Clare Grill: Mary Mary is a solo exhibition of new paintings and drawings by the New York-based artist. Clare Grill: Mary Mary opens Saturday, October 18th, with a reception for the artist from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm.  This is Grill’s first exhibition with the gallery. 

Grill, who was born in Chicago, will present abstract paintings as well as drawings she calls “Samplers”. Grill paints with oils on linen, including the inconsistent texture as a rich compositional element of her rigorous but unexpected abstractions. Often painting on an intimate scale, she employs color, surface, and form in an exploratory venture, seeking a “felt sense” of content over explicitly recognizable images. Her motifs originate in women’s history and antique samplers—small, embroidered pieces of fabric made by young girls to display their proficiency in needlepoint—yet her paintings are dynamic reappraisals of contemporary abstraction.

The title of the exhibition – Mary Mary – refers to the handing down of tradition via a name. Both the artist’s sister and their maternal grandmother share the name Mary. The title also references a familiar nursery rhyme, repeated by generations. Similarly, Grill’s paintings are interpretations and iterations of what came before: tiny marks, strange, drawn shapes, faded color, and worn, worked surfaces. Grill’s practice thus investigates domestic training, as well as the generational relationships between women, their families, their homes, and their environments. 

Clare Grill: Mary Mary will be on view through November 29, 2014