Figures in tufted felt tumbling out into the gallery. Skulls, side by side, lying in wait for the punchline of a joke. Abstracted alphabetical constructions layered, one over the other, in layers of color and shadow. In Backstory Universe, the meaning lies in the relative madness of what each participating artist brings to the table. Works by Annie Hayes, Paul Latislaw and Rhys Ziemba populate the exhibition, bringing to mind vignettes from a daydream or a scene from Alice in Wonderland. Visitors to this exhibit at Diana New York at 127 Henry Street, curated by KIPNZ gallery’s Kenneth Pietrobono and Natalie Zayne, observe the lack of limitations that artists working at the boundary of comprehension can bring to a three-person exhibition.
Sculptor Paul Latislaw’s “Bar Fight: Scene III” anchors the scene at Diana for Backstory Universe, serving as an inflection point in dynamic white felted wool figures engaging in the titular bar fight. The work is multi-dimensional and visceral, as guests can almost feel the violent motion of the bar patrons grappling in the center of the gallery space. The work itself feels both timeless and immediate. The contours of the sculpture entice the viewer to get closer: to learn more.
Painter Rhys Ziemba confounds the visitor with his enigmatic paintings, and nowhere is this more cutting than in the large scale painting, “The Flight to Varennes.” Evoking the scene of the final French monarch, Louis XVI, and his family’s failed escape attempt from the country, the tableau of items on hand is evocative and strange in equal measure. Workout equipment is barely visible. A folding chair is pressed up against the wall behind a table. Ziemba reminds us with this, and all of his images present in Backstory Universe, that things are not what they may seem. His manner of communicating in color also holds surprises for the viewer. Three- dimensional objects depicted in the paintings evoke shadow and light, where more mysterious elements, like a blue rug, hold tight to their secrets.
Works on paper by Annie Hayes equally inspire. Jumping into the scene next to “Bar Fight: Scene III” her framed artworks seem to communicate telepathically with guests to Diana on Henry. Symbols are layered and embrace one another’s shapes like Matisse cut-outs. Smudges of contrasting colors feel like smears in action painting: these impressions in curvilinear repetition seem to document the history of the artwork itself.
Hayes works feel especially hard to decipher. They are made with colored pencil and pastel or ink and pastel on paper, and feel almost like screenshots of augmented reality works. The artist manages to capture our cultural moment in miniature, with hidden messages embedded in shapes that seem to communicate secret architectural plans and archaeology sites. Seeming to be precious and immediate at the same time, these prints form a visceral link to the world of the internet, where symbols, logos, graphics and designs populate every website we click on.
On view through August 2nd, “Backstory Universe” is presented by KIPNZ at Diana. KIPNZ is a contemporary art gallery founded in 2022, linked here. The gallery was founded by Kenneth Pietrobono and Natalie Zayne and is located in the Western Catskills town of Walton, NY at Diana, 127 Henry Street in New York, NY. Hours are 12-6 PM, Tuesdays-Fridays.