Masthead Photography

David Linneweh & Leslie Mutchler @ What It Is

New work by David Linneweh & Leslie Mutchler Opening reception Sunday November 20th, 3pm - 8pm Exhibition continues through December 17th by appointment For the exhibition, Play, artists David Linneweh and Leslie Mutchler invite participants to explore this idea in two distinctly different ways. Linneweh’s paintings of re-configured architecture relate to the spaces outside the interior walls to which we’ve become accustomed. Mutchler’s installation invites the viewer to participate in an act of play by reconfiguring the forms to create new iterations within the space. The way in which architecture varies has ultimately found a place of direct influence within the work of David Linneweh’s recent paintings.  Photographs are the basis for his re-assembled pieces, elements are cut, copied, cropped and re-configured into a new composition that form the foundation of the piece.  Formal elements of the image move beyond representation towards abstraction and geometric shapes of color accompany the architectural elements creating a new configuration.  As the work evolves the artist selectively paints within the   drawn image until a sense of playful balance is achieved. The painted assemblages attempt to create and share in a dialogue with those who view and consider them within contemporary landscape; it’s construction, and evolution. By slowing down to examine these works we might consider our own environs and their constructions what they say about our culture and how we might imagine a new, ideal configuration.
Leslie Mutchlerʼs newest installation, BLCK, is based on the Froebel block learning systems. Mutchler remakes the cubic and rectangular forms out of cardboard and at a large scale, reminiscent of disposable, budget furniture design. BLCK, inherently implies potential while simultaneously acting as a barrier (or block) within a living space. The artist invites viewers to experiment with BLCK; As pieces are moved and forms rebuilt, the installation takes on a utilitarian purpose and acts as a marker of space. Images, collected online and kept on the artistʼs personal Tumblr, cover several forms. Image curation has become a weekend-pastime for many creative types bound to the virtual world through work. The artist is interested in ways which a controlled community limited to specific materials and images can participate in the construction and thus curation of objects, perhaps influencing and driving the direction of the installation and thus focusing on the repetitive and tedious nature of trend. David Linneweh is a Chicago based artist. Recent exhibitions include Homes for America, Centraltrack, Dallas, TX; Midwest Living, McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, IL; Landscape Affected, Haggerty Gallery, University of Dallas, Irving, TX. Linneweh received his MFA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, IL in 2007. Lesley Mutchler is based in Austin, Texas where she teaches at University of Texas at Austin. Recent exhibitions include Geometry of Labor, Sala Polglota, Proyecto Ace, Buenos Aires, Argentina; (F)utility Kitchen, Snowflake Gallery, St. Louis, MO; New Art in Austin: 15 to Watch, Austin Museum of Art, Austin, TX. Mutchler received her MFA from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Elkins Park, PA in 2004. http://davidlinneweh.com http://www.lesliemutchler.com
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