OCHI presents Sonnets, a solo exhibition of new paintings by New York-based artist Andy Mister, a debut solo presentation at the gallery. Mister’s paintings of cut flowers in water-filled vessels merge the ephemerality of traditional drawing techniques with the physicality of painting. Mister’s paintings are intimate, both small in stature and offering insight into the personal nature of the work—Mister recently moved with his wife and their two young children to a town near the Susquehanna River in upstate New York, a change of pace from city life. Immersed in the outdoors, Mister watches his children navigate the natural world with curiosity and joy.
While previous paintings relied on found imagery, the paintings in Sonnets are all based on real flower arrangements made by all members of the Mister family. The artist’s kids choose flowers at the local farmer’s market and place them around the house in whatever vessel they can find—a jam jar used for turpentine, a glass left behind, or a small vase bought secondhand.
Mister affirms, “A lot of my work in the past was about my relationship to art history consumer culture. Now, as a father and a husband, the focus of my life has changed as I’m responsible for these two little beings and helping them navigate the world. I am trying, as it were, to bring something new into being instead of copying something which was already there.”
James Chronister
And we are green, greener than the hill, where flowers grow and the sun shines still
OCHI is pleased to present And we are green, greener than the hill, where flowers grow and the sun shines still, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Montana-based artist James Chronister, a debut solo presentation with the gallery. And we are green, greener than the hill, where flowers grow and the sun shines still features James Chronister’s deeply intricate, monochromatic landscape paintings. Composing straight-on images of dense winter forests, close-ups of individual leaves, and aerial images of flora, Chronister begins his process by photographing the environment surrounding his home in Missoula, Montana. After digitally distorting contrast, focus, and tones, Chronister moves from computer to canvas, where minuscule individual marks reveal scrupulous technical application. Onto a white or carefully hued off-white background, Chronister meticulously recreates source photographs by repeatedly applying, shaping, and erasing black oil paint. Precise dry brushing and stippling techniques achieve texture, depth, and refinements of form. The monochrome palette, unique in each painting, lends a unifying quality to Chronister’s work—distinguishing his paintings from realism despite his faithful adherence to the source photographs.
Though landscape in concept, Chronister’s spectral hues and cropped forests proffer tension between abundance and its representation rather than the idyllic and unaffected scenery of canonical landscape painting. Unassuming but vastly complex in their subtlety, these scenes of nature depict an unseen environment that is both a rich and rewarding investigation.
Caption:
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JAMES CHRONISTER
AND WE ARE GREEN, GREENER THAN THE HILL,
WHERE FLOWERS GROW AND THE SUN SHINES STILL
Ochi Galley
119 Lewis Street | Ketchum
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