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Jeff Caramagna Cryptogeometry Exhibit Opens at GO NORTH Gallery
GO NORTH is pleased to present Cryptogeometry, an exhibition of recent paintings by Jeff Caramagna. This is Caramagna's first solo show with the gallery, and runs from March 8 to 30, 2008. A reception for the artist will be held on Saturday, March 8, from 6 to 9pm.
To gaze upon Jeff Caramagna's work is to encounter something bigger than oneself, both literally and metaphysically. Caramagna's paintings of animals, usually acrylic on canvas or wood, are often large scale and read as murals, so that the eye must roam each section of geometrically articulated detail after the initial shock of total perception. The experience quickly becomes one of awe- even terror- as Caramagna dwarfs us before nature in its inescapable magnificence and linear ruthlessness. In doing so, he raises questions about the representation of nature in contemporary painting.
According to Caramagna, he doesn't simply set out to paint, for example, a picture of a shark: "I say to myself I am going to make a shark. It is an event, and it happens from the inside out. From nothing to shark. That is the great mystery of this process of painting: it is the process of looking and seeing what a shark is. That is what creates the painting. Its size on the canvas relative to the size of the viewer, the point and placement of the eye- all reveal something. Placement is exact- and necessary."
Indeed, in the case of The Shark and other works in the exhibition Caramagna proposes a specific style and scale for dealing with the hidden geometry of animals that we atavistically admire and fear. Animal instinct, the artist's instinct play a key role in his process of mapping nature: "My work is often considered geometric. I can't explain this. It is an organic process. This is just what happens when I paint." Caramagna takes control of complex relationships between the viewer, nature, and the representation of nature with seeming effortlessness, and not only reveals what nature has hidden but what we often prevent ourselves from seeing.
Caramagna received an M.F.A. in painting from Yale University School of Art and studied at The Cooper Union School of Art. His work has been shown internationally, with shows at Bellwether Gallery in NYC and Salon Centro in Mexico City. He was awarded the Ralph Mayer Prize for Achievement in Materials and Techniques at Yale.
GO NORTH is located 469 Main St., Beacon.Gallery hours are: 12-6pm Saturday and Sunday, and by appointment. For more information, visit www.gonorthgallery.com
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