If you like your art messy in the vein of Jackson Pollock, then John Armeleder’s ongoing Puddle Painting series will be right up your street. Like his famed predecessor, Armleder lets gravity take most of the strain. The Swiss artist begins by pouring large quantities of paint onto canvas, and then, before they are completely dry, adds foreign objects such as glitter, toys, jewellery and bric-a-brac which stick to the pools, creating texture and unusual juxtapositions. The canvas is then propped upright, allowing the remaining liquid paint to run downwards through the various layers, reshaping the entire composition.
Armleder’s puddle paintings are one of the key exhibits of a group show he is leading at David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles. Four friends and colleagues — Stéphane Kropf, John Tremblay, Mai-Thu Perret and Blair Thurman — join Armleder on the collaborative installation, and one of the main joint works from the group forms the backdrop to the exhibition. Their wall stencil featuring a repeating bunch of grumpy-looking kale sets a humorous tone for the show, which runs until 25 April.
John Armleder
Wild Cuckoo, 2014
mixed media on canvas
157 3/4 x 118 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches
(400.7 x 300.4 x 3.8 cm)
Photo, Ellen Page
Stéphane Kropf
Alen, 2015
acrylic on canvas
70 3/4 x 70 3/4 x 1 3/4 inches
(179.7 x 179.7 x 4.4 cm)
John Tremblay
Brix / Mortar, 2015 [Detail]
aluminum, enamel ink silkscreen and acrylic on canvas
45 1/2 x 46 1/2 x 1 inches
(115.6 x 118.1 x 2.5 cm)
Photo, Fredrik Nilsen
Blair Thurman
Step Class, 2014
neon on wood
45 x 45 x 5 inches
(114.3 x 114.3 x 12.7 cm)
Photo, Fredrik Nilsen
Mai-Thu Perret
Uncle Toby (Yellow), 2015 neon
59 1/16 x 59 1/16 x 1 3/4 inches
(150 x 150 x 4.4 cm)
Photo, Fredrik Nilsen
Installation images courtesy,
David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles
