Paul Kos and Isabelle Sorrell have shared a studio for three and a half decades. The idea occurred to Kos that they should do an exhibition together. Sorrell agreed, provided the exhibition opened into a dialogue. From this suggestion, comes &, a poetic conversation between Kos, Sorrell and artists Mari Andrews, Francesco Clemente, Tom Marioni, Susan Middleton, J.John Priola and Diane Roby.
Selecting elements from nature, Paul Kos, claims “metaphor is more”. He expects double duty from the natural materials he chooses to be both medium and messenger:first, to be what they are and second, to reference through metaphor personal concepts and the conditions of the world today.
For example:
Migration, 2025, elk hooves show passage from here to there, and unless you are native American, he and you came from somewhere else.
Sticks and Stones, 2025, “will break my bones but names can never hurt me”
Echo, 2025, HERE. ………………………….………….there ……….there ……there …..there.
I , 2025 not he or him, she or her, they or them.
HAIKU, 2025, a meditation for peace.
The paintings by Isabelle Sorrell are odes, homages and acknowledgements to the women in the family, merging art history with metaphorical aspects in myth and nature, all while paralleling and raising universal concerns like the precarious existence of democracy, resilience and the unsuspectedly baffling faith (or is it fate?) of descending a staircase. Yet, paint and its materiality are at the base of each narrative.
The drawings selected are studies for paintings. Curiously enough, none of these were carried on to the paintings that ensued, but like many of Sorrell’s studies, they are inquiries in striking specific cords which at the source is only a sensation. In the quest for the expected tone or spirit of a larger painting, they are often edited out before even the painting begins, retaining (only) the essential, of how and what it is to reveal. As Jean Nouvel says: “Drawing is an extension of thought. It precedes form; it accompanies doubt. It is through drawing that I formulate my intuitions, that I test my hesitations. each line is a hypothesis. Drawing does not search for perfection; it seeks appropriateness. it allow to invent, superimpose, delete.”
In the smaller gallery, the other above mentioned artists present delicate, enigmatic images, ranging from prints, to a drawing and a wall sculpture.
Please join us for a reception on Saturday, November 1, from 5-7pm in room 209 at Minnesota Street Project. The exhibition is on view through December 20.
