Language Arts

NAVA Contemporary is pleased to present Language Arts, a group show featuring work by Ty Clark, Daniel Diaz-Tai, Lisa Hochstein, Edward Holland and Jacob Ouillette. Words have shaped civilizations, preserved memories, and expressed the inexpressible. Language Arts is an exploration of the enduring power and evolving form of language in visual art. From literary references to personal mantras to symbolic words, this group show highlights contemporary artists who are harnessing the power of the written word as both message and material.

Ty Clark evokes a lifetime of art-making, cultural exploration, literature, and deep inquiry into the human consciousness in his frenzied, gestural technique. He applies layers of text and paint, charcoal and oil in a dizzying assembly, ultimately resulting in a fresh, contemporary, graphic style.

Daniel Diaz-Tai's canvases are borne of his multicultural heritage being raised between Venezuela, China and the US. He uses graphite, sumi ink, oil and charcoal to bring to life richly textured pieces that meld calligraphy with painting, bridging the disciplines of graphic design and fine art.

Lisa Hochstein's mixed media on paper works reference architectural structures while exploring the potency of found material and the interplay between reduced and complex visual vocabularies. Her work ranges from dense, intensively labored collages to constructions that minimally alter the salvaged remnants of everyday life.

Edward Holland's series Vigils of the Dead focuses on the Zodiac as the visual intersection of mythology and meaning-making, drawing parallels between the constellations and painting as a means to deliver information. For Holland, the zodiac recalls an antiquated form of storytelling, a way to communicate universal myths about humanity and the natural world.

Jacob Ouillette uses a simple language of brushstrokes and color in his paintings to conceive musical compositions: each brushstroke is a note, and the final painting a musical score.