Shannon Finley

About

Miles McEnery Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new paintings by Berlin-based artist Shannon Finley, on view from 2 February through 11 March 2023 at 511 West 22nd Street. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated publication with an essay by Camila McHugh.

Over the decades, Shannon Finley has honed his painting process, successfully intertwining the artistic dichotomy between the traditional and digital. He starts at the computer, rendering an initial idea on the screen before translating it to canvas. He then takes a photograph of the painting and returns to the computer, collaging the image. Continuing in this back-and-forth, he pivots between the screen and canvas until the finished composition reveals itself. 

Presenting questions surrounding technique and materiality, Finley’s newest body of work transcends any preconceived notions of what painting can be. Seamless interplay between inky hues and fluorescent neons of acrylic creates intangible depth on flat linen. Gleaning acrylic refracts and reflects light from the two-dimensional. Puzzling geometries of interlocking fragments create a tension between the forms. A reflexive need to decipher draws the viewer in, unfolding the realization that each shape acts as a keystone in the visual structure, precariously upholding the symphonic whole. Akin to looking into a kaleidoscope, Finley’s overlapping compositions seem to present themselves differently with each blink, coming into view as the mind processes what it sees.

As Camila McHugh succinctly puts, “Shannon Finley’s paintings offer themselves up as sounding boards, ready to bounce off the inflection of connotation, association, and projection inherent in putting abstract painting into language. They can stand on their own. They have processed the artist’s experience of life into an abstract form and can become a site of processing for their viewers, too.”