Beth Letain
Light as a feather
De Brock is pleased to present its third solo exhibition with Beth Letain.
Featuring a survey collection of oil paintings from the past decade, the exhibition pulls from multiple bodies of work to demonstrate the evolution of Letain’s output and her dedication to examining the essence of abstraction, as well as the boundless potential of her own painting practice.
Evidently engaging with the lineage of geometric abstraction and minimalism, Letain is primarily concerned with the inherent contradictions and comparisons that arise when operating outside the boundaries of pictorial representation. It is this rigorous experimentation with paint and composition that has marked the artist’s career since graduating from the post-graduate painting course at New York’s SUNY Purchase in 2008. By regularly introducing or imposing variables that can alter both the physical painting-process or the arrangement of her abstracted forms - adjusting the opacity or viscosity of her hand-mixed pigments perhaps, or limiting the distance allowed between each depicted element - Letain is forced to adapt and evolve in pursuit of a practice that remains innovative and energetic.
Conceptually, Letain allows her paintings to display the semblance of meaning, with the implied possibility of interpretation or comprehension. Her relocation to Germany and adoption of the native dialect has led to a unique appreciation of language and a perceptible linguistic leaning in the paintings. Her angular arrangements in single colors have a clear syntax, while the areas of negative space that surround her monochromatic swathes of paint echo the pauses that punctuate speech or written language. Similarly, her experience of global city living has led to comparisons between the painted patterns at play within her compositions and the gridded layouts or architectural structures that mark most urban environments.
While each painting starts life as a small watercolor or gouache sketch, Letain foregrounds intuition and improvisation during the painting process, responding as much to the act of painting as to the preliminary drawing. Employing both an instinctual command of color and an evident appreciation for the appealing arrangement of forms, she is also aware that the pursuit of painterly perfection is fundamentally futile. Embracing imperfection as an unavoidable artistic expression, her visible, gestural brushstrokes imbue each abstraction with a humanity and empathy often concealed by her minimalist predecessors.
The opening reception will be held in presence of the artist on June 7 from 6 till 8 pm, please email us for more information.
