Proto Grove, Michelle Wasson
Galleri Urbane welcomes back Chicago-based artist Michelle Wasson for her debut solo show Proto Grove. Since her inclusion in the gallery’s 2021 summer group exhibition, RIPE, Wasson has migrated into a lighter and breathier environment with this new body of work.
By blending the genres of still life and landscape painting, Wasson transports us on a journey from the modest tabletop into an atmospheric Beyond. She celebrates the practice of painting often presenting an artist’s palette in the foreground, referencing the potential of art to transform us. Layering rich harmonious color while working simultaneously on variations, Wasson explores process as she builds history into her canvases.
Bosque, 2022, reminiscent of her past work, contains a figurative tree like silhouette that Wasson echoes throughout the exhibition. Golden, sienna, and amber hues lay against a seductively dark background. Another painting, Spirito Rosso, 2021, captures the transition from Wasson’s darker paintings into the more colorful domain of Proto Grove. With deep crimsons and violet accents, she creates an environment of dream-like depth providing various entry points for the viewer.
Anointing the show is a brilliant painting For Hermes from 2022. Pale mauves, purples, and accents of flaxen petals build to form a winged vase of flowers, reminiscent of the namesake Greek god’s winged sandals. This piece is one of several variations of a sculptural silhouette that playfully nods to art history.
Wasson takes the viewer on an emotional journey with these generative creations and their gossamer of colors upon deep backdrops, at times, unveiling human nature and its inherent tensions. In a glowing expanse, Proto Grove’s narrative is one of nature’s fertility--providing a hopeful gesture of light that celebrates the need for relentless recreation from destruction.