October 19 — November 30, 2019
Slow Eddy
Marcelyn McNeil
The oil paintings of Marcelyn McNeil weave through dualities the artist handles with virtuosity: organic and hard-edge, painterly and flat matte, austerity and humor. The tension created by these balances and the looming forms read simply but enable the chance to engage slowly within the macro-view of the composition and the micro-view of the palimpsest layers.
In her new body of work Slow Eddy, paintings and works on paper continue these motivations. Spare and deliberate forms interfold with soft pours to invite contemplation. White oxide takes on a dominant role in the palette and there is a deep push toward thinning and pouring oil paint. Each thin layer on the raw canvas becoming a luminous veil to deeply sensuous effect.
Also included in the exhibition will be a series of small canvas works both painted and sewn. The thread line becomes an elegant structural element where masked paint lines and vivid pops of color interplay. The use of various fabrics: rayon, burlap and linen, combine to enhance the textural variations within the architecture of each picture plane.
Marcelyn McNeil earned an M.F.A. from the University of Illinois, Chicago and a B.F.A. from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. She lives and works in Dallas, Texas. In January 2016, McNeil was awarded a residency at 100 West Corsicana in Corsicana, Texas and one at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT. Her paintings were represented in both the 2011 and the 2013 Texas Biennial, an independent survey of contemporary Texas art curated by Virginia Rutledge. In 2012, McNeil was awarded a McDowell Colony Fellowship and in 2013 was a finalist for the Richard Diebenkorn Fellowship. Recent exhibitions include: Lawndale, Houston, TX (2019); Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO (2018); Kathryn Markel Gallery, New York, NY (2017); Denny Gallery, NY, NY (2015); Wilding Cran Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2015); Central Features, Albuquerque, NM (2015) and Kathryn Markel, NY, NY (2015). This will be the fourth solo exhibition of McNeil’s works at Conduit Gallery.
Read the Arts and Culture profile on the exhibition here.