Geoff Hippenstiel and Kay Tasuji: The Invisible World                                      Houston Chronicle Review

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 4th, 2011– PG Contemporary Gallery is pleased to present The Invisible World, a duel exhibition featuring original works by emerging artists Geoff Hippenstiel and Kay Tasuji.  The exhibition will open Saturday, March 12th, with a reception from 6:00-8:00pm, and will run through April 2nd.  The artists will be in attendance.

Inspired by the artistic philosophies of Magritte and his Le Monde Invisible, this exhibition will offer paintings and drawings that are never exactly what they seem.  Elaborating on the artistic philosophies of Magritte, these works continue with the historical practice of landscape and still life paintings, redefining them in post-postmodern terms.  Marrying the real and the imaginary has resulted in works that turn the mundane into the fantastic, creating worlds that expand beyond the frame and canvas and allow the viewer’s imagination to revel in the images before them.

Experimenting with the relationships between form and idea, Geoff Hippenstiel’s oil paintings depict abstract forms that only hint at representation, offering the viewer something familiar, and then challenge them with uncertainty.   Working in a contemporized Abstract Expressionist style, Hippenstiel’s bold impasto technique coupled with a soft color palette creates a world on the edge of reality, fraught with emotive marks and slashes that and balanced with soft and hazy strokes that comfort and hold the viewer at a safe distance.

Born in Santa Monica, CA, Hippenstiel received both his M.F.A. and B.F.A. from the University of Houston in 2010 and 2006 respectively.  He currently teaches art history and studio courses at several Houston colleges and is the assistant for Darra Keeton in the drawing classes at Rice University.  He has participated in a number of group exhibitions here in Texas, including Darke Gallery here in Houston and Arthouse at the Jones Center in Austin.  Additionally, he has exhibited at the Russeck Gallery in NY and the Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art in Pont Aven, France.

Originally from Iran, Kay Tasuji’s imaginative landscapes are inspired by the socio-political and cultural dynamics of her middle-eastern background, resulting in paintings and drawings of a world unto themselves.  Her works on Mylar become technical drawings of strange and intoxicating landscapes with delicate lines and bold, saturated color that fearlessly beckon the viewer into a world unfamiliar, exploring and depicting the frailty and vulnerability of human life. Combining stark flatness with linear depth and imaginative biomorphic forms, Tasuji’s landscapes vibrate with a surreal energy that hints at a narrative’s beginning, asking the viewer to step into the work and complete the story.  She has participated in a number of group exhibitions here in Houston, including the Blaffer Gallery at the University of Houston, and the Multiplicity Art Show in 2009.  Tasuji received her BFA at the University of Houston and now currently lives and practices here in Houston.


Opening Reception:        Saturday, March 12th from 6 -8:00 pm

On View:                           March 12th through April 2nd

Where:                              PG Contemporary, 3227 ½ Milam St., Houston, TX 77006