“Conlangs”

Show dates: May 14 – June 16

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 18, 4-8 p.m.

A new exhibition at Chroma Fine Art Gallery brings together painter Robert Ayers, photographer Danny Delaney, and sculptor Derek Uhlman. The exhibition is on view now through June 16, with an Opening Reception on Saturday, May 18 from 4 – 8 p.m.

The show’s theme centers around a shared geometric framework. “Each artist has a unique visual vocabulary, yet they belong to a common language family,” curator Rita Baunok. “Their compositions are based around structure, geometry, precision; and together, their work is in conversation.” Baunok titled the exhibition Conlangs, or constructed languages. Conlangs are deliberately crafted languages (for example Klingon in Star Trek). In this exhibition, Robert, Danny and Derek share work that departs from their normal practice – together creating their own conlang on the walls of Chroma Gallery.

Robert Ayers presents his newest body of work: colorful, stacked-canvas paintings with imagery inspired by the MUJI logo he encountered on a discarded bag. Ayers built upon increasingly complex “u” shapes that snake across bright geometric backgrounds, foreshortening space and creating a series of delightful optical illusions and curious effects. Ayers, who is perhaps best known for his decades of ground-breaking performance art in his native England, here continues his mission to expose his audience to unexpected pathways and expansive narrative routes.

Danny Delaney, a film photographer who usually works with traditional darkroom practices, here shows an elegant suite of digital, dye sublimated prints. Tenderly portrayed and exquisitely constructed, the compositions of humble bricks are stacked in various arrangements against neutral backdrops. With Delaney, the depth is in the details, as luminous and matte surfaces absorb and reflect the light, and the scenes display a subtle interplay of shadow and texture. The works feel like modern, pared-down photographic counterparts to Giorgio Morandi’s still lifes.

The sculptor Derek Uhlman has had a storied career working with traditional materials like bronze and stone, in large-scale monolithic formats (think 37,000 lb of carved stone). His work has centered around creative practices that were used across great spans of human civilizations. Now Derek turns his attention to one of modernity’s newest tools – 3D printing! He has created a series of structures that fuse the enduring forms of the ancient world (steppes, crosses, pyramids, bones, disks) with futuristic elements that would make Frank Gehry proud. The sculptures displayed are finished works, but can also be used as a starting point for commissions of larger scale versions.