absence presence

FEBRUARY 02 - MARCH 08, 2008

Richard Chartier and Paul Vinet

Incorporating distinctly different approaches to covering, and conversely, revealing layers of action/inaction in their work, Richard Chartier and Paul Vinet each intentionally obscure and highlight specific aspects within their paintings, focusing the viewer on details that bring out formal structures while hinting at underlying narrative.

Richard Chartier stopped painting on a regular basis in 2000, starting again in 2006 to incorporate a quiet, visual aesthetic similar to the sound installations that have gained him national and international recognition. With the absence presence exhibition at Transformer, Chartier furthers a series of small works on paper created for the Invisible Other exhibit at New American Art Union (Portland, OR). Described as "playing with the notion of visibility, and the drawn image", his current body of work consists of intentionally subtle pencil drawings that were erased and then painted over. "Even after being erased vigorously, tiny vestiges of the initial marks are still visible.imploring the viewer to step closer and to adjust the eyes."

In conversation with the 'absences' that Chartier presents with his work, Paul Vinet's 30 x 35" prints speak to the idea of 'presence' - specifically the religious concept that God is everywhere. Vinet's new work presented at Transformer includes a mix of staged and street photographs covered with gold leaf, in reference to Italian pre-Renaissance paintings.

Vinet states, "Before mastering perspective, artists used gold leaf for background to represent the space of God. Representing the world as divine and not human in this way eliminates references to time and place. In these photos, people seem to float in this space that can be viewed alternatively as divine, alienating, timeless, or without perspective."