Joe Fyfe

October 27–December 15, 2012
Frontal view of a white gallery wall. To the left, two planks of wood covered in sparse splotches of paint lean against the wall. They cross over each other to form an X shape. To the right, a hanging textile work depicts an image of Michael Jackson against a red background, with reversed text above that reads, “MICHAEL JACKSON, BAD.”

Joe Fyfe, installation view, 2012.

View of two gallery walls at an angle. On the left wall hangs a draped textile work that grazes the floor. On the right wall are three smaller colorful abstract paintings. An abstract wooden sculpture is installed on the floor to the left of the rightmost painting.

Joe Fyfe, installation view, 2012.

Frontal view of a white gallery wall. To the left hangs an abstract work consisting of wooden stretcher bars partially covered with three squares of fabric and wood in brown and bright orange-red. To the right is an abstract work of a green- and navy-colored piece of fabric hung along a string, which is also strung with various smaller pieces of fabric.

Joe Fyfe, installation view, 2012

Frontal view of a white gallery wall. To the left, hung vertically, is an American flag that has been covered with large fabric rectangles of teal, blue, and red that partially obscure the flag’s pattern. To the right, a draped textile work made of a purplish piece of fabric and white sheet of plastic that graze the gallery floor. The purple piece of fabric is painted with yellow and blue dots, and the white sheet is printed with indecipherable yellow and blue text.

Joe Fyfe, installation view, 2012

View of two gallery walls at an angle. In the foreground, a sculpture installed on the floor is made of a block of wood atop which rests smaller pieces of wood bound together by nylon straps into a rectangular shape. Behind this on the left wall is a kite in the shape of a fish (left) and an abstract sculpture of a piece of wood hung on a string (right). On the right wall is another fish-shaped kite.

Joe Fyfe, installation view, 2012

Frontal view of an individual artwork. The work is an abstract textile hung on the wall. It is made of a grayish-purple piece of fabric which is painted with yellow and blue dots, as well as dot-like perforations. It drapes slightly onto the gallery floor. A white sheet of plastic is similarly draped atop the gray fabric. This sheet is covered in large blue and yellow text, made illegible because the sheet is partly folded against itself.

Joe Fyfe, installation view, 2012

Frontal view of an individual artwork. A white piece of paper with raw edges is pinned to the wall. On it are two streaks of watercolor, one green and one fuschia, as well as a torn fragment of an illustrated Arabic alphabet chart in the lower left hand corner.

Joe Fyfe, Untitled Drawing (Fez), 2012, 30 × 22 in.

Frontal view of a painting. Against a white background, vertically-oriented text reads: GET PAID DAILY! FROM HOME 888-488-6654, and, in smaller text: INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATE. This signage is covered in streaks of white and orange paint, which drip down the canvas.

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (sign with orange), 2012, ink and acrylic on vinyl sign, 24 × 18 in.

Front view of an individual artwork. A green kite is hung on the wall so that the kite string rises above it and also drapes down to the gallery floor. Five wooden clothespins are clipped to the kite itself.

Joe Fyfe, Kanga, 2012, nylon, string and wood, 85.5 × 8 × 4 in.

Frontal view of an individual artwork. An American flag is hung vertically downwards so that the stars face to the left. The flag is mostly obscured by colorful gauze that has been sewn atop it. The gauze portions consist of three separate rectangular panels in teal, cobalt and red. The red is sewn horizontally across the bottom right side, the cobalt piece is sewn above it, also horizontally, and the teal is sewn vertically on the left side, so that its bottom half obscures the left half of the cobalt gauze.

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (US flag), 2011, cotton and gauze on nylon flag, 59 × 35.75 in.

Frontal view of an individual artwork. Two planks of wood are covered in sparse blotches of paint. They cross over each other to form an X shape. Their top halves lean on the white wall behind them.

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (X sculpture), 2011, acrylic and casein on found wood.

Frontal view of an individual artwork. A kite is hung on a white wall. It has an image of a yellow smiley face on it against a blue background. A piece of fabric affixed to the kite partially obscures the face.

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (Second Kite), 2012, nylon and wood object, cotton, crayon and ink.

Frontal view of an individual artwork. A kite is hung on a white wall. It depicts a colorful graphic of a mermaid with red hair waving her hand and smiling, surrounded by various sea life. A black piece of gauze partially obscures her face. Green paint and orange obscures other portions of the image.

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (First Kite), N.D., nylon and wood object, cotton, gauze, paper, ink and watercolor, 56 × 40 in.

Frontal view of an individual artwork. A vertical green and white sign has been painted with teal, orange, and yellow paint so that the sign’s text is illegible. The first six digits of a phone number can be made out on the left side of the sign.

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (Green sign), 2012, ink, casein and acrylic on vinyl sign, 24 × 16 in.

Frontal view of an individual artwork. A vertically-hung sign has been painted with white, blue, and brown paint so that the sign’s text is illegible. The sign itself is red, white, and blue.

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (Circus sign), 2012, ink and acrylic on vinyl sign, 24 × 18 in.

Angled view of a sculpture installed on the floor. A weathered wooden plinth holds a collection of rectangular chunks of wood, held together by white nylon strings.

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (Classon Ave.), 2012, wood and nylon strapping, 49 × 17 in.

Frontal view of an individual artwork. Wood backing and orange felt rectangles are attached to uncovered wooden stretcher bars.

Joe Fyfe, Remsen School, 2011, European stretcher, found wood and felt, 38.5 × 64 in.

Frontal view of a sculpture made of three pieces of wood installed on the floor. A shorter, broader plank of wood serves as the base for a longer plank of wood, attached vertically. Another, smaller wooden apparatus is attached midway up the plank. The vertical plank is painted green and white, though the unfinished wood can still be seen behind the paint.

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (3 part sculpture), 2012, wood and paint.

View of two gallery walls at an angle. On the left wall, from left to right, is a wooden sculpture that leans against the wall, and a fabric piece that depicts Michael Jackson on a red background. On the right wall is an abstract wall work made of wood and felt. To its right is an artwork made of a kite.

Joe Fyfe, installation view, 2012.

Frontal view of an individual artwork on fabric. Against a red background is an image of Michael Jackson from the album cover of his song Bad. The image has been hand-colored. Three vertical stripes are painted on his torso in red-and-white polka dots, green, and yellow. Above him, reversed text reads “MICHAEL JACKSON BAD.”

Joe Fyfe, Gilles, 2012, cotton banner.

Press Release

White Columns is proud to present in our main gallery space a solo exhibition of new works by the New York-based artist Joe Fyfe.

Fyfe’s recent work – which operates in the elastic territory between painting, sculpture and drawing – explores both the legacy and current realities of nonrepresentational art. In his own work, his writings and curatorial projects – including the polemical exhibition ‘Le Tableau’ that he organized for New York’s Cheim & Read in 2010 – Fyfe acknowledges the earlier utopian ambition of nonrepresentational art whilst simultaneously accommodating a more pragmatic (and often joyful) approach to the ebb-and-flows of our material culture.

Amplifying the poetics of the everyday, the marginal and the overlooked, Fyfe increasingly repurposes found materials – a child’s kite, a discarded sign, or an abandoned banner – into his near-abstract compositions that are informed as much by serendipity as they are by any kind of high-minded formalism. In doing so Fyfe establishes a tension in his work, a push-pull between chance and deliberation, which in turn endows his deceptively informal works with an obsessive precision.

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Joe Fyfe (b. 1952) has shown his work internationally since the early 1980s. His work was included in the legendary “Times Square Show”, New York (1980) organized by Colab; and his work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Christian Lethert, Cologne; ACME, Los Angeles; James Graham & Sons, New York; and David Lusk Gallery, Memphis; among others. He is currently represented by Galerie Christian Lethert, Cologne. Fyfe’s writings have appeared in ARTFORUM, Art in America, Artnet.com, Gay City News, Artcritical.com, Art On Paper, and BOMB, among other places. He has curated exhibitions for Zurcher Studio, New York; Cheim & Read, New York; and Apex Art, New York, among other venues. He received a BFA from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia in 1976.

Frontal view of a white gallery wall. To the left, two planks of wood covered in sparse splotches of paint lean against the wall. They cross over each other to form an X shape. To the right, a hanging textile work depicts an image of Michael Jackson against a red background, with reversed text above that reads, “MICHAEL JACKSON, BAD.”
View of two gallery walls at an angle. On the left wall hangs a draped textile work that grazes the floor. On the right wall are three smaller colorful abstract paintings. An abstract wooden sculpture is installed on the floor to the left of the rightmost painting.
Frontal view of a white gallery wall. To the left hangs an abstract work consisting of wooden stretcher bars partially covered with three squares of fabric and wood in brown and bright orange-red. To the right is an abstract work of a green- and navy-colored piece of fabric hung along a string, which is also strung with various smaller pieces of fabric.
Frontal view of a white gallery wall. To the left, hung vertically, is an American flag that has been covered with large fabric rectangles of teal, blue, and red that partially obscure the flag’s pattern. To the right, a draped textile work made of a purplish piece of fabric and white sheet of plastic that graze the gallery floor. The purple piece of fabric is painted with yellow and blue dots, and the white sheet is printed with indecipherable yellow and blue text.
View of two gallery walls at an angle. In the foreground, a sculpture installed on the floor is made of a block of wood atop which rests smaller pieces of wood bound together by nylon straps into a rectangular shape. Behind this on the left wall is a kite in the shape of a fish (left) and an abstract sculpture of a piece of wood hung on a string (right). On the right wall is another fish-shaped kite.
Frontal view of an individual artwork. The work is an abstract textile hung on the wall. It is made of a grayish-purple piece of fabric which is painted with yellow and blue dots, as well as dot-like perforations. It drapes slightly onto the gallery floor. A white sheet of plastic is similarly draped atop the gray fabric. This sheet is covered in large blue and yellow text, made illegible because the sheet is partly folded against itself.
Frontal view of an individual artwork. A white piece of paper with raw edges is pinned to the wall. On it are two streaks of watercolor, one green and one fuschia, as well as a torn fragment of an illustrated Arabic alphabet chart in the lower left hand corner.
Frontal view of a painting. Against a white background, vertically-oriented text reads: GET PAID DAILY! FROM HOME 888-488-6654, and, in smaller text: INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATE. This signage is covered in streaks of white and orange paint, which drip down the canvas.
Front view of an individual artwork. A green kite is hung on the wall so that the kite string rises above it and also drapes down to the gallery floor. Five wooden clothespins are clipped to the kite itself.
Frontal view of an individual artwork. An American flag is hung vertically downwards so that the stars face to the left. The flag is mostly obscured by colorful gauze that has been sewn atop it. The gauze portions consist of three separate rectangular panels in teal, cobalt and red. The red is sewn horizontally across the bottom right side, the cobalt piece is sewn above it, also horizontally, and the teal is sewn vertically on the left side, so that its bottom half obscures the left half of the cobalt gauze.
Frontal view of an individual artwork. Two planks of wood are covered in sparse blotches of paint. They cross over each other to form an X shape. Their top halves lean on the white wall behind them.
Frontal view of an individual artwork. A kite is hung on a white wall. It has an image of a yellow smiley face on it against a blue background. A piece of fabric affixed to the kite partially obscures the face.
Frontal view of an individual artwork. A kite is hung on a white wall. It depicts a colorful graphic of a mermaid with red hair waving her hand and smiling, surrounded by various sea life. A black piece of gauze partially obscures her face. Green paint and orange obscures other portions of the image.
Frontal view of an individual artwork. A vertical green and white sign has been painted with teal, orange, and yellow paint so that the sign’s text is illegible. The first six digits of a phone number can be made out on the left side of the sign.
Frontal view of an individual artwork. A vertically-hung sign has been painted with white, blue, and brown paint so that the sign’s text is illegible. The sign itself is red, white, and blue.
Angled view of a sculpture installed on the floor. A weathered wooden plinth holds a collection of rectangular chunks of wood, held together by white nylon strings.
Frontal view of an individual artwork. Wood backing and orange felt rectangles are attached to uncovered wooden stretcher bars.
Frontal view of a sculpture made of three pieces of wood installed on the floor. A shorter, broader plank of wood serves as the base for a longer plank of wood, attached vertically. Another, smaller wooden apparatus is attached midway up the plank. The vertical plank is painted green and white, though the unfinished wood can still be seen behind the paint.
View of two gallery walls at an angle. On the left wall, from left to right, is a wooden sculpture that leans against the wall, and a fabric piece that depicts Michael Jackson on a red background. On the right wall is an abstract wall work made of wood and felt. To its right is an artwork made of a kite.
Frontal view of an individual artwork on fabric. Against a red background is an image of Michael Jackson from the album cover of his song Bad. The image has been hand-colored. Three vertical stripes are painted on his torso in red-and-white polka dots, green, and yellow. Above him, reversed text reads “MICHAEL JACKSON BAD.”

Joe Fyfe, installation view, 2012. (Frontal view of a white gallery wall. To the left, two planks of wood covered in sparse splotches of paint lean against the wall. They cross over each other to form an X shape. To the right, a hanging textile work depicts an image of Michael Jackson against a red background, with reversed text above that reads, “MICHAEL JACKSON, BAD.”)

Joe Fyfe, installation view, 2012. (View of two gallery walls at an angle. On the left wall hangs a draped textile work that grazes the floor. On the right wall are three smaller colorful abstract paintings. An abstract wooden sculpture is installed on the floor to the left of the rightmost painting.)

Joe Fyfe, installation view, 2012. (Frontal view of a white gallery wall. To the left hangs an abstract work consisting of wooden stretcher bars partially covered with three squares of fabric and wood in brown and bright orange-red. To the right is an abstract work of a green- and navy-colored piece of fabric hung along a string, which is also strung with various smaller pieces of fabric.)

Joe Fyfe, installation view, 2012. (Frontal view of a white gallery wall. To the left, hung vertically, is an American flag that has been covered with large fabric rectangles of teal, blue, and red that partially obscure the flag’s pattern. To the right, a draped textile work made of a purplish piece of fabric and white sheet of plastic that graze the gallery floor. The purple piece of fabric is painted with yellow and blue dots, and the white sheet is printed with indecipherable yellow and blue text.)

Joe Fyfe, installation view, 2012. (View of two gallery walls at an angle. In the foreground, a sculpture installed on the floor is made of a block of wood atop which rests smaller pieces of wood bound together by nylon straps into a rectangular shape. Behind this on the left wall is a kite in the shape of a fish (left) and an abstract sculpture of a piece of wood hung on a string (right). On the right wall is another fish-shaped kite.)

Joe Fyfe, Parking Drape, 2012, felt, ink, enamel, metal and object. (Frontal view of an individual artwork. The work is an abstract textile hung on the wall. It is made of a grayish-purple piece of fabric which is painted with yellow and blue dots, as well as dot-like perforations. It drapes slightly onto the gallery floor. A white sheet of plastic is similarly draped atop the gray fabric. This sheet is covered in large blue and yellow text, made illegible because the sheet is partly folded against itself.)

Joe Fyfe, Untitled Drawing (Fez), 2012, 30 × 22 in. (Frontal view of an individual artwork. A white piece of paper with raw edges is pinned to the wall. On it are two streaks of watercolor, one green and one fuschia, as well as a torn fragment of an illustrated Arabic alphabet chart in the lower left hand corner.)

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (sign with orange), 2012, ink and acrylic on vinyl sign, 24 × 18 in. (Frontal view of a painting. Against a white background, vertically-oriented text reads: GET PAID DAILY! FROM HOME 888-488-6654, and, in smaller text: INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATE. This signage is covered in streaks of white and orange paint, which drip down the canvas.)

Joe Fyfe, Kanga, 2012, nylon, string and wood, 85.5 × 8 × 4 in. (Front view of an individual artwork. A green kite is hung on the wall so that the kite string rises above it and also drapes down to the gallery floor. Five wooden clothespins are clipped to the kite itself.)

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (US flag), 2011, cotton and gauze on nylon flag, 59 × 35.75 in. (Frontal view of an individual artwork. An American flag is hung vertically downwards so that the stars face to the left. The flag is mostly obscured by colorful gauze that has been sewn atop it. The gauze portions consist of three separate rectangular panels in teal, cobalt and red. The red is sewn horizontally across the bottom right side, the cobalt piece is sewn above it, also horizontally, and the teal is sewn vertically on the left side, so that its bottom half obscures the left half of the cobalt gauze.)

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (X sculpture), 2011, acrylic and casein on found wood. (Frontal view of an individual artwork. Two planks of wood are covered in sparse blotches of paint. They cross over each other to form an X shape. Their top halves lean on the white wall behind them.)

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (Second Kite), 2012, nylon and wood object, cotton, crayon and ink. (Frontal view of an individual artwork. A kite is hung on a white wall. It has an image of a yellow smiley face on it against a blue background. A piece of fabric affixed to the kite partially obscures the face.)

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (First Kite), N.D., nylon and wood object, cotton, gauze, paper, ink and watercolor, 56 × 40 in. (Frontal view of an individual artwork. A kite is hung on a white wall. It depicts a colorful graphic of a mermaid with red hair waving her hand and smiling, surrounded by various sea life. A black piece of gauze partially obscures her face. Green paint and orange obscures other portions of the image.)

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (Green sign), 2012, ink, casein and acrylic on vinyl sign, 24 × 16 in. (Frontal view of an individual artwork. A vertical green and white sign has been painted with teal, orange, and yellow paint so that the sign’s text is illegible. The first six digits of a phone number can be made out on the left side of the sign.)

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (Circus sign), 2012, ink and acrylic on vinyl sign, 24 × 18 in. (Frontal view of an individual artwork. A vertically-hung sign has been painted with white, blue, and brown paint so that the sign’s text is illegible. The sign itself is red, white, and blue.)

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (Classon Ave.), 2012, wood and nylon strapping, 49 × 17 in. (Angled view of a sculpture installed on the floor. A weathered wooden plinth holds a collection of rectangular chunks of wood, held together by white nylon strings.)

Joe Fyfe, Remsen School, 2011, European stretcher, found wood and felt, 38.5 × 64 in. (Frontal view of an individual artwork. Wood backing and orange felt rectangles are attached to uncovered wooden stretcher bars.)

Joe Fyfe, Untitled (3 part sculpture), 2012, wood and paint. (Frontal view of a sculpture made of three pieces of wood installed on the floor. A shorter, broader plank of wood serves as the base for a longer plank of wood, attached vertically. Another, smaller wooden apparatus is attached midway up the plank. The vertical plank is painted green and white, though the unfinished wood can still be seen behind the paint.)

Joe Fyfe, installation view, 2012. (View of two gallery walls at an angle. On the left wall, from left to right, is a wooden sculpture that leans against the wall, and a fabric piece that depicts Michael Jackson on a red background. On the right wall is an abstract wall work made of wood and felt. To its right is an artwork made of a kite.)

Joe Fyfe, Gilles, 2012, cotton banner. (Frontal view of an individual artwork on fabric. Against a red background is an image of Michael Jackson from the album cover of his song Bad. The image has been hand-colored. Three vertical stripes are painted on his torso in red-and-white polka dots, green, and yellow. Above him, reversed text reads “MICHAEL JACKSON BAD.”)