By Kevin Heffernan
Get out of your house
Yes, 2017 and 2018 were great for subscribing to Netflix and Hulu and HBO and saying “Going out sucks, guys,” but it’s time you made a habit of going out every weekend again. Not necessarily getting shitfaced on Fridays and Saturdays, but to go see some art again! Get started this Saturday January 12 when you can feast your eyes on the latest installment from Julian Montague at Anna Kaplan Contemporary – Check out his killer Instagram account:
Anna Kaplan Contemporary is pleased to announce the first show of 2019— Semi-Fictions: Recent Painting by Julian Montague. Semi-Fictions opens on Saturday, January 12th with a reception 6-9pm and remain on view through February 15, 2019.
Gallery hours are Wednesday – Friday 11am – 3pm, or Saturday – Tuesday by appointment (contact Anna at 716-604-6183, or by email at anna@annakaplancontemporary.art).
This show also coincides with the unveiling of a new permanent mural by Montague on the interior hallway, just outside of the gallery space at 1250 Niagara St, Buffalo— painted geometry that shares an aesthetic with the recent body of work on view on the interior and serves to define the physical space of Anna Kaplan Contemporary.
The body of work included in Semi-Fictions, a new series of acrylic paintings on canvas, grew out of a project that was on view at Anna Kaplan Contemporary in the Fall of 2017. “Fictions” was an exhibition that centered on Montague’s conceptual faux books, posters and other ephemera, which have been a large part of his art practice for the last several years. The show included over 100 posters and other printed materials related to a fictional 1970s art institution Montague has named “The Thorold Gallery.” The posters in the series depict a wide range of artists, artwork, exhibitions, and performances and in the process of creating the imagery, Montague worked with several different media, including painting. Montague has used the medium of painting in the past, in his “Features” series, for example, which are acrylic paintings on MDF and depict a selection of geological features and events that shape the physical landscape of the earth paired with text identifying the image.
The paintings included in Semi-Fictions are pure geometric abstractions— bold, simple, compositions that no longer reference anything in reality. Montague has taken a cue from the hard-edged painters of the
1960s, while his palette often recalls two of the pioneers of geometric abstraction, Piet Mondrian
and Kasimir Malevich. At the same time, Montague’s forms feel contemporary as ever and are very much in line with his graphic aesthetic.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Julian Montague is known for his photography, design and installation work. This is the fourth solo show of Montague’s at Anna Kaplan Contemporary (formerly BT&C Gallery). The first, In Ruins, opened in June 2014 and presented work that is an extension of Montague’s vast ongoing project entitled Secondary Occupants, which explores the relationship of insects and animals with architecture and, ultimately, how their observed behaviors conceptually relate to psychological, human models. In Ruins included a small installation of Montague’s faux books that directly relate to the Secondary Occupants project. Montague has exhibited throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. His work has received attention from Artnews, Art in America, Frieze, New York Magazine, The New York Times, The Toronto Star, the BBC World Service, and many others. He is represented in the collections of The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, The Burchfield Penney Art Center, Delaware North, The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, and The Norton Museum of Art as well as numerous private collections. Montague’s instagram account (@montagueprojects), which focuses on modernist book covers, as well as the artist’s own projects, has a following of over 49.1K.
ABOUT ANNA KAPLAN CONTEMPORARY
Anna Kaplan Contemporary is formerly BT&C Gallery (Body of Trade & Commerce Gallery), founded in 2013 and on Niagara Street in Buffalo since June of 2014. annakaplancontemporary.art for more information. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram (@annakaplancontemporary @annarkaplan). Anna Kaplan Contemporary is also a part of the art consultancy Resource:Art, (resourceartny.com). Resource:Art is a unique collaboration with two other WNY gallerists, Elisabeth Samuels (Indigo Art) and Emily Tucker (Benjaman Gallery Group). Browse Anna Kaplan Contemporary and Resource:Art exhibitions at Artsy.net (through Resource:Art): https://www.artsy.net/resource-art.
