NEW YORK, NY.- Bernarducci Meisel Gallery announces a solo exhibition of new paintings by Paul Caranicas entitled Anti-Gravity. Caranicas's unique relationship to architecture and color is evident with these works. This exhibition includes new work from the artists Ozone series that frames luxuriant views of the sky using cityscapes and architectural, industrial, and sculptural edges. The centerpiece of each painting is the subtle range of color in the sky. Although varied in subject the paintings remain harmonious as a whole. The exhibition features three paintings that all include Erwin Wurms sculpture House Attack (2006) as a top edge with various locations such as a hospital, a highway, and an overlook, as the bottom edge. The side edges of all these paintings are the lush greenery and rocky cliffs of New Jersey.
Ozone 31 (Christ Hospital JC Kudzu Erwin Wurm) (2012) features the Christ Hospital of Jersey City in its location over the Palisades. The architectural accomplishment of the hospital is highlighted in this rendering. Not exactly falling short of the design for Frank Lloyd Wrights Fallingwater, the hospital blends into the nature that surrounds it. Even part of the hospital building is elevated on stilts that help level it into nature. Caranicas lends the majority of the space in the painting to the sparse sky in the center. The sky descends into dusk pink on the horizon fading gradually from light blue. The range of color is remarkable and harmoniously lends itself to the juxtaposition of the red roof on the house that is Erwin Wurms sculpture, floating on the top edge of the painting.
Caranicas's technique is conducive towards the composition of his works. The artist begins his compositions by painting the gradient, colorful sky with two large brushes cascading as they cross along the burlap canvas. After planning the composition and juxtapositions, usually intuitively, the artist begins the arduous process of depicting the minute detail of these industrial cityscapes.
Caranicas attended the Corocran School of Art in Washington, DC and the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, France. He has had solo exhibitions that at P.S. 122 (New York, NY), Galerie du Luxemborg (Paris, France), National Academy of Science (Washington, DC) as well as many other notable institutions. His work has been featured in group exhibitions such as Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection from the National Museum of American Art (Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Winter Park, FL; Everson Museum, Buffalo, NY), and Contemporary American Realism: 2008 Biennial (Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN)