[Microsound-announce] ABSENCE / PRESENCE: visual works by Richard Chartier and Paul Vinet. Transformer Gallery. Opens Feb 2.

[RICHARD CHARTIER]

Upcoming at Transformer' s gallery space:

ABSENCE / PRESENCE

February 2 - March 8, 2008

Featuring new paintings by
Richard Chartier and Paul Vinet.


OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, February 2, 2008, 7-9pm

ARTIST TALK: Saturday, February 16, 2pm

EXHIBITION HOURS: Wednesday - Saturday, 1-7pm & by appointment

http://www.transformergallery.org

Incorporating distinctly different approaches to covering, and  
conversely, revealing layers of action/inaction in their work,  
Richard Chartier and Paul Vinet each intentionally obscure and  
highlight specific aspects within their paintings, focusing the  
viewer on details that bring out formal structures while hinting at  
underlying narrative.

Richard Chartier stopped painting on a regular basis in 2000,  
starting again in 2006 to incorporate a quiet, visual aesthetic  
similar to the sound installations that have gained him national and  
international recognition. With the absence presence exhibition at  
Transformer, Chartier furthers a series of small works on paper  
created for the Invisible Other exhibit at New American Art Union  
(Portland, OR). Described as "playing with the notion of visibility,  
and the drawn image", his current body of work consists of  
intentionally subtle pencil drawings that were erased and then  
painted over. "Even after being erased vigorously, tiny vestiges of  
the initial marks are still visibleimploring the viewer to step  
closer and to adjust the eyes."

In conversation with the 'absences' that Chartier presents with his  
work, Paul Vinet's 30 x 35" prints speak to the idea of 'presence' -  
specifically the religious concept that God is everywhere. Vinet's  
new work presented at Transformer includes a mix of staged and street  
photographs covered with gold leaf, in reference to Italian pre- 
Renaissance paintings. Vinet states, "Before mastering perspective,  
artists used gold leaf for background to represent the space of God.  
Representing the world as divine and not human in this way eliminates  
references to time and place. In these photos, people seem to float  
in this space that can be viewed alternatively as divine, alienating,  
timeless, or without perspective."

For a press release detailing further information about absence  
presence visit Transformer'swebsite or download it in PDF format.



  Richard Chartier, field variation.4, 2007; Paul Vinet, Scene 1, 2007

TRANSFORMER is a Washington, D.C. based 501(c) 3 non-profit, artist- 
centered visual arts organization that connects and promotes emerging  
artists locally, nationally and internationally. Partnering with  
artists, curators, art spaces and other cultural entities,  
Transformer serves as a catalyst and advocate for emergent expression  
in the visual arts. Transformer's 2007/2008 exhibition series is  
supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The DC  
Commission on the Arts and Humanities/NEA, the Morris & Gwendolyn  
Cafritz Foundation, The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, and The  
Visionary Friends of Transformer.

WWW.TRANSFORMERGALLERY.ORG
1404 P Street NW Washington DC 20005 (202) 483-1102



R I C H A R D C H A R T I E R

http://www.3particles.com
chartier at 3particles.com

NOW:
CD . Fabrication (with Asmus Tietchens) [ Die Stadt, Germany ]
BOOK+2CD . Extract:Portraits of Sound Artists   [ NVO, Austria ]
2CD . Airport Symphony compilation [ Room40, Australia ]


SOON:
CURATORIAL . Colorfield Variations screening @ AVMotional  
[ Bucharest, Romania  ]  winter 2008
EXHIBIT . Absence/Presence - paintings @ Transformer Gallery  
[ Washington, DC  ]  Feb 2-March 8, 2008
CD . Absence  [ 3particles, US  ]  Feb 2, 2008
CD . Untitled 1-3 by W.Basinski+R.Chartier  [ LINE, US  ]  Feb 2008