In case you needed further motivation to check out Sarah McKenzie’s Building Code, here are some shots of the exhibition to get you out of your chair and into the gallery.

Building Code is on view through April 4, 2009.

   Interior 2 | 60” x 60” Oil and Acrylic on Canvas

Last week Sarah McKenzie sat down with Sarah Wesseler of ArchDaily to talk about her work and practice.  The Sarah’s touched on the future of architectonic art, the link between building and painting construction, and how Sarah’s work is perceived across the sea.  In the excerpt below Sarah discusses where her painting contemporaries and the historical references she pulls from when creating work . You can read the full article at Archdaily.

Sarah Wesseler: Do you see yourself as working within an art-historical tradition of architectural painting? Or do you ever think about  that?

Sarah McKenzie: I think about art history, but I honestly think more about my work in the context of abstraction. I wouldn’t say that I really look at historical paintings of architecture. I look a lot at contemporary paintings of architecture. I’m very much influenced by the Leipzig school coming out of Germany. There are a number of artists that are part of that movement that have done really interesting things with architecture and paint and the way that an architectural space can relate to a painting space. But that’s not really historical. So in terms of the history I look at I’m much more thinking about abstract minimalist painting from the 1960s and 70s, even abstract expressionism in terms of certain moments when I’m thinking about handling a certain mark in a certain way. That’s the thing about especially the most recent paintings. They’re definitely about architecture, but they’re also about painting as a material and the way that decisions are made in the process of making a painting.

Building Code is on view at Jen Bekman Gallery through April 4, 2009.

Good times had and great art seen by all at Sarah McKenzie’s opening this past Friday.

Building Code is on view through April 7, 2009.

Images | Statement  | Press Release

Artist Sarah McKenzie

The lovely Jen Bekman

Guests

Beth McKenzie and Jeffrey Teuton

The crowd from above

NEWS FLASH!

Jen Bekman will be speaking TONIGHT @  Ignite NYC .  Jen will have “5 minutes to get through 20 slides”.  Jeepers! Jen promises she’ll be “the fast-talking, nervous blond with the lo-tech deck, entitled Overcrowded – How crowd sourcing is ruining everything.

Ignite NYC III 

TONIGHT!

Monday, February 23 | 6:30-10:00PM @ Santos Party House

96 Lafayette St (between Walker + White)

Schedule 6:30PM- Doors

6:30-7:30PM- Happy Hour: $2 Buds and $5 mixed drink

7:30-8PM- Know Your Meme: The Game Show! Pwn, Win, or Fail! w/ Rocketboom

Two Structures, Death Valley, California, 2007

Jen Bekman Gallery artist Ian Baguskas, is featured in the show, In Search of the Miraculous, opening TONIGHT at the CCNY Gallery.  Curated by Yulia Tikhanova, the exhibition also includes work from  collaborative team Sasha Bezzubov and Jessica Sucher, as well as  video artist Laura Calhoun.  In Search of the Miraculous looks at how “various artists inquire into the spiritual practices of communities existing outside of mainstream western experience.”   The exhibition runs through March 28, 2009.

Opening Reception, Saturday February 21, 2009.  From 5PM – 8PM.

CCNY Gallery
The Arts Building
336 W 37th St. Suite 206
(Between 8th and 9th Avenues)
New York, NY 10018
212.260.9927

www.cameraclubny.org

’ Construction 6 by Sarah McKenzie

Painter Sarah McKenzie’s NYC solo debut, Building Code, includes eight paintings and opens tonight at Jen Bekman Gallery.

Please join us at 6 Spring Street from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., tonight, February 20, 2009, at a reception for the artist.

McKenzie writes:

My paintings are informed both by three-dimensional architectural space and by the pictorial “space” of twentieth century Modernist painting. The generic forms of suburban architecture provide a convenient framework through which I explore the basic structures and issues of geometric abstraction—stripes, grids, flatness vs. depth, color relativity, and so forth. Many of my recent works are marked by distinct moments of visual rupture, where the picture as a whole becomes fragmented. I am applying paint to the surface in any number of incongruent ways, juxtaposing various painting “styles,” leaving sections of the painting support unpainted, and otherwise undermining the potential for a unified image. This disruption of the viewer’s experience is disorienting, but in a good way, for it enables the viewer to see the picture with fresh eyes—to see the picture itself as a construction. The underlying structure of the image is revealed, like the skeletal frame of a building.

Her work can also be seen in the traveling exhibition Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes, which originated at the Walker Art Center in February 2008 and will continue on to the Yale School of Architecture in March 2009.

Also, keeps your eyes on your inbox for a new 20×200 edition from Sarah McKenzie (there’s just one print left of Site!). Sign up for Jen’s email newsletter to receive first notification of new prints from Sarah and other artists from 20×200’s talented and diverse roster.

Amish Horses
by Colleen Plumb

If you are free this very evening, come see about us!

Who: NYC Collectors & Team 20×200
What: Collectors Confab
When: Tuesday, February 10, 2009, from 6-9 p.m.
Where: White Rabbit @ 145 E. Houston (between Chrystie and Allen)
Why: We love you as much as we love art! Join us for a drink and meet other collectors in NYC.

Please RSVP by emailing rsvp@20×200.com or find us on Facebook.

*Cash bar
Drink Specials TBA