Jim Kempner Fine Art is pleased to announce Small Invasions, an exhibition of recent sculpture and mixed media work on paper by Jerry Mischak. This will be the artist’s third solo exhibition at the gallery and will be up through July 10th, 2016. An opening reception for the artist will be held on Thursday, June 2nd, from 6-8 pm.

With a focus on domestic interiors, Mischak develops a unique pictorial language structured around exaggerated form and color. Recognized for his colorful vinyl tape sculptures and collages, he presents a contemporary take on the classic still life. Using the still life as a vehicle with which to explore themes of nostalgia and commonality, Mischak continues his focus on the transfiguration of tables into universal resting places. He is interested in the way everyday objects tell the stories of individualized histories. Made with paper, synthetic paint, oil stick, and vinyl tape, the collage provides a sculptural surface and texture that encourages a dialogue between materials. Skilled in traditional painting techniques, Mischak chooses to work with tape as he is interested in the conventionality of the material and its quotidian function in everyday life. Inspired by the formalism of 19th and 20th century French masters such as Cézanne and Matisse, Mischak’s still lifes are expressive narratives of human experience.

The exhibition will also feature several of Mischak’s Cosmic Constructions with Flowers, disfigured flower pot sculptures made from concrete and plaster. In contrast to the bright, impressionistic two-dimensional work, the abstract sculptures are subdued; their raw forms evoking the style of 1960s and 1970s Brutalist architecture. The Cosmic Constructions were envisioned as an extension of the objects on the tables in his collage pieces. The inclusion of his new Vampire Highrise series offers a more dystopian view of the world. Made from charred cassette tapes on concrete bases, Mischak created these after having read an article in the New York Times about the foreign investment, corruption, and greed that is transforming New York City’s real estate market.

Jerry Mischak lives and works in Providence, Rhode Island. He teaches sculpture and painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and the University of Rhode Island. He was awarded the Rhode Island State Council of the Arts Fellowship in 2003 and the Howard Foundation Fellowship in 2001. His work has been reviewed by The New York Times, The New Yorker, Time Out, CNN, The Washington Post and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung