About the Exhibition
Elevate at 21c showcases the work of artists in the greater St. Louis community, highlighting the range and depth of visual culture in this dynamic, ever-changing city.
Michael Hoffman and Nick Schleicher each create abstract artworks rooted in the joy and physicality of mark-making and color. The artists are inspired by personal narratives and memories, which are reflected in the forms, colors, and techniques used in their painting practices. The specific textures and marks that the artists use invite the viewer on a journey from perceived precision to flawed humanity – skewing the perfection of minimalism originally perceived from afar.
Michael Hoffman
Hoffman draws on a lifetime of eclectic experiences in his paintings. Through a celebration of movement and music, he shows the act of painting itself, using his body and paintbrush as a pendulum or spinning the canvas like a record player; Hoffman shows the hand of the artist, the colors radiating in an almost auditory resonance. In Ibiza Daydream and Costa Del Sol, Hoffman references memories of travel, sharing the colors of sky and water in far away places, imagery that viewers may even recognize from their own experiences. In much the same way, simple geometry and abstractions are universally resonant, open to interpretations that are both unique and capable of evolving over time. Hoffman’s geometry is not cold and sterile; instead his painterly style slowly reveals imperfections, marks, and drips, like the flaws found in the natural world.
Nick Schleicher
Schleicher creates artwork as a marking of personal transition and loss. Each painting holds, for the artist, a connection to his own story and relationships, the color combinations reminding him of friends, family, and experiences. Schleicher’s shaped canvases loosely recall tombstones, ghosts, and windows. In CLD-GHST and GOO-TMB the softly abstracted shapes, along with the titles, are intended to evoke universal forms from a spectrum of familiar places and pop culture allusions: cathedrals, video games, or cartoon-like clouds, which are permanently suspended in motion. His bright color palettes are applied in layers, sometimes obstructing previous marks or congealing along the edges. Schleicher embraces these imperfections, revealing both himself and his process, resulting in the creation of something new, more beautiful, and endlessly playful.
Artwork displayed courtesy of the artists.
