Luminous Paradox

440 Gallery is pleased to present Luminous Paradox, new work by Karen Gibbons, a mixed media artist who has shown her work extensively throughout NYC. Ever an artistic explorer, once again Gibbons does not disappoint. This show is a collection of collaged paintings with sculptural sensibilities. Found materials are hinged or bolted together and the artist then builds compositions using images, pastel and paint. Gibbons work hovers in that luminous space between the material and transcendence. Each piece holds contradictory qualities that ultimately speak to the power of paradox: profane and spiritual, obscure and clear, simple and intricate, playful and serious.

This new work tends toward the totemic. Although images from nature, childhood, and religious iconography appear and disappear in layers of paint and pastel, focus is on a single overriding shape for each piece: an egg, an animal or symbol.

Spirit Donkey is painted on a discarded shipping pallet. The donkey’s form takes up the entire surface and its skin is actually the bare wood of the pallet, complete with scuffs and boot prints. The surrounding color and collage elements conjure the concept of growth through adversity. The inclusion (on the pallet’s side pieces) of statements such as “You need to avoid being misused” support the idea of the donkey as a ‘spirit animal’ that may appear when the viewer needs its wisdom.