: The Ground
installation view: The Ground
Barry McGee and Conny Purtill
Untitled, 2014
acrylic, gesso, India ink, and pencil on canvas
22 x 17 inches
CP_BM
Jessica Jackson Hutchins and Conny Purtill
Table of Contents, 2014
gesso, India ink, pencil, acrylic, oil, paper, glazed
ceramic and found plate on canvas
17 x 22 inches
CP_JJH
Felix Culpa and Conny Purtill
la concierge est dans l’escalier, 2013
gesso, India ink, and pencil on canvas with wood and
copper wire
22 x 4 x 4 inches
CP_FC
Conny Purtill
Sam Fox, 2009
pine, birch, steel, nylon, and oil stick
31 inches in height
CP 03
Tobin Yelland
Untitled (Julien Stranger), 1986
black and white photo
8 x 12 inches
Conny Purtill
Carl Rummy, 2006
paper
10 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches
CP 02
Conny Purtill
Handheld Ground, 2012-2014
gesso, India ink and pencil on wood
14 x 31 1/2 x 1/4 inches
CP 06
Conny Purtill
Handheld Ground, 2012-2014
gesso, India ink and pencil on wood
14 x 31 1/2 x 1/4 inches
CP 07
Conny Purtill
Handheld Ground, 2012-2014
gesso, India ink and pencil on wood
23 x 23 x 1/4 inches
CP 04
Conny Purtill
Handheld Ground, 2012-2014
gesso, India ink and pencil on wood
23 x 23 x 1/4 inches
CP 05