White on White
Curated by Eun Young Choi

Boyce Cummings, Larry Lee, Miyeon Lee, K. Min, Jeremiah Teipen, Heeseop Yoon

July 11 – August 8, 2008

Number 35 is pleased to present White on White, a group show organized around the color white. From a blank piece of paper and a glass of milk, bathroom tissue and Fruit of the Looms to porcelain vases and newly fallen snow, white permeates our lives. However, the notion of white art seems somewhat familiar yet a bit anomalous. To many, it brings to mind the history of achromatic abstract paintings, denying subjective representation such as Malevich’s Suprematist Composition: White on White or Philip Guston’s White Painting or Robert Ryman’s various permutations of all-white canvases. 

This tradition has since been morphing: instead of eliminating illusion and representation to focus on the fundamental properties of the materials, these six artists utilize the characteristic of the white medium to achieve a wide range of narratives investigating the nature of appearances and exploring the ambiguous traces of life and illusion.

Boyce Cummings’ dreamlike painting takes you on a journey through layers of translucent white paint that camouflage various images that are at odds with each other, creating a narrative that is fragmented yet leads you everywhere and nowhere. The ephemeral pastel drawings by K. Min depict subtle and quiet residues of life through food. The grease stains on a paper plate over a ghostly image of a slice of pizza are all that is left after a quick meal that has been devoured.

Heeseop Yoon uses translucent Mylar to create fragile white drawings that tantalize the viewer with intricate cutout forms who’s silhouettes create a soft focus as their shadows are cast against the wall. Miyeon Lee paints an austere and precise painting of a white door against a white wall that is almost iconic in its solitude yet personable and moving with dark finger smudges around the edges of the door. 

Chinese food takeout boxes are used in Larry Lee’s sculptural wall installation to explore the production of culture and its byproducts and how it intersects with the Western notions of beauty and form. Jeremiah Teipen also explores the white form by creating animated “Designer White Trash Bags” that light up, pulse, vibrate and morph as it sits on display by the window. His works are an investigation into the hybridization of nature and technology and the confusing excess of gadgets in a strangely endearing and humorous manner.

“Art Candy”, New York Magazine, Emma Pearse, July 31, 2008. Download PDF.