Vielmetter Los Angeles is excited to host a walkthrough and conversation between artist Patrick Wilson and artist Michael Reafsnyder.

Vielmetter Los Angeles invites guests to join us for a walkthrough and conversation between artist Patrick Wilson and artist Michael Reafsnyder on October 17th at 2:00pm on the occasion of Patrick Wilson's solo exhibition Things I Like currently on view until October 17th.

The suite of new hard-edge abstract paintings builds on Wilson’s interest in dissecting and slowing down the perceptual process in works that are meticulously crafted from layers of opaque and translucent acrylic.

Vacillating between control and improvisation, Wilson methodically builds up the surfaces of his paintings by pulling dozens of ultra-thin films of pure color across the canvas with impeccable precision, each shape and hue a direct response to the last. After months of daily work in the studio and considerable time simply looking, Wilson titles his paintings through a process of free association as ideas and potential for meaning gather momentum at their own speed. This approach reflects an open-ended range of possibilities, where a triangular conversation develops between artwork, viewer and artist. Wilson’s paintings are inherently non-objective. A painting titled Free Lemons sings with overlaid hues of acid yellow, sky blue, gold, and orange marmalade. It has a distinctly West Coast sensibility.

Toasted browns and hot pinks sizzle against thin borders of teal and purple in Szechuan Food, and Analog Music translates sound into color, geometry, and rhythmic composition. Layer upon layer of carefully masked swaths of paint alternate between supreme flatness and a radiant sense of depth. The dynamic structure of Wilson’s paintings allows color to speak with clarity, while mood emerges through the orchestration of chromatic interactions.

Wilson’s abstractions are informed by a rich reservoir of tones, textures, and methodologies. His work maintains that everything is in a state of transition and that change is constant, particularly in the act of seeing. Wilson is a disciplined painter with a deep conviction in painting’s ability to offer respite from a world increasingly characterized by speed, fleeting glances, diminished attention spans, and unconsidered existence. Acknowledging the complexities of contemporary life and the ways in which we absorb and process visual information, Wilson’s pristine yet unmistakably handcrafted paintings create a space in which the act of looking unfolds slowly. Within this space, the viewer is invited to re-engage with the pleasures of perception.

Patrick Wilson (b. 1970 in Redding, CA) received his Master of Fine Arts from Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA, and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Davis, CA.

Wilson has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions at Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA; University Art Museum, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA; Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; Marx & Zavaterro, San Francisco, CA; and Curator’s Office, Washington, D.C.

His work has been exhibited in numerous institutions including The Ahmanson Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman University, Orange, CA; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA; Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH; Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA; and the San José Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, among others.

His work may be found in the collections of the Achenbach Collection, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH; Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Minnesota Museum of American Art, Saint Paul, MN; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN; Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA; Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH; San José Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, and elsewhere. Wilson lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

Michael Reafsnyder (b. 1969, Orange, CA) received his Master of Fine Arts at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena in 1996, where he studied under Mike Kelley, Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe, and Lita Albuquerque and his Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art at Chapman University in Orange, CA in 1992.

Reafsnyder’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; Blum and Poe, Los Angeles, CA; Galeria Marta Cervera, Madrid, Spain; Uplands Gallery, Melbourne, Australia; W.C.C.A., Singapore; Susanne Vielmetter, Los Angeles, CA; Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas, NV and elsewhere.

Group exhibitions include numerous venues such as Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston, Houston, TX; Black Dragon Society, Los Angeles, CA; ACME, Los Angeles, CA; Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman University, Orange, CA; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA and the Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR.

His work has been the subject of reviews in numerous publications including the Los Angeles Times; El Mundo; ABC; San Francisco Chronicle; Art Issues; Art Ltd; Flash Art Italy; Artweek; New American Painting; LA Weekly; Artforum; Modern Painters; and others.

Dave Hickey, David Pagel, Michelle Grabner, Michael Schreyach, Michael Schreyach and Jonathan Griffin have written extensive essays on Reafsnyder’s work.

In 2022, he was the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant.

The artist lives and works in Southern California.