Optimism is the opium of the people.

(Milan Kundera)

Mindy Solomon is pleased to showcase the talents of two longtime gallery artists, Ali Smith and Andrew Casto. Both artists infuse their work with energetic mark making and a dynamic ever evolving take on abstraction.

Ali Smith writes about her work: “My recent body of paintings coincides with a time of change in my life and themes I’m living through creep into the work, directly and on subtle levels. In this year of the snake in the Chinese zodiac, we may let go of what no longer serves us and shed what is holding us back. The act of transformation, of letting go of the old self, naturally connects with abstract painting, itself a continual act of self-discovery. Now in mid-life, shifting from a period of intense motherhood and self-sacrifice for the family’s needs, I find myself at the crux of new questions: what has been lost in giving of myself, and how can I fulfill my own desires in both art and life? What comes next? Working primarily in abstraction, I find a certain freedom to take risks in art that I might not take in life. The ability to live in the moment, to be impulsive, feels almost impossibly indulgent in contemporary living, whereas, in painting, all options seem available—even reinvention. There is also a great sense of the unknown. Images and details slowly reveal themselves. Life, that delicious mystery, hints at what might be, and in that abundance I never know what direction my work might go. Painting is a daydream.”

Andrew Casto utilizes his work as a therapeutic outlet. “My current body of work involves an investigation into extant negative forces in our lives, and to what degree the phenomenological ramifications of stress shape us physically, mentally, and emotionally. The formal language present in this analysis is based on a material study of geologic processes translated into ceramic and mixed media objects, often referencing historical vessel form. I seek a purposeful link between macrocosmic environmental change, and interruptions in our otherwise routine existence.

The foundation of this exploration is a desire to uncover the sublime in these moments of incongruity; the rush of presence into experience that might otherwise remain banal and ordinary, brought on by perceived inconvenience. My work asserts that it is possible for our daily vexations to illuminate the power of the present moment – something we all too often fail to notice.”

Both artists add a vigor and enthusiasm to their work that makes the pairing quite intuitive. Bridging different mediums they bring a language that embraces the stalwarts of the genre (think Kandinsky, Joan Mitchell, and Cy Twombly) with a wholly new perspective. We are thrilled to showcase them together for the first time.