Closer Quarters at Marisa Newman Projects
38 WEST 32ND STREET, SUITE 1602 NEW YORK, NY 10001
February 10 - March 23, 2022
Marisa Newman Projects is pleased to present “Close Quarters” an exhibition of woodblocks by New York based artist Kevin Frances. The opening reception will be held Thursday, February 10, 4-8. Masks are mandatory for all guests.
This ongoing series is set in a home of a fictional couple – the creation of Frances himself. The husband and wife are both artists – writer and sculptor respectively. The woodblocks are of different rooms in the house during different hours of the day. The human presence is evident by post-it notes on the wall, printer paper scattered upon the floor, a glow of the computer screen or the iconic George Nelson lamp still alit. Yet, people are absent from these tableaus, creating an eerie and mysterious feeling about each scene.
The title “Close Quarters” conjures up our recent reality of living and working in our homes/apartments with little opportunity for escape and thus, making these spaces into rooms that are small and cramp.
Frances creates his woodblock prints by first creating detailed miniature models of the couple’s one bedroom split level home. Many of the intricate elements “work” as the lights illuminate the heater goes on the iMac powers up. Then different moments are photographed and those images become the source material for final multi layered carved out woodblocks.
Kevin Frances is an artist who lives and works in New York City. He received his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2013, and his BA from the University of California, Davis in 2010. In 2012 he was a participant at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. His work has been shown at the International Print Center New York, the Knockdown Center in New York, Vox Populi in Philadelphia, the Kala Gallery in Berkeley, How’s Howard in Boston, and Galleri CC in Malmö, Sweden. He received a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant in 2016, the St. Botolph Club Emerging Artist Award in 2017 and was a 2020 NYFA Fellow.