Thursday, May 30, 2013

William Powhida at Charlie James Gallery




If you are in L.A. this week you should make time to see a FANTASTIC exhibition by William Powhida - Bill by Bill at Charlie James Gallery.  

WILLIAM POWHIDA   


BILL BY BILL
APRIL 20 - JUNE 8, 2013


Press Release (written by the artist):

Dismissed Acclaimed provincial New York-based artist William Powhida is pleased to announce Bill by Bill, a new collection of art works fabricated exclusively for Charlie James Gallery and the fast-growing Los Angeles art market. Conceptualized and designed by William each work of art has been crafted by better highly skilled artists, designers, friends, family and fabricators under the artist’s supervision in a studio he visited at least once. After years of going to art fairs intensive market research Bill by Bill represents a decisive breakthrough for the artist into the fields of sculpture and painting by creating unique variations on some of the dominant formulas trends in contemporary art.
Bill by Bill brings together classic Modernist forms with bleeding edge post-studio, conceptually based1 practices to create a mercenarystunning vision of contemporary art. Begun over a year ago while on residency at the Headlands in beautiful Marin County, William has designed a line of auction-ready commodities objects across stylistic boundaries for market-savvy executive producers collectors. These objects are primed and ready for purchase to move quickly at Phillipsde Pury. With a focus on painting and sculpture Bill by Bill avoids problems of reproducibility inherent with photography, new media, multiples, and editions which have diminished the deep satisfaction of buying art. These one-of-kind objects are able to offer the ‘experience of art’ at a price that isn’t quite for everyone, which affirms William’s belief that art holds an elitist special place in culture.
A unique, signed certificate of authenticity in the artist’s signature style accompanies2 each hand-touched3 object. The certificate provides the artist’s critical insight into the fascinating design and fabrication process behind each work. These intimate, text-based certificates contextualize each object in a theoretical and aesthetic discourse while situating them in the broader social and political space of neo-liberal capitalism late modernity. Charlie James Gallery is relieved pleased tofinally bring this moyen-garde model of art production and distribution to Los Angeles, which we believe is the only city capable of buying this.
William Powhida was born in 1976 in Ballston Spa, New York. Powhida has no upcoming exhibitions at any major art institutions. Recent exhibitions include “Market Value: Examining Wealth and Worth” at Columbia College in Chicago, IL; “On Sincerity” at Boston College in Boston, MA; (2012), “Seditions” at McKinney Avenue Contemporary in Dallas, TX (2012), “Derivatives” at Postmasters Gallery, NY (2011) and Dublin Contemporary in Dublin, Ireland (2011). His work has been discussed in October, Art in America, Art Forum, The Brooklyn Rail, Frieze, New York Magazine, and the New York Times. His art was recently featured in the Village Voice, America’s oldest corporate-owned alternative weekly.
_______________________________
1This does not mean conceptual.
2The collector agrees to purchase the certificate of authenticity to receive the object.
3The artist may have only touched to the work indirectly receiving the work or crating it.


Two AMAZING works that are still available from the exhibition:



Bill by Bill
What Kind Of Art Is That?
2013
Graphite and Watercolor on Panel
22 x 15 inches
$7,500





Bill by Bill
Some Criteria For Evaluation
2013
Graphite and Watercolor on Panel
22 x 15 inches
$7,500


Great Press (specifically for the above AVAILABLE artwork):


These two pieces are good examples of the inquisitive tone Powhida has established in this show.  They also let on to the fact that, despite the posturing, Powhida seems to care very much about the state of contemporary art and to spend a lot of time reading up on the subject.  That being the case, his criticism must come from a place of caring, and with so much of the work in Bill By Bill focused on criticizing painting he may just have a soft spot for the medium,



If you have any questions or need further information contact my great friend Charlie at Charlie James Gallery!!

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