Eleven Rivington to present solo exhibition of works on paper

HILARY BERSETH
December 10, 2011 through February 5, 2012
Gallery Closed for Holidays Dec. 24 – Jan 3

Eleven Rivington is pleased to present the second solo exhibition of Hilary Berseth, on view from December 10, 2011 - February 5, 2012. 

The exhibition will feature Berseth's graphite drawings. Working with the most elemental of artist's tools and techniques - pencil and paper - Berseth's drawings balance imagery and illusion with the viewer's optical perception. Six intimately scaled works on paper superimpose two drawings over one another, fusing the images together through shading, combining them into a hypothetical space. The artist's studio appears in several drawings as a framing image; another features a scan of the artist’s retina. Using a similar strategy, Berseth combines simple paper constructions with careful shading to create volumetric trompe l’oeil objects — Archimedean spirals, a fractaline segment of a dogwood branch. These objects, like the drawings, hover between the concrete and the ethereal.

Berseth's art explores the possibilities of creating form by coupling processes with systematic plans and programs. This is a model for nature, and Berseth's work often employs natural means or simulates natural phenomena. Works in past series - sculptures of honeybee combs, quasi-organic metal objects grown in chemicals - set the artist's intention against the demands of nature and chance. The viewer witnessed these previous works from the outside; the forces that formed them were unseen. In this new body of work, Berseth opens his artistic practice to the viewer, asking us to complete it through the processes of our own seeing.

Hilary Berseth was born 1979, educated at Columbia University, NY and lives and works in Bucks County, PA.  Reviews and articles on his work have appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Time Out New York, and The Village Voice, among others.

Eleven Rivington is located at 11 Rivington Street, LES, New York, NY, 10002.  Gallery Hours are Wed-Sun 12 to 6 PM.  Please contact us at 212-982-1930 or office@elevenrivington.com for more information.