NEW YORK, NY.- Dinner Gallery, formerly VICTORI + MO, is presenting Petal Signals, an exhibition of eight new paintings by Amie Cunat. This is her second solo exhibition with the gallery and will be on view from September 8th through October 23rd with an opening reception on Thursday, September 9th from 6-8pm.
Both horrific and comedic, earthly and transcendent, Cunat’s new paintings present biomorphic forms that are undeniably familiar yet foreign and reject singular associations, a departure from her past exhibition with the gallery that recreated a Shaker meeting house. She shifts the frame of reference to pose the question: can we know something we’ve never seen before? Each work calls to mind a sense of recognition, toying with the instinct to assign familiar meaning while demanding additional perspectives.
Channeling tenets of Pop Abstraction and Surrealist biomorphism, Cunat expands upon her language of comical, yet unsettling forms, which oscillate between representation and abstraction. At first, the works appear amusing and bright, however, upon deeper examination, the otherworldly figures become increasingly insidious as the thorny petals pierce the confines of their frame.
Cunat’s interest in the Shakers, a utopian community known for their fervent movements during worship service, unique social organization, and exceptional craftsmanship, can be found embedded within the work. She borrows signs and motifs, particularly those from Shaker gift drawings, and uses them to explore new ways of image making. The resulting experience within the paintings open lines of inquiry and offers different reads that push against fixed claims.
Amie Cunat (b. 1986, McHenry, IL) is a Japanese American artist, who uses painting and sculptural installation to confront familiarity by exaggerating or omitting characteristics from an observed source. Influenced by depictions of nature from early American painting, Shaker gift drawings, Japanese textile patterns, Art Deco, sci-fi and horror movies, Cunat's recent paintings include imagery of plant life that appear loud and flamboyant at the onset. Their exclamatory presence is prolonged through charged hue and abstracted form. Cunat received her MFA from Cornell University, Post-Baccalaureate in Painting and Drawing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and her BA in Visual Arts and Art History from Fordham University. She has exhibited at Peep Projects (PA), Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon, Victori +Mo, Knockdown Center, Sunroom Project Space at Wave Hill, ArtYard (NJ), DC Moore Gallery, and Crush Curatorial among others. She is the recipient of a Regional Economic Development Council Grant by NYSCA in collaboration with Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon. Her work has been reviewed and featured by The New York Times, ARTnews, Artsy, Artnet News, Title Magazine, Vogue Italia, ArtMaze Mag, and Two Coats of Paint. She teaches at Fordham University and The Cooper Union.
