Pattern Recognition

Abstraction, by definition, has no overt subject matter. However, upon further inspection, deeper meaning can emerge from art that once appeared random and devoid of obvious significance. Powerful ideas about spirituality, politics and identity can arise from the deliberate interplay of shape, color, material and light.

Pattern Recognition presents the recent work of five emerging artists, Rushern Baker IV, Kimberly Becoat, Hugo McCloud, Duhirwe Rushemeza and Sam Vernon, whose practices are largely engaged in abstract painting, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture. These artists use the freedom of abstraction to push aesthetic boundaries and to present concepts that range from the personal to the geo-political. There are several conceptual parallels amongst the exhibiting artists’ processes, including the use of found materials and their multidisciplinary studio practices.

The exhibition’s central theme involves the examination of the natural human desire to find patterns or meaning in the data that surrounds us. Other themes include methods of interpreting history, consumerism, and the tension between art and commercialization.