geetha thurairajah
Spiritualist (he makes an effort)
July 12 2020- Aug 11, 2020
10/14, Sackville, NB, Canada
Photo credit: Zach Melanson
10/14
presents Spiritualist (he makes an effort), a solo presentation of
paintings and an installation by geetha thurairajah.
Belief
is a tricky measure…
Through
a process of recontextualization, thurairajah finds new meaning in
contradiction. Expanding on style, history and its contents, thurairajah’s work
rarely stands still.
In
Spiritualist (he makes an effort), elements of abstractionist and symbolist
histories become the building blocks for pseudo-religious pantomime. Survival
of the fittest takes form in combating pigeons while gothic archways allegorize
both the possibility and end of painting’s art historic reign.
Through
a tireless process of reframing and undoing, thurairaiah’s work calls into
question larger belief systems as a macro signifier for how we approach our own
assumptions. What remains undefinable after language and history have written
their stories? This is the unqualified world thurairajah restlessly toils with.
geetha thurairajah (b. 1986) is currently based
in Brooklyn. She received a BA from Wilfrid Laurier University (2010) and a BFA
from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (2014). She was a finalist in
the RBC Canadian Painting Competition in 2016 and 2018 and received an
Honourable Mention in 2018. She has taken part in recognized artist residency
spaces such as Studio Residency at Interstate Projects in Brooklyn (2017), Fall
Residency at Ox-Bow in Saugatuck, Michigan (2017) and 2D Banff Artist in
Residence in Banff (2015). Recent solo exhibitions include Migration is more
momentous than ancient invasions, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Waterloo
(2019); Mingling with flowers panthers’ eyes, The New Gallery, Calgary
(2017); Shapeshifter, Projet Pangée (2017); Boons of Another, AC
Repair Co, Toronto (2017); Goodbye here no matter where, 8-11 Gallery,
Toronto (2017). Recent group exhibitions include Invisible Exports, New
York (2019), Fourteen30 Contemporary, Portland (2019), American Medium, New
York (2018), Oakville Galleries, Oakville (2018) and Loyal, Stockholm
(2017).