YONDER by Brandon Opalka

To kick off the start of the art season, Brandon Opalka presents his latest series of works at Dorsch Gallery this September. "Yonder", is an exhibition of works by Opalka that embody a place between reality and his imagination which exudes the experience of a dream like state.

Using model animals, Opalka's appropriation of them in his sculptural forms and then translation of them onto canvas makes the low high, the ideal subjective, the 'real' dreamlike. One's impressions of dreams when encountering Opalka's paintings are exactly what are most real in 'Yonder.'

The method of working with models has been a part of Opalka's process for several years now. This thread has taken him through dreamlike representational canvases to seemingly abstract work. In this show, Opalka returns to recognizable forms, while working toward an allegory that will fill out his opus.

Acknowledging this eventual goal, Opalka will pair text panels arbitrarily with his paintings, such that each painting has a story made evident, but that story is not necessarily his. This gesture underlines what is so frustrating and appealing about painting. Painting's value is in the stories it evokes, in falling into it, into 'Yonder,' where the stories fall away.


Also showing at Dorsch this month is Robbin Griffiths' "A Mechanical Advantage," the namesake piece in Griffiths' exhibition demonstrates how much mechanics can exponentially increase the force of a simple touch. In the shape of a wishbone, a cable is strung tightly between the two ends. Another line bisects it, making a 'T' form that is the nexus of the mechanical advantage. The sculpture's form evokes a harp, a symbol of ordered, heavenly music. And yet the combined raw force of physics and wood belie the comparison with those sleek string instruments of the past.

The works in the show will demonstrate the mechanics of circuitry, electronics, springs and beauty. Or is it the beauty of mechanics?

Brandon Opalka:
Yonder

September 13 - October 4, 2008

The Dorsch Gallery
151 NW 24th Street
Miami, FL 33127