Roberts Projects

Lenz Geerk’s third solo show with the gallery is a deeply psychological exploration of the complexity of desire. Simmering tension permeates every work. Illicit relationships unfold on borrowed time against the sun-drenched light of summer. Geerk explores the shifts from attachment to separation, between closeness and distance, and fuses perception with touch by suggesting an edge that is loath to reveal itself completely. We wonder about, then question, what each relationship means.

The exhibition is like experiencing a dreamy, beautiful, unsettling coming-of-age story, not unlike Luca Guadignino’s Call Me By Your Name (2017), Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight (2016) or Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue is the Warmest Color (2013), set against the lush backdrop of Godard’s noirish Pierrot le Fou (1965).

The use of the beach conveys a continuous experience of space through the implementation of a nearly-abstracted compositional arrangement, and explores relationships between artist, subject, and viewer. This significant motif is key to understanding Geerk's new work. Unlike the paintings in The Table Portraits (2018) and Mixed Blessings (2019), his first two solo shows with the gallery which emphasized sensuous curves and rippling forms, the works on view are notable for their strong architectural compositions.

In Frequency Illusion, the unification of form and color within each artist’s practice reflects a surrounding world of inspiration. Gwen Hollingsworth’s attention to the only certain tonalities of blue suggests a profound preoccupation with unearthing the interior self from that of the exterior world. In the darkest shades, nearly inky black, she sculpts shape from shadow. Derived from a series of metaphysical paintings, they chart the passage of time, feminine intuition, and the artist’s own personal experiences, respectively. In contrast, Christine Turner’s colorful dotted paintings emphasize compositional structure. The expressive potential of the highly-pigmented greens and yellows, in contrast with accents of bright reds, accumulates each glance. Rhythmical and energetic, almost chaotic, they encourage regenerative acts without sentimentality.