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Cindy Kolodziejski
Portraits of Sorts and Curiosities
June 4-July 9, 2011
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      Opening Reception: Saturday, June 4, 2011, 5:00 to 7:00pm

The  Frank Lloyd Gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition by Cindy  Kolodziejski. Known for her provocative imagery on ceramic vessels,  Kolodziejski has turned to framed portraits and strange images in a  multitude of media for this show. While introducing a wide range of  human and animal imagery, the artist now mounts her work in a variety of  ornate, carved and gilded frames. Kolodziejski continues to explore  oddities, distorted views, and the fertile territory of human  interaction. Ranging from pictures of odd fish on the ceramic support of  bone china, to embroidery with silk thread on fabric, the engaging  gallery of portraits will be hung salon-style.

Cindy Kolodziejski  previously made vessels by recombining and manipulating antique vessel  forms, and meticulously painting her images. Kolodziejski's new work  incorporates the animal world as well as startling shots of flayed skin  and human jokers. The antique frames add layers of age and metaphor. The  artist entices the viewer by intimacy of scale—enclosing the portraits  in the manner of cherished mementos. Thus, Kolodziejski sets up an  unusual tension. There are mixed references to animals, fish, and human  interactions with the natural world.

Critics and writers have  often commented on the thematic content of Kolodziejski's work, and her  combination of exaggerated details with ornate decoration. Michael  Duncan, writing for Art in America,  noted the artist's "surprising narrative contrasts" and "pointed  vignette." The critic and curator Peter Frank, reviewing a previous show  for L.A. Weekly,  summed his views: "The ceramist has tapped into the body anxiety of our  Zeitgeist and run with it, turning our corporeal angst about death—and  sex and physical deterioration and visceral vulnerability—into something  engaging, humorous and even beautiful."

Cindy Kolodziejski lives  and works in Venice, California. Born in Augsburg, Germany, Ms.  Kolodziejski has had fifteen one-person shows since 1986. Her work is in  the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Long Beach  Museum of Art, and the Newark Museum, among others.