Richard Garrison: As Advertised

Brooklyn, New York — September 25, 2018 — As Advertised, Richard Garrison’s fourth exhibition with the gallery, continues his deconstruction and analysis of ubiquitous materials, objects and places from the suburban, most often consumer related, American landscape. This exhibition will be his first to feature his Circular Color Scheme series exclusively and includes: Circular Color Schemes: Target Weekly Ads (January 3 - December 21, 2016), which includes Fifty-three 12" x 12" (30.5cm x 30.5cm) Circular Color Schemes from Target stores published every week (plus one) of 2016.

Garrison's recontextualization of aspects of consumer culture affords us a new perspective on commonplace objects, places and experiences. His Circular Color Schemes, (puns intended) measure the amount of each color from product images taken from Sunday newspaper sale circulars. Garrison plots the colors in concentric rings of color in gouache and watercolor on paper that graphs the amount of each color from each image. Each wedge of colors in the circle is labeled as to which picture of the product it originates, like "frozen chicken" or "flat-screen T.V." The resulting compositions look like a cross between a color wheel and a Joseph Albers painting.

Garrison’s Minimalist compositions expose the beauty in the banal. Through a process of careful scientific-like scrutiny Garrison dissects and restructures the color schemes of common everyday objects, places and experiences. Coupled with Hanne Darboven-like analytical quantification and qualification his studio practice offers us a thoughtful re-examination of objects and experiences ubiquitous to the American experience. This deconstruction of quotidian objects and experience is a personal, non-judgmental, examination of the visual, emotional and conceptual aspects of consumerism.

Richard Garrison received his BS in Studio Art from the College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY in 1993 and an MFA from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY in 1995. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA; Rochester Contemporary Art Center, NY;  The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ; the International Print Center, New York, NY; the Elmhurst Museum of Art and the Queens Museum of Art, among others. He lives and maintains his studio in The Hudson Valley of NY.