HALSEY MCKAY GALLERY

October 12 – November 16 | 79 Newtown Lane, East Hampton, NY

For more information: info@halseymckay.com or 917.568.5271

Halsey McKay presents Tattarrattat, Steven Cox’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. The title, a palindrome, plays on the action of reading a gesture both forwards and backwards. The five recent paintings on view are constructed with oil paint impressions, each layer mirroring the structure of the one beneath.

Cox paints directly onto sheets of plastic and transfers each layer onto the canvas surface with a monoprint like impression. Slowly, the paintings amass structure, density, and weight that indicate the passage of time in the natural world. Free from personal expression, the process of paint, plastic, and physical action determines the canvases organic structure. Slightly off registration, these repetitive transfers of paint create subtle lines and fissures reminiscent of rough urban surfaces like decaying walls, ripped posters and flaking paint. Cox’s paintings are poetic reinterpretations of the artist’s surroundings.

Born in 1986, Steven Cox lives and works in Edinburgh, Scotland. He received his MA from Edinburgh College of Art, and his BA from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee. He has had numerous solo exhibitions worldwide, including at Galerie Jerome Pauchant, Paris, France; Annarumma Gallery, Naples, Italy;  Galleri Benoni, Copenhagen, Denmark.  He has participated in numerous international group exhibitions and residencies. Cox has been featured, reviewed and profiled in Modern Painters, ArtNews, ArtInfo, Copenhagen Contemporary, Art F City, Dust Magazine, and others.