MARTINA NEHRLING "What the Walls Heard" New Paintings June 4, 2010

Artist Reception: Friday, June 4th, 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

Martina Nehrling’s visual vocabulary is based on the immediacy of the brushstroke and the flexibility of color. She paints from a near compulsion to respond to more than the merely visual world and as a means of engaging in a dialog; communicating through the primacy of the mark compounded by the myriad associations inherent in color. Martina states, “My paintings are visual rhythms inspired by the cacophony of daily life, at once the weight and the flimsiness of it. Compelled by the pulsation of the beautiful and horrific relentlessly clashing, I create compositions of accumulation. Grouped or tangled together, I use multiple distinct brushstrokes for their graphic directness, but highly saturated chroma in order to heighten the effect of color’s imprecise language.

I am utterly seduced by the formal complexity of color while I revel in its emotive slipperiness and enjoy mining its controversial decorativeness. The inextricability of these aspects unique to color, continually spurs my engagement. Additionally, color is significant to a striking auditory experience during my painting process. To develop the tenor, tonality and rhythm of a piece I listen to the spatial relationships and interrelation of color, often combining both sonorous and percussive qualities. I use particular color relationships to interrupt or punctuate the tracking of patterns of value and intensity, creating moments of concord and discord, taking pleasure in syncopation and visual rhyming. With color that refuses to be ignored in patterns akin to lists, sentences or notes, my paintings operate as lyrical musing, lush celebration, high pitched lament or raucous rebellion.”

Chicago artist, Martina Nehrling received her M.F.A. from the University of Chicago and her B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. “What the Walls Heard” will be her fifth solo show with Zg Gallery and will open Friday, June 4th from 5:30-7:30pm and run through July 10th, 2010.

View Paintings: www.ZgGallery.com/nehrling.htm