The Edition

By Gabrielle Leung

This month, James Fuentes Gallery is presenting new works by American artist Reginald Sylvester II. The solo exhibition demonstrates Sylvester’s departure from figurative paintings to abstract works, revealing his desire to dismantle and rebuild. After traveling to Bali, Japan and Mexico City, Sylvester began to focus on the three-dimensionality and luminosity of his work, drawing from qualities of music and light in his studio space. The latest presentation of “light works” at James Fuentes embody this “archeology and alchemy of energy and environment.”

The exhibition also presents Sylvester’s “stampings,” which have been crucial to his practice over time. After applying paint to the surface of a canvas, he folds the work over onto itself to stamp wet paint from one area to another. Expanding upon this process, Sylvester began applying each sheet to multiple paintings at one time, moving towards a process that is improvisational and intuitive. “I feel that the unconscious or subconscious is a place of great depth…” explains Sylvester. “It’s not about making a picture, it’s about finding it.”

Go inside Reginald Sylvester II’s show at James Fuentes Gallery in the slideshow above. The exhibition is running from now until March 29.