Galleri Urbane will present San Francisco artist Mel Prest in her third solo exhibition with the gallery. "Time is Knots on a String" expands on the geometric line-based work that has been the focus of the artist’s career for numerous years. Through paintings on panel and works on paper, Prest explores the feeling of deep, elongated time and optical shifting.
The exhibition’s title serves as a reflection of Prest’s interest in the human experience of time and refers to a method used prior to clocks and calendars where events were delineated by knots on a string. This kind of physical action to denote ephemeral moments has evolved over millennia, reinforcing the notion of time as a construct. Through her paintings, Prest alludes to the flexibility of time by using fluorescent, metallic, micaceous or phosphorescent paint that flickers, glows or is shadowed in different light conditions. Viewing the paintings from different angles, distances, or times of day incites numerous experiences of the same object. An intricate network of freehand-painted lines-cross at various angles, provoking a moiré pattern that reads as optical illusion.
Color also plays an imperative role in Prest’s practice. A range of sensorial effects are achieved through carefully chosen color palettes. Lines of blue hues in "Cloud Flow" (2021) emanate from the composition’s center, providing a rush of visual energy akin to a portal that one could enter. Darker hues in "Summer Penumbra" (2021) capture a more subtle intensity, emphasized by the work’s lone circular band anchoring the composition. Prest’s steadily controlled hand is showcased in a series of works on paper that shares its name with the exhibition. Delicate lines painted in watercolor provide insight to the artist’s process: a brushstroke's beginning and end are marked by concentrated points of pigment that create a rhythm around the paper. These works’ composition are divided into 12 sections, relating to the hours, months, astrological sings and cycles that mark the passage of time.
Following the opening reception, the exhibit will be on view through July 2.
Galleri Urbane will present San Francisco artist Mel Prest in her third solo exhibition with the gallery. "Time is Knots on a String" expands on the geometric line-based work that has been the focus of the artist’s career for numerous years. Through paintings on panel and works on paper, Prest explores the feeling of deep, elongated time and optical shifting.
The exhibition’s title serves as a reflection of Prest’s interest in the human experience of time and refers to a method used prior to clocks and calendars where events were delineated by knots on a string. This kind of physical action to denote ephemeral moments has evolved over millennia, reinforcing the notion of time as a construct. Through her paintings, Prest alludes to the flexibility of time by using fluorescent, metallic, micaceous or phosphorescent paint that flickers, glows or is shadowed in different light conditions. Viewing the paintings from different angles, distances, or times of day incites numerous experiences of the same object. An intricate network of freehand-painted lines-cross at various angles, provoking a moiré pattern that reads as optical illusion.
Color also plays an imperative role in Prest’s practice. A range of sensorial effects are achieved through carefully chosen color palettes. Lines of blue hues in "Cloud Flow" (2021) emanate from the composition’s center, providing a rush of visual energy akin to a portal that one could enter. Darker hues in "Summer Penumbra" (2021) capture a more subtle intensity, emphasized by the work’s lone circular band anchoring the composition. Prest’s steadily controlled hand is showcased in a series of works on paper that shares its name with the exhibition. Delicate lines painted in watercolor provide insight to the artist’s process: a brushstroke's beginning and end are marked by concentrated points of pigment that create a rhythm around the paper. These works’ composition are divided into 12 sections, relating to the hours, months, astrological sings and cycles that mark the passage of time.
Following the opening reception, the exhibit will be on view through July 2.
Galleri Urbane will present San Francisco artist Mel Prest in her third solo exhibition with the gallery. "Time is Knots on a String" expands on the geometric line-based work that has been the focus of the artist’s career for numerous years. Through paintings on panel and works on paper, Prest explores the feeling of deep, elongated time and optical shifting.
The exhibition’s title serves as a reflection of Prest’s interest in the human experience of time and refers to a method used prior to clocks and calendars where events were delineated by knots on a string. This kind of physical action to denote ephemeral moments has evolved over millennia, reinforcing the notion of time as a construct. Through her paintings, Prest alludes to the flexibility of time by using fluorescent, metallic, micaceous or phosphorescent paint that flickers, glows or is shadowed in different light conditions. Viewing the paintings from different angles, distances, or times of day incites numerous experiences of the same object. An intricate network of freehand-painted lines-cross at various angles, provoking a moiré pattern that reads as optical illusion.
Color also plays an imperative role in Prest’s practice. A range of sensorial effects are achieved through carefully chosen color palettes. Lines of blue hues in "Cloud Flow" (2021) emanate from the composition’s center, providing a rush of visual energy akin to a portal that one could enter. Darker hues in "Summer Penumbra" (2021) capture a more subtle intensity, emphasized by the work’s lone circular band anchoring the composition. Prest’s steadily controlled hand is showcased in a series of works on paper that shares its name with the exhibition. Delicate lines painted in watercolor provide insight to the artist’s process: a brushstroke's beginning and end are marked by concentrated points of pigment that create a rhythm around the paper. These works’ composition are divided into 12 sections, relating to the hours, months, astrological sings and cycles that mark the passage of time.
Following the opening reception, the exhibit will be on view through July 2.
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