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Crosstown Arts is pleased to present “Blind Navigator,” an exhibition of new individual and collaborative works by New York-based artist Clare Torina and Memphis-based artist Alex Paulus.
Clare Torina’s recent paintings and objects refer to one another in sequence, symbolism, and mimicry. She pulls from a personal set of fascinations – her dog (Lolita), the Illuminati, basketball, patriarchal painting history, ancient art – and subjugates their representations to a multitude of transitions using color models and plays on style.
Alex Paulus’s pieces address broken things that must be repeatedly fixed or altered to allow them to continue to function. The subject matter ranges from common objects to human emotions to animals nearing extinction. He presents these damaged subjects, which can be overlooked and ignored, that ultimately need to be recognized and reconciled.
At the heart of this exhibition is an acknowledgement of the bewilderment and reformation during creative process. Together, the artists volley to find a metaphor for the act of seeing and being seen while in the throes of malfunction. The blind navigator is the artist, the viewer, and the work itself feeling its way through shadows.
Clare Torina is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in New York. After undergraduate study at the University of Memphis, she received an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and was a resident at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Her work has been exhibited in New York, Chicago, Memphis, and abroad. Additional information and images of her work can be found at claretorina.com.
Alex Paulus is originally from southeast Missouri, but has been a resident of Memphis, TN since 2007. He received his MFA in 2009 from the Memphis College of Art and has been teaching ever since. Paulus’s work has been shown in numerous galleries in Memphis, Nashville, Dallas, St. Louis, and many others. His work has also been published in Studio Visit magazine and Beautiful/Decay. Additional information and images of his work can be seen at alexanderpaulus.blogspot.com.
Exhibition Press: Memphis Flyer | Commercial Appeal
