The Matthew Langley / Heejo Kim exhibition opens at Blank Space tonight, 6 – 8pm. In a 2008 Washington City Paper review, Kriston Capps gave Langley extra points for audacity. “His paintings draw easy comparisons to a host of latter-day abstract-expressionist titans, from Agnes Martin and Sean Scully. Make no mistake, Langley courts those comparisons�his emphasis on the grid places him squarely within that Lacanian camp that finds the sublime through repetition, variation, and trauma. It�s a dangerous proposition�Langley risks being derivative�yet in several respects his work proves to be more recidivist than redux.”
In 2003, Heejo Kim moved to New York from South Korea. Suddenly surrounded by boatloads of artists, she began questioning her artistic identity. A sense of estrangement and growing awareness that new ideas are in short supply led to a series of paintings depicting Dolly the sheep, the world�s first mammal to be genetically cloned.
Matthew Langley and Heejo Kim, Blank Space, New York, NY. Through February 2, 2010.