Mark Whalen: Improper Fraction

Overview

Here is a little glimpse into a bizarre future where ideologies are amalgamated and the boundaries between class, sex and race have been erased. This is the forecast of Los Angeles-based artist Mark Whalen, who will be presenting Improper Fraction at Chalk Horse Gallery in May 2015. As you will see, the ceramic works in the show take the form of hand-sculpted books, which can be seen as the keys to unlocking his curiously complex paintings.

Harking back to high modernism, his practice evokes the mathematical spiritualism of movements such as De Stijl and the Bauhaus painters. On first glance, these intricate paintings look like flat and futuristic adaptations of MC Escher drawings. He is also inspired by the fantastical chaos of Hieronymus Bosch; however, Whalen’s geometrically precise worlds have a certain order and rhythm — like neat little computer-generated packages.

Come along for the exhibition opening on Thursday, May 7, at 6–8pm.