New Work

Michael Elvidge

September 2004

This show of new work explores the different directions that preoccupy the art-making practice of Michael Elvidge. There are two distinctly different directions that absorb his current concerns. The sculptures emphasize the clean elegant lines of minimalism in his small wood-carved blocks, reminiscent of the modernist sculpture of Constantin Brancusi in their integrity to form and material. This nominal paring away transforms the commonplace wooden block into an eloquent abstract motif that is neither figurative nor landscape.

The paintings worked on small irregular shaped boards contrast sharply with the quiet three dimensional works in their heightened visual activity of painted gesture and eclectic imagery borrowed from the popular culture of comics and animation.