All the works in the exhibition rely on the viewer and how the viewer approaches the canvas, or paper and how the viewer gains access into the work - one of the main characteristics of abstraction - and it is an entrance uncontrolled by realism.
Abstract art begins in the 19th century as a way for artists to explore visual perception, texture and how these mechanical aspects of painting expressed and explored the internal of both the artist and the viewer. Directly opposing the absolute of form, the abstract artist looks more towards the suggestion of a visual unknown, the strength of an undefined form, the direction of line, and the application of paint to increase emotional response from the viewer.
Artist Johnny Ramstedt falls into the tenets of abstraction in that many of his works are either stark explorations into colors and their tones and hues, to geometric planes of colors and texture, becoming patchworks of feelings or opportunities. Confident in his exploration and painterly technique, Ramstedt blasts his canvas with paint, defines his work, and steps away inviting the viewer to find access into the work to explore on their own, to find their own path and means to find what he is suggesting in the title.
Angela C. Paris, presents another type of abstraction in that her works are often defined through line offering a myriad of interpretations, arguing that no one answer is the correct one, but instead the interpretation is left to the viewer to experience and define. Using a soothing palette, Paris expresses and offers depth, angles, and pathways to be understood as they appear to the viewer.
Tatana Kellner, still dwelling in the realm of the abstract incorporates suggestive shapes that lead the viewer towards often playful interpretations on the view she presents. Creating views of abstraction, she appears to play between the real and the abstract, suggesting that nothing really falls into a static definition, but that all definitions fluctuate because of the viewer and what the viewer brings to the canvas.
All the works in the exhibition rely on the viewer and how the viewer approaches the canvas, or paper and how the viewer gains access into the work-one of the main characteristics of abstraction - and it is an entrance uncontrolled by realism.
Statement by Melanie Prapopoulos
