Mark Sengbush & John Chwekun

Inside Space, June 2012

This June, Grizzly Grizzly is pleased to present 'Inside Space,' a two-person exhibition that brings together Californian sculptor, John Chwekun and Brooklyn painter, Mark Sengbusch. Both artists investigate ideas of structured space through outwardly minimal means: Chwekun with his small-scale objects and Sengbusch through graphic paintings. Discrepancies of size – from the tiny to the large – introduce unexpected variety into a dialog between two artists who have a shared interest in repetition and unity.

John Chwekun creates barely perceptible sculpture inspired by the innate, structured pattern of the natural world. His discrete objects invite closer investigation, dissolving the space between viewer and artwork. Chwekun says of his work for the exhibition: "The pieces quietly hope that an onlooker might investigate and perhaps consider the truly intimate connection we have to that which surrounds us. This is why my work absolutely depends on being experienced firsthand. "

Mark Sengbusch will be exhibiting his 'Comb Series,' two-colored paintings that flatten pictorial space by creating a complex and ambiguous figure/ground relationship. Acrylic paint is 'inlaid' to create a scrimshaw effect of black white or gray, defiantly denying any painterly illusion of depth.

Artist Bios

John Chwekun lives and works in Southern California. His work is in a number of private and public collections including The Anton Art Center and the Watershed Center for Ceramic Art. Chwekun shows extensively throughout the US, among his most recent exhibitions are 'Breakdown' at the Guggenheim Gallery (Orange, CA,) 'Mind Over Matter' at the Muelensteen Gallery (NY, NY). He is currently the curator at Hyde Art Gallery in El Jahon, CA.

Mark Sengbusch is a Brooklyn-based artist and curator. Among many other venues, his work has been recently exhibited at the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, the Walter Randel Gallery in New York, and Pop Gallery in Los Angeles. He received his MFA from Cranbook in 2008.