Dayana Beisenova, Chukwuemeka Anthony Chukwu, Xinxin Din, Xue Fei, James Gortner, Roast Hoggmann, Yong Eun Kwon, Gianna Putrino, Jingyu Xu, Leah Schrager, Cydney Williams, Hans Wendel, Li Xu, Xue Zheng
September 12 – October 19, 2024
Stretched Out gathered fourteen painters working across expressionism, photorealism, and abstraction, each canvas carrying its own quiet push against the edges of the medium.
VillageOneArt presented the Fall 2024 survey group exhibition Stretched Out, featuring works by Dayana Beisenova, Chukwuemeka Anthony Chukwu, Xinxin Din, Xue Fei, James Gortner, Roast Hoggmann, Yong Eun Kwon, Gianna Putrino, Jingyu Xu, Leah Schrager, Cydney Williams, Hans Wendel, Li Xu, and Xue Zheng, on view September 12 through October 19, 2024, with an opening reception on Thursday, September 12, from 6 to 8 PM. Works on view spanned expressionism, photorealism, and abstraction, with an expert sense of color carrying mood and meaning across the variety of subject matter these artists depicted. Echoing a range of imagery, in the words of artist Gianna Putrino, works on view offered “a response to the nostalgia and desire for an imagined world.” Echoing an expansion and ideation of a wider vision for the future, Stretched Out pushed back against the perceived limits of contemporary painting.
Works by Li Xu, Leah Schrager, Yong Eun Kwon, James Gortner, Jingyu Xu, and Hans Wendel meditated on the place and presence of people, with figures appearing and, in some cases, contorting across the canvas. Xinxin Din and Xue Fei approximated lived experience through the perception of everyday environments: pets such as cats exuded a calm presence in Xinxin’s interior paintings, while Xue evoked period painting alongside a sense of surrealism and modern culture. Dayana Beisenova, Cydney Williams, Gianna Putrino, Chukwuemeka Anthony Chukwu, and Xue Zheng offered a sense of wonder, with dreamlike color folded into dynamic abstractions or into a still-life or landscape sensibility, each opening a window onto a world beyond.
Stretched Out created a compelling lens through which to view artists working to push the medium of painting into a contemporary context. The exhibition brought together artists working in modern sensibilities while utilizing timeless artistic techniques and motifs, offering visitors an opportunity to consider where contemporary painting was headed and the range of possibilities still open to those seeking a spirit of contemporary artistic practice.
Works in the Exhibition
Stretched Out was on view at VillageOneArt, 150 West 25th Street, Suite 403, New York, from September 12 to October 19, 2024. For inquiries regarding available works by Dayana Beisenova, Chukwuemeka Anthony Chukwu, Xinxin Din, Xue Fei, James Gortner, Roast Hoggmann, Yong Eun Kwon, Gianna Putrino, Jingyu Xu, Leah Schrager, Cydney Williams, Hans Wendel, Li Xu, and Xue Zheng, please contact info@villageoneart.com.