Adjacent Spaces
Paintings by Karen Tashjian & Mark Lavatelli
Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo NY
May 10, 2024 - December 1, 2024
Adjacent Spaces: Paintings by Karen Tashjian and Mark Lavatelli juxtaposes the work of two seasoned Western New York painters who focus on abstraction of the built an dnatural environment, respectively. Mark Lavatelli is a master of the encaustic medium (heated beeswax paint). His paintings often contain images of tree branches combined with geometric elements, while Karen Tashjian is a licensed architect, whose paintings often featrue buildings transformed by time. In their creative processes, both artists apply multiple layers of paint, occasionally scraping away to reveal subtle traces of earlier brushstrokes, approaching abstraction as a deconstruction of representations of the real world. Like many of Tashjian and Lavatelli’s works, the historic complex of the Niagara Frontier Food Terminal is a plaimpsest revealing traces of the past. It’s fitting that within this artistic enclave, Tasjian and Lavatelli have extablished their own studio in adjacent spaces.
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