Sky Glabush, Rema Ghuloum, Pamela Jorden, Sophie Treppenddahl
Philip Martin Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition featuring new works by Rema Ghuloum, Sky Glabush, Pamela Jorden, and Sophie Treppendahl. In their respective practices, these four artists of different ages and backgrounds explore the possibilities of painterly practice with regard to color, composition, atmosphere, image and engagement.
“My paintings emerge out of the process of slowly building up the surface with thin stains of paint and sanding in between to preserve the previous layers,” Rema GHULOUM writes. “Pattern and shapes come into being through this process. I create a surface that breathes and remembers.” Ghuloum’s vibrant works are in a continual state of becoming, not pinned down, with a sense of color and space that is always shifting and transforming. Ghuloum’s experiential, intensely physical works combine technical skill, rich emotion, and the willingness to take risks - core values at the heart of art-making. She comments, “I do not really know what the painting will be initially. I am always trying to create contrasts within each work. I ask, ‘Is the painting dense, or is it more ethereal or atmospheric? Does space expand and contract?’ I think about what my works can do or evoke. They are not static.” In the process of making her works, Ghuloum responds to the work experientially as it is formed; in some sense, her style combines the opticality of high-modernism and the expression of post-war abstraction. Informing this subtle relation is the contrast in Ghuloum’s paintings between the deep space of their centers, and the more shallow one at their edges. “The edges reflect the history of my process,” she notes. “At the end of every work session, I apply the remaining paint on my palette loosely around the edge with a palette knife or various brushes as another way to record time.”
Sky GLABUSH's work examines painterly archetypes like portraiture, landscape, and still life. We see flowers, trees, buildings and individual portrait subjects rendered in vivid color, by way of strong line, and dynamic shape. Sky Glabush's paintings include passages in oil and sand that play off brilliant areas of paint laid down with a brush. His work connects directly with personal vision in painting - the power of the human hand, a sense of mental recording and a feeling of visual improvisation is paramount. In Glabush's work, landscape is alive; individuals are engaged; and energy courses through all aspects of experience. He encourages his viewers to participate in revelatory moments with regard to what is possible in a painting, and, by extension, in representation itself. Precise details - such as a flower, a leaf, or the turn of a subject's head - are means to a total experience that reminds us of the wonder of the world, and our shared humanity. Vivid color, strong line, shape and texture construct landscapes that are places of encounter. Sky Glabush's portraits - another important theme in his work - are means by which to discover another person, and perhaps, a deeper sense of oneself. These landscapes and portraits are generally not 'real' places or individuals per se, although they may be based on them. Rather, they are windows onto the nature of experience, and a route by which to navigate an enlightened world.
Pamela JORDEN applies her paint in directed, pushed and dragged flows. She actively and physically manipulates the material of her work. The linen is pulled, stretched, and incised. It wraps around the convex and concave curves of the stretchers, and gives solidity to the more atmospheric qualities of the painted surface. “For me, color is surprising. My response to it can be totally visceral and emotional, and this makes it endlessly exciting,” Jorden comments. “It interests me to figure out how a color works in a painting, how I can undermine and alter its intensity, or how a color relationship can create a vibration and tension that keeps movement happening in the painting.” Jorden often refers to landscape and qualities of light in her work, associating the exposed areas of linen with the color and texture of the sandy soil of Southern California, where she lives. "My paintings are improvisations, exploring qualities of reflection, energy, movement, magnetism, and light."
The paintings of Sophie TREPPENDAHL have both a keen sense of observation and a feeling of stillness. Her work creates a narrative on the passage of time. We see vivid depictions of simple moments, all rooted in Treppendahl's own life experiences. Treppendahl says, “Through painting, I aim to capture not the likeness to an image but the overwhelming feeling of the space or a memory. In my studio, I work from recorded observations, often photographs and drawings that then serve as a springboard to explore pattern, color, light and shadow. When creating, the representation becomes secondary, my primary focus becoming the painting process itself. As I translate reflection, pattern, and shadows through paint, the image lends itself to abstraction, manipulation and exaggeration. Through this, the painting takes on new life. And instead of creating a hollow representation of a moment that once was, I hope to create something altogether new - a painting imbued with the vibrance of that instance, the glow of how it felt, and the love of translating it through paint.” Influenced by painters Lois Dodd, Alex Katz and Josephine Halvorson, these intimate moments are expertly depicted. Treppendahl’s lush use of color, buttery paint strokes and ever-changing light, makes a recognizable moment that feels warm and inviting. The never ending feeling of summer freedom, the sun’s warm embrace on bare skin - the sense of life well lived - are apparent.
Rema GHULOUM (b. 1978, North Hollywood, CA) received her BFA in Drawing and Painting from California State University, Long Beach (Long Beach, CA) in 2007 and her MFA from California College of the Arts (San Francisco, CA) in 2010. Ghuloum's work will be the subject of a solo project at Philip Martin Gallery in summer 2024. Recent institutional projects include, "Color Fields" (2023, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA) and "Shaping Gravity: Art Beyond the Picture Plane" (2023, Forest Lawn Museum, Los Angeles, CA). In 2022, Ghuloum was included in “The Holographic Principle” at Philip Martin Gallery (Los Angeles, CA). Recent solo exhibitions include Et al. (San Francisco, CA); Emma Grey HQ (Los Angeles, CA); Edward Cella Gallery (Los Angeles, CA); Five Car Garage (Santa Monica, CA); Sargent’s Daughters (New York, NY); Contemporary Art Matters (Columbus, OH); Hawthorn Contemporary (Milwaukee, WI); Jacob’s (Los Angeles, CA) and Sonce Alexander Gallery (Los Angeles, CA). Other recent group exhibitions include The Pit (Los Angeles, CA); Make Room (Los Angeles, CA); La Loma Projects (Los Angeles, CA); Odd Ark LA (Los Angeles, CA); Part 2 Gallery (Oakland, CA); Harris Gallery, University of Laverne (Laverne, CA); Five Car Garage (Santa Monica, CA); Nathalie Karg (New York, NY); Mother Gallery (Beacon, NY); Taymore Grahne Projects (London, UK); Meyer Reigger (Berlin, Germany) and Baik Gallery (Seoul, Korea). Ghuloum’s work is included in the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts Works on Paper Collection at the Legion of Honor Museum (San Francisco, CA). Ghuloum’s work has been reviewed in Art Forum, Hyperallergic, CARLA, the Los Angeles Times, Fabrik, and LA Weekly. Ghuloum lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
Sky GLABUSH (b. 1970 Alert Bay, BC) received his BFA from the University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon, SK) and his MA from the University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB). Sky Glabush's work was recently the subject of solo presentations at Philip Martin Gallery (Los Angeles, CA) and Stephen Friedman Gallery (London, UK). Glabush’s paintings were recently on view at National Gallery of Canada alongside peers like Peter Doig and others. Sky Glabush's recent group shows include, “Pocket Universe,” Philip Martin Gallery (Los Angeles, CA, 2023); "The Moth & The Thunderclap," Modern Art (London, UK, 2023); “BodyLand,” Galerie Max Hetzler (Berlin, Germany, 2022); "Unnatural Nature: Post-Pop Landscapes,” Acquavella (New York, NY, 2022); "Sky Glabush and Johannes Nagel," Cordonhaus Städtische Galerie Museum (Cham, Germany); “The Valley of Love,” Clint Roenisch Gallery (Toronto, ON); “Sky Glabush,” Projet Pangée (Montreal, QC); and “The Window is Also a Door,” Prosjektrom Normanns (Stavanger, Norway). Glabush's work has been included in exhibitions at University of Western Ontario (London, ON); Galerie de l’UQAM (Montréal, QC); and Rideau Hall (Ottawa, ON). Glabush is an associate professor of visual art at the University of Western Ontario (London, ON). Glabush’s work is included in such collections as Harvard Museums (Cambridge, MA), National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON); Alberta Foundation for the Arts (Calgary, AB); Bank of Montreal (Toronto, ON); Burnaby Art Gallery (Burnaby, BC); Colart Collection (Montreal, QC); Ivey Collection (Toronto and London, ON); MacKenzie Art Gallery (Regina, SK); McIntosh Gallery, (London, ON); McMichael Canadian Art Collection (Vaughan, Ontario); Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon, SK); Museum London (London, ON); University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon, SK). His work has been featured in publications such as Tate Magazine, Border Crossings, Canadian Art, Toronto Star, and Globe and Mail. Glabush lives and works in London, ON.
Pamela JORDEN (b. 1969, Knoxville, TN) received a BFA from the University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN) in 1992 and an MFA from California Institute of the Arts (Valencia, CA) in 1996. Pamela Jorden was featured in the exhibition, "Pocket Universe" (Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA). Jorden's work was recently featured in the solo exhibition, “Window Prism Eyes," at Philip Martin Gallery (Los Angeles, CA). Jorden has had recent solo and group exhibitions at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery (New York, NY); Romer Young Gallery (San Francisco, CA); Brennan & Griffin (New York, NY); Seterah Gallery (Düsseldorf, Germany); Pizzuti Collection (Columbus, OH); Mason Gross Art Gallery at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ). Pamela Jorden’s work is included the collections of Abroms- Engel Institute for the Visual Arts/University of Alabama at Birmingham (Birmingham, AL); Columbus Museum of Art/Pizzuti Collection (Columbus, OH); Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture, University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN); Fidelity Collection (Boston, MA); New York-Presbyterian Hospital (New York, NY); Rhode Island School of Design Museum (Providence, RI). in Jorden's work has been written about numerous publications such as Artforum, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and Art in America. Jorden lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
Sophie TREPPENDAHL (b. 1991, Baton Rouge, LA) received her BFA from College of Charleston (Charleston, SC) in 2013. Treppendahl's work was recently featured in The New York Times front-page Arts Section story, "What Our Critics Are Looking Forward to in 2024.” Sophie Treppendahl’s work will be the subject of a group exhibition in Spring 2024 at Philip Martin Gallery. Her work was the subject of a solo exhibition, "Take Care of Yourself," at Philip Martin Gallery (Los Angeles. CA). Recent solo and group exhibitions include Haverkampf Leistenschneider (Berlin, Germany); Jack Hanley Gallery (New York, NY); Hashimoto Contemporary (New York, NY); Johansson Projects (Oakland, CA); Quirk Gallery (Richmond, VA); Kenise Barnes Fine Art (Larchmont, NY); 1969 Gallery (New York, NY); Carrie Secrist Gallery (Chicago, IL); Heaven Gallery (Chicago, IL); Indianapolis Art Center (Indianapolis, IN); Ada Gallery (Richmond, VA); Dread Lounge (Los Angeles, CA); The Broad (Richmond, CA); How’s Howard (Boston, MA); The Southern Gallery (Charleston, SC); Gildar Gallery (Denver, CO); and Richard and Dolly Mass Gallery (Purchase, NY). Treppendahl has been awarded residencies with the Golden Foundation (New Berlin, NY); 100 W Corsicana (Corsicana, TX); The provincial (Chief, MI); and The Wassaic Project (Wassais, NY). Her work has been reviewed in publications such as Booooooom, White Hot Magazine of Contemporary Art, Hyperallergic, and Chicago Reader. Treppendahl lives and works in New Orleans, LA.