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.