An exploration of how time only exists in half steps, Richard Aldrich’s first solo presentation in Italy, includes a multifarious constellation of paintings, sculptures and works on paper, produced between 2000 and 2022. In a succession that fluctuates between pure abstraction and figuration, older artworks sit loosely and intermingle with new pieces to create a rhizomatic web of complex interconnections. These connections depart from an open-ended exploration of the history of painting, references to pop culture, film or personal experience, all contributing to the construction of a narrative, albeit indirect.
Characterised by a seemingly off-the-cuff technical virtuosity, Aldrich consistently engages in an investigation of the formal and material possibilities of painting. Oil, wax, charcoal, fabric may be built up on the surface, which is, in turn, cut, collaged, stripped or objects added. Works can be minimal, almost slight, or more heavily painted and dense, expressive and full of vigorous mark-making. His works on paper and sculptures embody a more intimate, autobiographical approach. The sculptures, which incorporate found objects, objects given to him or which hold special significance – items that had a previous existence – become a very personal articulation of the readymade.
Each work in the exhibition is its own, unique entity, embodying an interior and intimate logic. However, its meaning also shifts, new meanings are created, with the act of public display and the precise arrangement of each work in relation to the others in the exhibition. The exhibition site becomes a stage set for a play, or, perhaps, a script in the making; a short story populated by new and recurring characters; a chapter in a yet to be completed biography. The works explore and generate associated meanings, creating an overall picture that ultimately offers up to the viewer a point of entry into the interrogation of the process of art making, the experience of looking and of creating meaning.
RICHARD ALDRICH (nato nel 1975 a Hampton, VA, vive e lavora a New York, NY) è stato protagonista di mostre personali al Museum Dhont-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgio; al San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; al Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, MO, per citarne solo alcune. Aldrich è stato incluso in mostre collettive presso importanti istituzioni come il Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; il Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; il Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH; e il National Museum of Osaka, Giappone. Le opere di Aldrich sono presenti in prestigiose collezioni di musei come il Whitney Museum of American Art di New York, il Museum of Modern Art di New York, il San Francisco Museum of Modern Art di San Francisco, lo Smithsonian American Art Museum di Washington D.C. e il National Museum of Art di Osaka.
A very special thanks to Bortolami, New York.