NEW YORK, NY.- Robert Berry Gallery is presenting “Beauty in Banality”, the first solo show of Wilmington-based artist Jennifer Small comprised of representational abstractions featuring hard edges, patterning. and bold use of color in her first solo exhibition. The show is open at www.robertberrygallery.com.

Jennifer Small is a Wilmington, DE-based painter and visual designer whose work focuses on elevating everyday routine through representational abstraction. Small’s work combines hard edges, patterning, and bold use of color. A Pennsylvania native, Small has exhibited her work in Washington, D.C.; New York, New York; Richmond, Virginia; Savannah, Georgia; and Chicago, Illinois.

“From a railing casting a shadow on a sidewalk, to quotidian scenes from a daily walk or commute, visually interesting elements are often the greatest artistic inspiration,” Small stated. “The places we live and work have a massive effect on our everyday experience. My work is always on the lookout for engaging visual element: my work in Savannah was more organic and curvier, while my work living in Chicago and urban environments got a little more hard-edged and architectural. With each of these paintings, I remember where the inspiration came from and what I was doing. I hope these images convey the wonder and beauty of the everyday to viewers.”

Beauty in Banality features fourteen new works from Small, including Diner Windows to Tennis Courts (2020), acrylic and spray paint on canvas at 36 x 24 in | 91 x 61 cm; Park Benches to Sewer Grates (2020), acrylic and spray paint on canvas at 36 x 24 in | 91 x 61 cm; and Follow the Guardrail (2020), acrylic and spray paint on canvas at 22 x 16 in | 56 x 41 cm.

“Use of color is extremely important to me; I often start with two warm and two cool colors and vary within those—lights and darks and temperature within those colors—and riff on these elements as the painting evolves,” Small stated. “If you look hard enough in everyday life, almost everything has interesting and engaging aspects that stem from something that seems ordinary at first.”

Suggestive of the works of Thomas Nozkowski, Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park Series, and Wendy White, Small’s work often features a major focal point, as well as secondary items of visual interest, creating visual interest with neutral areas juxtaposed with detailed patterning.

“Jennifer Small’s new show, Beauty in Banality, is a statement on the meaning of everyday,” stated Robert Berry, founder of Robert Berry Gallery. “The down-to-earth, accessible nature of these works is appealing to both established and emerging collectors seeking a new and fresh aesthetic. This new show is all about elevating the ordinary, making meaning from the everyday, and sharing that with the viewer in a beautiful and compelling way.”

Robert Berry Gallery hosts several shows a year, representing early to mid-career contemporary artists including Machiko Edmondson, Alex G. Cao, David Kastner, Yibai Liao, Ned Martin, Taney Roniger, John Ruby, and Leonardo Silaghi.