Black and white?: Sean Kelly showcases the hyperreal paintings of James White
Situated in New York City’s evolving Hudson Yards district, Sean Kelly might be a little off the usual gallery path. Still, with artists like Marina Abramović, Los Carpinteros, Antony Gormley and Kehinde Wiley represented, it certainly has no lack of visitors passing through its sprawling, two-floor space.
As the location for this month’s Joseph Kosuth fashion story (p.150), Kelly’s striking setting epitomises contemporary New York just as it represents contemporary art. Designed by the architect Toshiko Mori, and situated within a historic building dating from 1914, the gallery is flooded with natural light thanks to its recognisable floor-to-ceiling windows that wrap around on two sides.
Equally enticing is its current exhibition ‘Aspect: Ratio’, which throws a spotlight on the London-based artist James White. Intricately executed black and white paintings depict everyday scenes and objects, such as plastic water bottles, a hotel room minibar and bathroom, and a deflating helium balloon, with fine verisimilitude. Armed with a realism reminiscent of the Flemish masters, White’s hypnotic paintings possess a photographic quality that infuses the seemingly mundane subjects with an undercurrent of suspense.
In this new body of work, White takes this photo-like intensity one step further. Some paintings feature pairings of seemingly disparate scenes, separated simply by blank, grey panels that emphasise the arbitrary cutting and cropping of images. A possible comment on digital vs analog disciplines, these breaks add a separate dimension to the nature of contemporary visual language.
'James White's exceptionally complex approach is simultaneously hyper-realistic and abstract,' Kelly says. 'He's developed a very unique vision – a highly contrasted black and white palette, omitting visible brushstrokes – that transforms what might initially be seen as straightforward scenes from everyday life into evidence of a more cryptic narrative, fraught with psychological tension and suspense.’
INFORMATION
‘Aspect: Ratio’ is on view until 12 March. For more information, visit Sean Kelly Gallery’s website
Photography courtesy of the artist and Sean Kelly Gallery
ADDRESS
Sean Kelly Gallery
475 Tenth Avenue
New York, NY 10018
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Pei-Ru Keh is a former US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru held various titles at Wallpaper* between 2007 and 2023. She reports on design, tech, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru took a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars, actively seeking out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.
-
Perfumer H has bottled the scent of dandelions blowing in the wind
Perfumer H has debuted a new fragrance for spring, called Dandelion. Lyn Harris tells Wallpaper* about the process of its creation
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
The best fashion moments at Milan Design Week 2024
Scarlett Conlon discovers the moments fashion met design at Salone del Mobile and Milan Design Week 2024, as Loewe, Hermès, Bottega Veneta, Prada and more staged intriguing presentations and launches across the city
By Scarlett Conlon Published
-
LEVC’s L380 is a truly magnificent minivan
The London Electric Vehicle Company’s L380, is a magnificent minivan designed for upscale long-distance travel, as the maker of the London Taxi branches out into all-purpose EVs
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Guglielmo Castelli considers fragility and violence with painting series in Venice
Guglielmo Castelli’s exhibition ‘Improving Songs for Anxious Children’ at Palazzetto Tito, Venice, explores childhood as the genesis of discovery
By Sofia Hallström Published
-
The Met’s ‘The Real Thing: Unpacking Product Photography’ dissects the avant-garde in early advertising
A new exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York explores the role of product photography and advertising in shaping the visual language of modernism
By Zoe Whitfield Published
-
Tony Notarberardino’s Chelsea Hotel Portraits preserve a slice of bygone New York life
‘Tony Notarberardino: Chelsea Hotel Portraits, 1994-2010’, on show at New York’s ACA Galleries, is the photographer’s ode to the storied hotel he calls home and its eclectic clientele
By Hannah Silver Published
-
‘Accordion Fields’ at Lisson Gallery unites painters inspired by London
‘Accordian Fields’ at Lisson Gallery is a group show looking at painting linked to London
By Amah-Rose Abrams Published
-
‘LA Gun Club’: artist Jane Hilton on who’s shooting who
‘LA Gun Club’, an exhibition by Jane Hilton at New York’s Palo Gallery, explores American gun culture through a study of targets and shooters
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Detroit Institute of Arts celebrates Black cinema
‘Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971’ at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) brings lost or forgotten films, filmmakers and performers to a contemporary audience
By Anne Soward Published
-
BLUM marks 30 years of Japanese contemporary art in America
BLUM will take ‘Thirty Years: Written with a Splash of Blood’ to its New York space in September 2024, continuing its celebration of Japanese contemporary art in America
By Timothy Anscombe-Bell Published
-
Todd Gray’s sculptural photography collages defy dimension, linearity and narrative
In Todd Gray’s New York exhibition, he revisits his 40-year archive, fragmented into elaborated frames that open doors for new readings
By Osman Can Yerebakan Published