Alden Gallery presents Ed Christie, Kevin Cyr and Joerg Dressler—Opening on Friday, August 9, 7 – 9 pm
Provincetown, MA: The Alden Gallery will present a three-person show of new work by Ed Christie, Kevin Cyr and Joerg Dressler, opening on Friday, August 9, 2019, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the gallery’s newly renovated exhibit space at 423 Commercial St. Drinks and refreshments will be served; the gallery is open to the public and free. The show will be on view through August 22.
In Joerg Dressler’s newest series of work, “Nature Interrupted,” he continues to explore the mysteries of places he has visited in his life. (Dressler was born in Hanau, Germany, schooled in Offenbach and Paris, has lived in the U.S. since 1996, and now has studios in Miami Beach and Provincetown.) “The return to these places through the study of photos allows me to pursue a more detailed depiction, aiming for a sense of depth, in juxtaposition to crisp color fields and organic splotches,” Dressler says. Pulling from his background as a graphic designer by incorporating geometric shapes and infusing intimate landscape cutouts with dynamic urgency, Dressler inspires a prolonged consideration of our own relationship with nature.
Wanderlust, by Joerg Dressler (after Granville/Poussin), acrylic on panel with mixed media, 29 x 24 x 6 inches
Kevin Cyr’s hyper-real oil paintings result from the artist’s ongoing fascination with the vehicles he frequently saw in his childhood. “I have always been interested in painting vehicles and scenes that have defined the evolution of the American landscape,” he says. The subjects of his paintings have included commercial vehicles, RVs, vans, camper bicycles, and VW buses, all in a state of disrepair and often marked by graffiti and rust. This year he focuses mainly on Land Rovers and Jeeps. He puts his vehicles on solid, brightly colored backgrounds, which he likens to a set-up for portraiture. Common themes in his work include mobility, sustainability, mortality and consumer culture.
Harris, by Kevin Cyr, oil on panel, 20 x 30 inches
Ed Christie is a veteran puppet designer and builder who worked for more than 30 years on Jim Henson’s Muppets in movies, television, and theater, and in particular on Sesame Street, where the characters he designed are seen in productions around the world. In 2008, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum presented a solo exhibit of Christie’s puppets, and his fine-art sculpture has been part of the Alden Gallery since its inception in 2007. For his new show, he has constructed a series of abstracted forms in resin, adding dryer lint as pigment for a faux stone effect. “Using contemporary materials and techniques, I’m creating a mash-up of two of my obsessions—classic European sculpture and whimsical character design,” Christie says.
Gaia, by Ed Christie, resin and dryer lint, 18 x 7 x 7 inches (with base)
The gallery will be open daily, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and 6-9 p.m., through Labor Day, after which it will be open weekends through New Year’s Day, 2019. Press contact: aldengallery@gmail.com or (646) 483-8164.