FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

out of line

Larry Wolhandler

Solo Exhibition

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 7, 5-7pm

Exhibition: September 7 - October 13, 2024

MARQUEE PROJECTS is thrilled to present a solo exhibition of paintings by Larry Wolhandler titled out of line. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, September 7, 5-7pm.

Twelve years ago, when my wife Tonja and I first visited Bellport, our good friend the critic/artist John Perreault introduced us to Larry Wolhandler. John felt strongly about Larry’s work and thought we would enjoy meeting each other.  Larry’s studio, located in East Moriches, was like that classic Jackson Pollack behind-the-house barn on Long Island one always reads about. We were enchanted by his studio, his personality, and very taken by his work.   

Some of you have known Larry long before now and know that, over decades of making paintings, he has developed a recognizable yet hard-to-define style. Exploring and challenging conventional assumptions of the abstract minimalist canon, he gradually layers pencil, ballpoint pen, oil paint, spray paint, house paint, and his favorite “found paint” from the leftover section at Home Depot. A democratic and purposeful randomness informs both his aesthetic philosophy and practice, welcoming all and excluding none: mistakes, erasures, failures, and accidents are cherished as portals that allow the audience to peek into the artist’s process and what lies beneath. And while often appearing amorphous, the canvases are exactingly composed, revealing layers of underpainting and ghostly remnants of Larry’s beloved grids, hearkening back to antecedents ranging from the perspective experiments of the Renaissance to the flat-plane universes of Modernism.

Most importantly, his work offers the sensuous pleasure of simply being looked at. With their subtle, soft, sanded-down surfaces, the pieces calmly provoke and seduce.  John Perrault noted, “these wonderful paintings are serene and luxurious. They are as much about touch as they are about color and light. Is that their secret? Yes, they are color, light, and touch, made whole.”

Mark Van Wagner, Owner/Director of Marquee Projects.