June 11 – July 17, 2009
Image credit: Karen Azarnia, Emerge (detail), 2009. Oil on linen. Image courtesey of the artist.
Press Release
The President’s Gallery at Harold Washington College presents end/begin, new paintings by Karen Azarnia, June 11 – July 17, 2009, with an opening reception on Thursday June 11, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Karen Azarnia’s interest is in moments that define character: images of the threshold of change. As though each painting is a film still, the before and after of the frame is inconsequential in comparison to what the gesture emotes. The import of the image negates surrounding events that are irrelevant in comparison to the fluidity between action and cogitation.
The ephemeral images in end/begin emphasize the brevity of the moment. While Azarnia’s paintings demand an attention to beauty, they also point to an intricate tension, concurrently exposing character strength and weakness. In this exhibition, Azarnia’s images range from portraits to relationships between mother and daughter to representational-related abstractions. Throughout her work, body language has been described to the minutest detail; however, these new works incorporate image obliteration through washes and wiping, further editing the image to the core of the subject.
Programming for the President’s Gallery at Harold Washington College is free and open to the public.