Paintings
November 15- January 5, 2002

The exchange between painting and photography has been a striking phenomenon in the visual arts over the past two decades. It is through photography that art has reintegrated representation and figuration, while provoking changes in the formal qualities of painting itself.  The work of Andy Warhol and Gerhard Richter are cogent examples.

Tony Conway combines photography, painting, drawing, and digital manipulation in a seamless way.  Starting with digital panoramic photographs of peopled cityscapes, Conway manipulates the photographs to remove extraneous details.  The resulting image is printed on clear polyester, which is then layered between sheets of plexiglass.  On certain layers the artist rebuilds the image by adding washes of acrylic paint, while on others he draws with graphite.  Conway’s final images appear highly abstract, almost minimal, until the viewer begins to visually decode the layers of information and reconstruct them. 

Conway has always been interested in the formal properties of various media, and the sequencing of information that is achieved by employing them.  As the artist builds up his images, a rich interior space reveals itself.

Conway’s street pictures capture fragmented urban activity.  His figures seem to drift, engaged in partial narratives that defy resolution.  The artist says of his works, “what is not present in the picture is often more important than what is.”  Like the New York street life he shoots, each image is infused with a kind of anonymity, while at the same time celebrating the pace and forms of the city’s urban culture.

Conway was born in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1951, and resides in New York. This is his first solo exhibition in New York.

Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday 10 to 6; Saturday 11 to 6.  For further information please call 212-213-6767.  Call gallery for holiday schedule.