CHRISTOPHER KUHN | MATERIAL WITNESS
November 1 - December 18, 2014

 Sonce Alexander Gallery is proud to present Los Angeles-based painter Christopher Kuhn’s solo exhibition Material Witness at the gallery’s new location in the Culver City Arts District.

Exposing beauty in humanly imperfection, Christopher Kuhn reveals traces of past decisions, revisions and additions to his compositions on canvas. His practice imprints the steps of the creative process. Contrasting today’s technological bombardment of information, Kuhn’s paintings invite the viewer to take pleasure in slow consumption.

Christopher Kuhn’s work accepts as well as celebrates the limitations of painting, honoring a historical perspective on the medium. Kuhn constructs gestural abstractions grounded by intersections of geometrical figures, composed intentionally as accessible deliberations. His works, such as ‘Midnight Mood’ and ‘Security Blanket’, are a conscious modern transmission exempt from contemporary distractions; a series of movements where earliest elements are aligned with previous works and must be studied to understand ordering. With an artistic dialogue that reflects and admires the artist’s immediate environment of the surrounding Los Angeles area, Kuhn permeates modern influences with a sense of dramatic urgency negated by the techniques employed.

Material Witness embodies Kuhn’s approach to the practice of painting.

"I take words and phrases from little things I catch on the television or radio…It's a long list of phrases, words and interesting cultural references. I incorporate these ideas for naming when I have a work or a show. ‘Material witness’ is a legal term meaning a witness that is essential to the case. This is not the exact definition but it's what I take from it; close enough. Poetically, in terms of painting, I like it because it deals with material (paint) as the witness. It names the making of painting itself... revealing the history of the creation of the work."
—Christopher Kuhn, Los Angeles

Kuhn’s training includes graduate-level studies at University of Tennessee Knoxville (2008), Post-Bac Certificate at School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (2007) and BA at American University of Paris, France (1999). His work has been featured in exhibitions across the United States including: Autonomie, Torrance Art Museum, White Box Contemporary, George Lawson Gallery, 1010 Gallery, and The Gallery at the Belcourt. His work has been selected for publications including: Los Angeles Times, Fabrik, SMFA Press and Nashville Scene. Kuhn lives and works in Los Angeles, California, USA.

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