SPENCER LEWISAM SEE
Exhibition
IntroductionFlorian Steininger
Director Kunsthalle Krems
Director Kunsthalle Krems
Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna
5 Sept – 19 Oct 2024
Spencer Lewis
Blue and Orange and Yellow and Green, 2024
acrylic and oil on watercolor paper
198 x 101 cm (78 x 40 in.), framed 217 x 119 cm (85 x 47 in.)
Spencer Lewis
All Green, 2024
acrylic, oil and watercolor on watercolor paper
173 x 114 cm (68 x 45 in.), framed 191 x 131 cm (75 x 52 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Yellow and Blue Cage, 2024
acrylic on watercolor paper
141 x 114 cm (51 x 45 in.), framed 160 x 131 cm (63 x 52 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Dark Purple Dark Blue with Green Slash, 2024
acrylic and oil on watercolor paper
176 x 113 cm (69 x 45 in.), framed 194 x 130 cm (77 x 51 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Jm Green Squiggles, 2024
acrylic and oil on watercolor paper
184 x 113 cm (73 x 45 in.), framed 200 x 131 cm (79 x 52 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Lake Watercolor, 2024
watercolor on watercolor paper
33 x 25 cm (13 x 10 in.), framed 48 x 39 cm (19 x 15 1/2 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Untitled, 2024
oil and watercolor on watercolor paper
24 x 26 cm (9 1/2 x 10 1/4 in.), framed 37 x 38 cm (14 1/2 x 15 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Untitled, 2024
acrylic and oil on jute
208 x 200 cm (82 x 79 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Untitled, 2024
acrylic and oil on jute
150 x 150 cm (59 x 59 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Green Monochrome Paperwork, 2024
acrylic on watercolor paper
71 x 75 cm (28 x 29 1/2 in.), framed 90 x 89 cm (35 1/2 x 35 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Pink Blue Neon Green Paperwork, 2024
acrylic on watercolor paper
57 x 43 cm (22 1/2 x 17 in.), framed 73 x 58 cm (28 3/4 x 23 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Green Cage on Pink Paper, 2024
acrylic on watercolor paper
75 x 59 cm (29 1/2 x 23 1/4 in.), framed 90 x 75 cm (35 1/2 x 29 1/2 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Self Portrait, 2024
oil on jute
40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Pink Sail Cage, 2024
oil on jute
67 x 50 cm (26 3/8 x 19 3/4 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Jute, 2024
acrylic and oil on jute
210 x 180 cm (83 x 71 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Blue Platonic, 2024
acrylic and oil on linen
67 x 56 cm (26 3/8 x 22 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Green Multicolor Cage, 2024
oil on jute
50 x 40 cm (19 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Orange and Pink Cage, 2024
oil on jute
50 x 40 cm (19 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Surrealist Red and Blue, 2024
oil on linen
71 x 51 cm (28 x 20 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Rainbow Study, 2024
oil on jute
50 x 40 cm (19 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Big Blue Cage, 2024
acrylic on watercolor paper
139 x 113 cm (54 3/4 x 44 1/2 in.), framed 158 x 130 cm (62 x 51 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Untitled, 2024
watercolor on watercolor paper
24 x 14 cm (9 x 5 1/2 in.), framed 42 x 29 cm (17 x 11 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Untitled, 2023
acrylic, oil, enamel, spray paint and ink on jute
240 x 171 cm (94 x 67 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Untitled, 2023
silk screen on paper, ex. 1/1
200 x 104 cm (79 x 41 in.), framed 211 x 114 cm (83 x 45 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Pink and Green Large Cage, 2024
acrylic on watercolor paper
149 x 113 cm (59 x 45 in.), framed 168 x 130 cm (66 x 51 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Untitled, 2024
watercolor on watercolor paper
26 x 13 cm (10 x 5 1/8 in.), framed 42 x 29 cm (17 x 11 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Small Pink Was Wo?, 2024
oil on jute
40 x 30 cm (15 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Untitled, 2024
watercolor on watercolor paper
11,5 x 7 cm (5 x 2 3/4 in.), framed 31 x 25 cm (12 x 10 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Untitled, 2024
watercolor on watercolor paper
36 x 26 cm (14 x 10 1/4 in.), framed 49 x 39 cm (19 1/4 x 15 3/8 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Untitled, 2024
watercolor on watercolor paper
26 x 18 cm (10 1/4 x 7 in.), framed 39 x 30 cm (15 3/8 x 12 in.)
Spencer Lewis
Untitled, 2024
watercolor on watercolor paper
26 x 18 cm (10 1/4 x 7 in.), framed 38 x 30 cm (15 x 12 in.)
read inGerman
‘The works are rough, sketchy and there were no limits,’ says American artist Spencer Lewis talking about his latest works, which are characterised by a tremendous sense of experimentation and a powerful gestural interpretation. These works were produced during a stay of several weeks as part of the SoArt artists-in-residence at Lake Millstatt in the Austrian federal province of Carinthia in summer 2024; they debut at Lewis’s first extensive solo exhibition at the Gallery in AM SEE. Lewis’s painterly exploration expresses itself in the interplay of color, of abstraction and figuration, of various media and formats. Large works on watercolor paper are the focal point of this body of work, literally absorbing the lake itself. Indeed, the roll of paper was first dipped into the lake water and then smoothed out in anticipation of the artist’s application of vibrant lines, patches of color and trickling traces of paint overlaid to form an expressive structure of interwoven layers. The delight Lewis takes in experimentation is immediately apparent in his works: when, for example, colors such as bright pink contrast with lush green, when lines end abruptly only to re-emerge elsewhere, or when rivulets of paint resonate with the physical gestures that produced them. These individual elements might appear random, but instead they combine to create dynamic images that convey a vivid presence and vibrancy. Lewis adopts a similar interplay of divergent colors and shapes in his oil and acrylic paintings. There is even a hint of Dadaism blended into these works, with the inclusion of a word here and there. WAS WO? or WO WAS I, German words that Lewis picked up while in residence that also mean something for him in English; in ways not dissimilar to a comic strip, they appear to comment on the events unfolding in the paintings. The two large-format acrylic paintings on jute can also be read as a commentary on their origins. Within the exhibition space, they are free-floating: attached to the ceiling merely by a wooden slat and a length of cord. Like the sails of a boat the jute flutters in the wind and, with it, the expressive impasto painting. The lake as cipher is also present in Lewis’s delicate watercolors. The silhouette of a boat defines the pictorial space— sailboats under clear skies or sailing towards the sunset. Sketches of postcard idylls and memories of summer. Am See.
read inGerman
SPENCER LEWIS
Photo
- Markus Wörgötter
Inquire about the artist/s, presented or related artworks
