February 23 – March 23, 2019
Steve Turner is pleased to present The Working Sky, a solo exhibition by Los Angeles-based Graham Collins featuring new paintings and sculptures made from found paintings and other re-purposed materials. Cut, sewn, collaged and reassembled, Collins’ works are typically abstract, embracing the instability, defects and irregularity in the materials while utilizing improvisation and expressionist gestures within a highly articulated structure of frames, stretchers and supports. This is Collins’ first solo exhibition in Los Angeles.
In previous solo exhibitions, Collins has featured works from one specific series. However in The Working Sky, Collins will integrate works from four series. Tinted Monochromes are monochromatic canvases either spray-painted or raw–encased in handmade frames of reclaimed wood. They are installed under glass that has automotive window tinting applied to its interior surface so that it obscures the painted canvas. Shaped Paintings are made from found representational paintings that Collins acquires. He then removes much of the paintings’ narrative content by cutting the rectangular paintings down to an irregular shape for which he crafts a customized stretcher. Sewn Paintings consist of stitched together scraps left over from the process of making various shaped paintings. Collins utilizes different compositional strategies in each work. For example, he has used scraps that only depict the sky and has arranged them in chronological order, from most recent painting to oldest; he has organized scraps by their specific shape; and he has utilized only the sides and overlaps of the source painting. Exhibited here for the first time, Paintings on Ceramic Supports consist of painted canvases on structural supports made of stoneware.
Graham Collins (b. 1980, Washington) received a BFA from Corcoran College of Art, Washington and an MFA from Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson. He has had solo exhibitions at Halsey McKay Gallery, New York; The Journal, Brooklyn; Almine Rech, Brussels; Bugada & Cargnel, Paris and Jonathan Viner Gallery, London. He lives and works in Los Angeles.
Born 1980, Washington, D.C.
Lives and works in Los Angeles
Education
2010 MFA, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
2003 BFA, Corcoran College of Art, Washington, D.C.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2017
Western Shade, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn
Graham Collins, 56 Henry Street, New York
Graham Collins, Galleri Jacob Bjørn, Aarhus, Denmark
2016
Laughter, civilian art projects, Washington, D.C.
Graham Collins, Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels
2015
Stadiums, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn
Early Words, Halsey McKay, East Hampton
The Village, Bugada & Cargnel, Paris
Clean Room, Soloway Gallery, Brooklyn
2014
Clean Room, Luce Gallery, Torino
Concert in Central Park, Jonathan Viner Gallery, London
2013
Civic, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn
V8, Halsey McKay, East Hampton
2012
Shade Tree, Soloway, New York
2011
Graham Collins, Spare Room West Street Gallery, New York
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018
Converter, Halsey Mckay, East Hampton, New York
Oyster, Galleri Jacob Bjørn, Aarhus, Denmark
LANGUAGE: Art for Leonard Peltier, LAWS (Los Angeles Water School), Los Angeles
2017
Hundred Year Hand, C. Grimaldis Gallery, Baltimore
Brass Tacks, Anat Ebgi Gallery, Los Angeles
2016
SHAPES, curated by Ellie Rines, Halsey Mckay, East Hampton
It/Ego, Brennan & Griffin, New York
2015
Object Painting – Painting Object, Jonathan Viner Gallery, London
Graham Collins, Noam Rappaport, Jeffrey Tranchell, Sorry we’re closed, Brussels
E.1027, Joe Sheftel Gallery, New York
Altered States, curated by Steven Cox, Jérôme Pauchant, Paris
2014
Ghost Current, curated by Ryan Wallace, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen
Politics of Surface- Part I, co-curated by Alex Bacon and Berthold Pott, Cologne
Episode 14, curated by Alex Bacon, Middle March Gallery, Brussels
De Generation of Painting, curated by Federico Piccari, Fondazione 107, Torino
Graham Collins and Jeremy Jansen, Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto
Save it for Later, curated by Ryan Steadman, Sotheby’s S2 Gallery, New York
Uber-Bodies, Hydra School Projects, Hydra
Slip, Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery, New York
LIFE, curated by The Journal Gallery, Venus Over Manhattan, New York
Difference and Repetition, Luce Gallery, Torino
Ain’tings, Robert Blumenthal Gallery, New York
Blue Bottle Coffee, Martin Asbaek Gallery, Copenhagen
2013
Truck Baby, Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York
Inside Order, KANSAS, New York
group show, Sophia Jacob, Baltimore
2012
Final Show, West Street Gallery, New York
Hyper/Hypo, curated by Brad Truax, Secret Project Robot, Brooklyn
2011
So Different, So Appealing, Churner and Churner, New York
It’s not You, It’s Me, curated by Paul Branca, Soloway, Brooklyn
[back room], Untitled, New York
Perfectly Damaged, Derek Eller Gallery, New York
Control Alt Delete, HKJB, New York
2010
Ego the Living Planet, Graham Collins and Cassie Raihl, Tät, Berlin
Moonlighting, Hosfelt Gallery, New York
Bazooka Joe, curated by Ed Steck, Annandale-on-Hudson
2009
Black Friday Halloween City Black Thursday Fireworks, Stand, Brooklyn
Six Shouldering Another, curated by Liam Everett, MR Fine Arts, New York
Quizotic, Troutman Studios, Brooklyn
MFA Thesis Show, Bard College Exhibition Center, Annandale-on-Hudson
2007
Alumni Juried Exhibition, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
2003
Thesis Show, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
2001
Juvenile Hi-Jinks, curated by Ian Maready, Washington, D.C.
Selected Bibliography
2017
“Graham Collins”, Goings on About Town Art, The New Yorker, October
Demarco, Nicole. “Graham Collins Stitches Found Paintings To Create
Something Bigger Than the Sum of its Arts”, Bedford + Bowery, September 27
2016
Capps, Kriston. “‘Graham Collins: Laughter’ at Civilian Art Projects, Reviewed”, Washington City Paper, June 14
St. Dimitrakopoulos. “Interview with Graham Collins”, KENNEDY, Issue No. 4
2015
Scott Indrisek. “5 Must-See Shows in New York: Graham Collins, Rachel
Rossin, and More” ARTINFO, October 22
Greenberger, Alex. “Detours: Jackie Saccoccio on Graham Collins’s Slashed- Pool Paintings at the Journal Gallery” ARTnews, October 20
Rhodes, David. “GRAHAM COLLINS: Stadiums”, The Brooklyn Rail, October
Steadman, Ryan. “In the Studio with Graham Collins”, Sotheby’s Contemporary Currents, July 22
2014
Anderson, Charlotte and David Bazner. “10 GQ–Approved Artists You Should
Know at Art Basel Miami: Graham Collins”, GQ, December 2
2012
“Graham Collins”, Goings on About Town Art, The New Yorker, October
2011
Johnson, Ken. “Perfectly Damaged”, The New York Times, July 7 2011
