Jennifer Guidi-Radiant Textures
By Laura Heyrman
Joyful. Meditative. Hypnotic. Radiant. Poetic. Optimistic.
These words were chosen by people responding to the works of Jennifer Guidi (American, b. 1972), but they are also words she uses to describe her efforts. Currently her works are being presented on both coasts, with an exhibition in California, at Orange County Museum of Art (until February 18) and one in New York, at Gagosian (until March 2). Galleries and museums in Europe and Asia have also presented the artist's works in the past several years.
Born and raised in California, Guidi studied at Boston University where she was trained in traditional representational painting and her early career continued in that mode. However, she was dissatisfied with her work and began moving toward abstraction and even non-representational approaches.
“When I was painting objects, it was about recording a particular moment or thing outside of myself. But I’m trying to get to a place in my work that feels connected to my life. I feel like I’ve finally arrived at something that is truly mine.”
In 2012, inspired by her interest in rugs made there, Guidi traveled to Morocco. There she found herself drawn to the backs of the handmade rugs, rather than their colorful fronts. Back in her studio, she began working from photographs of the rugs, leading to her first abstract paintings which she termed Field Paintings. The labor intensive process of making repetitive marks was part of what Guidi called “a natural evolution of an emptying out of ideas and noise from my paintings.”
Raised near the beaches and deserts of California, the artist was drawn to sand as a material for art making. Incorporating the material into her works took a long period of experimentation, but she had worked out two methods. In one, she used sand into the base layer of her paintings. For many of these early works, like Barn, Triangle, Barn, 2017, she restricted herself to black and white as she resolved the technical and aesthetic issues of her new approach. In the second, she created a thicker layer of sand and created irregular patterns of impressions.
Thus, sand became increasingly central to the artist’s practice, a sculptural presence in the works. Mixed with acrylic medium, the sand was applied in a thick layer onto a linen canvas, which was either unpainted or covered with color(s). The sand was then marked using tools, often specially prepared wooden dowels, sometimes digging all the way down to the base layer. These depressions created patterns which expand from a central point. The introduction of this central focus is seen by Guidi as a key breakthrough.
“In my earlier abstract sand paintings, I made more random marks using sticks of different sizes. But I didn’t feel satisfied with the organic patterns that emerged. Everything changed when I fixed a center point and worked out and around it. The repetition and the movement began to take on a meditative aspect that, I think, reads in the finished pieces.”
Guidi’s next step is to apply paint into some or all of the indentations to create additional patterns, sometimes creating a landscape image, as in Pink Sky Mountain. In other works, small crescent-shaped sand appliqués in contrasting colors were added to the tips of the indentations. Such complex finishes increase the intensity of the patterns and add to the hypnotic effect of some works. An example of the textured effect of sand and paint can be seen in close up views, such as the one below, from Everything is in Motion, Everything Vibrates, Nothing is at Rest, 2022.
Though many of Guidi’s paintings are large scale objects that pull the viewer into the colors and patterns, she has also used smaller scale drawings and paintings to work out ideas and incorporate new motifs. Though only 6.5 x 5 inches, Untitled (Yellow Gouache Universe Mandala), 2022, has the same labor-intensive mark making and color layering as the artist’s immersive large scale works.
In recent years, the artist has expanded her color palette to include more fluorescent hues and branched out into sculpture and installation. In every artistic mode, color and its lasting effects on our bodies and minds remains Jennifer Guidi’s focus.
Jennifer Guidi: And so it is. Orange County Museum of Art, Costa Mesa, CA. Until February 18. link: https://ocma.art/exhibitions/jennifer-guidi-and-so-it-is/
Jennifer Guidi: Rituals. Gagosian, New York City, NY. Until March 5. link: https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2024/jennifer-guidi-rituals/
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