Dennis Koch & Claudia Nieto
June 21 – August 2, 2008
HIGH ENERGY CONSTRUCTS is pleased to present an exhibition of new drawings by Los Angeles based artists Dennis Koch and Claudia Nieto. The opening reception will take place on June 21 and the show will be on view through August 2.
Working with the vibrancy of color pencils, each artist exhibits a series of dynamic and multicolored abstract drawings. Presenting artworks both solemn and radiant, the exhibition relates two distinctly separate processes and styles in the context of the compulsion, deliberation, and intuition found throughout the tradition of abstract art.
Imbuing the supposed simplicity of drawing with an evident awareness of the history and density of painting, Dennis Koch creates artworks that are disarming. His forms may initially suggest animated anatomical shapes and three-dimensional sculptures, but the artworks also become dynamic planar investigations as sections of color overlap, abut, and fold. This ability to create visual shifts in depth results in large part from the artist’s mark-making, which, though repetitive, dogged, even tedious, produces an unexpectedly rich and saturated palette.
Claudia Nieto’s drawings are otherworldly topographies that are symbolically charged with tension, emotion, and imperfection. Her compositions consist of floating forms, unnatural chunks of earthy layers, and patches of infinite lines. Located within the drawings are scarce, yet detailed, depictions of the artist, herself, reacting and interacting within these questionable environments, providing narratives of physical and spiritual transformation.
About the artists:
Dennis Koch was born in 1978 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He received degrees in both political science and studio art from the University of Iowa. Dennis continued to develop his art practice while working in the farming industry. He then moved to Los Angeles in 2006. This is Dennis’ first exhibition at High Energy Constructs.
Claudia Nieto was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. She received her MFA from Claremont Graduate University in 2006, and her BA from California State University, Northridge in 2003. Claudia’s work was featured in the group exhibition Neo Dolce at High Energy Constructs (Dec. 2006), and has most recently been included in Drawing Los Angeles, at the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock.
For more information on this exhibition please call 323.227.7920 or email: info@highenergyconstructs.com
Gallery hours: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 11 AM – 6 PM
Claudia Nieto, Beyond Night, 2008
Claudia Nieto, Wild Nova, 2008
Claudia Nieto, installation view
Dennis Koch, Untitled, 2008
Dennis Koch, installation view
Dennis Koch, Joking Relations (L) Taking of Goods, Giving of Bads (R), 2008
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photography by Joshua White