Opening Reception: Friday, April 18, 6 – 8 p.m.

Michael Kohn Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new work by Los Angeles-based artist Dennis Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth’s paintings feature layers of paint, textured to form patterns in various directions. From delicate consistencies to mounds of paint, his “action paintings” are a constant exploration of the physicality of his chosen medium.

While Hollingsworth continuously references Abstract Expressionism, he abandons the characteristics of the modernist approach to painting for treating the medium as a constructive material. In his earlier work, Hollingsworth would shear sheets of paint off of the canvas using custom made tools and knives. In his recent practice, the paintings have gotten larger and more abstract, adding sculptural daubs using specially made tools and knives. Hollingsworth paints alla prima, a historical painting technique that involves a “wet on wet” application to canvas which works against the drying time, creating an unpredictable approach and a seemingly chaotic array of color.

Dennis Hollingsworth received his M.F.A. at Claremont Graduate School in 1991. He has exhibited widely throughout Europe and the U.S. Solo exhibitions include Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo (2007); Miguel Marcos Gallery, Madrid (2006); Nicole Klagsbrun, New York (2006); Galerie André Buchmann, Berlin (2005); Galerie Mark Muller, Zurich (2004); and Chac Mool Gallery, Los Angeles (2003). Recent group exhibitions include Some Paintings… curated by Doug Harvey, Track 16, Santa Monica, CA (2008); Flowing, Pulsing, Beating, Burning, Glendale College Art Gallery, Glendale, CA (2008); Paper Bombs, Jack Hanley Gallery, Los Angeles (2007); and Quirky, Westport Arts Center, Westport, CT (2007).