James Fuentes is pleased to present a two person exhibition featuring John Ahearn (Born 1951, Binghamton, New York) and Jonathan Allmaier (Born 1979, Catlin, New York). Both having an immersive disposition to their respective mediums, the two artists allow their works’ utilitarian content, process and medium to guide the outcome of their work. Exhibiting through the disparate fields of figural sculpture and abstract painting, Ahearn and Allmaier concede to the alchemy of
their own practices.
Ahearn, a founding member of Collaborative Projects, is well known for his public sculptures of Bronx residents on the facade of buildings, now perennial with New York’s visual history. Completed by taking plaster casts of his subjects, Ahearn credits the people he is making the portraits of the true makers of his work. Subjects may include neighborhood friends jumping rope, a blind art dealer, children swimming or close friends. Exhibited within galleries and as murals for over thirty years, each relief immortalizes the urbanites Ahearn has frozen in time.
Allmaier gives similar credence to his medium as the authoritative creator of his art. Considering himself the studio assistant to his paintings, Allmaier mixes his paints from pigment powders which generate a unique palette. Further considering aspects such as stretcher construction, scale and application of paint, the madness achieved through Allmaier’s methodology showcase the parables of what it means to be a painter. Reflective of the medium as a concept, Allmaier gives a portrait to the audience of what is generally sheltered behind studio doors.
Both artists take the passenger position for their final works’ outcome. The earthy, rough surfaces of each artists palette communicate the shared, ad hoc materialism of Ahearn and Allmaiers practices. Each based in the Bronx, New York, both illustrate how whether intentional or not, one must concede themselves to the flow and rhythm of the city in order to find any semblance of harmony.
