Current Space is proud to present Liquidation, a solo exhibition by Dre Britton and Oneiric Emblems, a solo exhibition by Vianney Paul. Please join us for the closing reception and artist talk.

Closing Reception: March 22nd, 7-10pm
Artist Talk: 8pm

Exhibition Duration: March 2nd - March 23rd
Gallery Hours: Fridays and Saturdays, noon - 4pm

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Liquidation
Dre Britton

Dre Britton is an artist born and based in Baltimore, MD. He attended the Maryland Institute College of Art where he studied General Fine Arts. Dre creates large scale sculptures and temporary installations made from found objects, furniture, and fabricated structures that reference painting, architecture, and contemporary modes of sculpture.

dre-britton.format.com

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Oneiric Emblems
Vianney Paul

Oneiric Emblems is a series of paintings abstract in nature but strongly imbued in the spirit of landscape. Very much a combination of abstract painting and landscape painting, this body of work is also its own universe, emblematic of an affinity to the visual and the visceral, as though distilled through a dreamlike filter. The paintings often evoke sights from natural settings, like the slope of a hill, valleys or mountains seen through mist, fog, or rain, as well as sights from daily life in the context of human interiors, like the corner of a bed, the back of a chair, or the texture of fabric.

The act of creating these paintings stems mainly from the the experience of being in nature, as well as the longing for that experience, but is also a search for the unknown, a yearning for yet another discovery through the sum of my past experiences, akin to the way of dreams, as though the reminiscence of spaces become channeled in the creation of portals to new realms.

Very much in conversation with the history of painting and various landscape and abstract painters, from Sesshū to Inness and Rothko, my work is also a dialogue with the paint itself as a material and an exploration of the painting process in all of its aspects; not a science or a linear thought process but an intuitive one in which various paint applications, textures, thick surfaces, paint blobs, as well as thin and more subdued transparent washes, come together in a personal synthesis of painting.

Blob or wash, brush or squeegee, painting has also been a prolonged meditation on the theme of the Veil, as the concept and materiality of fabric — the cultural, historical and personal baggage it may carry for all — are also relevant to the continuity of the work, as well as its dependence on light and how it affects its ability to be seen or perceived; what may emerge through and from within it, and what may be hidden or revealed.

Drawing from my experience with ceramics, I often think of the canvas as a wall of clay veiled with a layer of glaze, pulled down by gravity and following its intrinsic algorithm, its natural behavior, as aqueous and oily substance of thinned paint follow the path of least resistance. Allowing the paint to thus “follow its dreams” and letting go of a certain control is a vital lesson I owe to ceramics; the materials, like glaze and clay being transformed in the fire, inevitable cracks, failures, or unexpected and uncontrollable beauty, seem to sometime have a say over the concepts we wish to instill to the Vessel.

It seems dualities just keep revealing themselves to me in this fascinating world of painting: thick vs thin paint, opaque/obstructive vs transparent/revealing, absence vs presence, memory vs (re)creation, control vs freedom, or, ultimately, the object-ness of the paintings versus the concepts they are asked to carry. The picture plane, like a vessel begging to be filled and emptied, holds its purpose in receiving marks, imprints, documentation of material being handled in space over a certain time (in this case, paint), to fulfill and reflect its function and pour out its content into the eyes of the beholder.

A native of Brittany, France, Vianney Paul moved to the USA when he was 9 years old. During middle and high school he discovered drawing and painting and quickly developed an affinity with portraiture and landscape. He later obtained his BFA in Painting and Printmaking from VCU in Richmond, VA and moved to Baltimore in 2012. He is a founder and member of The Holy Underground, an intentional community and DIY space located near the Station North Arts District. Vianney has also been a member of the Potters Guild of Baltimore since 2012, has served on the Board of directors for 2.5 years, and has been teaching pottery there since 2014. As such, ceramics and painting are always in the balance and one practice informs the other, as Vianney continuously discovers beautiful correspondences between the two. Vianney also enjoys playing guitar, hiking, making stuffed animals, and baking stratified meals for his friends.

vianneypaul.com