In Focus explores how contemporary painting captures fleeting moments, textures, and emotional undercurrents.
5-50 Gallery is pleased to announce “In Focus”, an exhibition featuring paintings by John Cox, Julia Hames, and Tsukasa Kanawa. The show will run from November 3rd to December 15th, 2024, with an opening reception on November 3rd from 3-6pm. In Focus explores how contemporary painting captures fleeting moments, textures, and emotional undercurrents.
John Cox’s work delves into the aesthetics of technological error, where glitches in information and visual transmission are translated into gestural, abstract marks that hint at the ephemeral nature of our digital world. Using custom machine tools, Cox’s layered approach to paint mimics wave patterns and the static of early digital graphics, encouraging a deep, contemplative experience.
Julia Hames, a material researcher and gardener, infuses her practice with a commitment to nature and sustainable creation. Hames crafts pigments and bio-substrates from hand-grown plants, giving her works a living quality that resists traditional archiving. Inspired by the symmetry of natural organisms, her paintings evoke a cosmic, organic spirituality, encouraging viewers to engage with the world as a shared living entity.
From graffiti beginnings to refined abstract forms, Tsukasa Kanawa’s work reflects his background in both street art and formal design. His compositions draw upon his experiences at the Matsuyama Studio in New York, offering bold color palettes and dynamic structures that oscillate between precision and chaos. Kanawa’s time spent in Japanese art schools lend an urban energy to the exhibition.
In Focus captures the interplay between structure, fluidity, and the natural world. From Cox’s digital disruptions to Hames’ organic materials and Kanawa’s architectural shapes, this exhibition offers viewers a compelling look into the depth and diversity of contemporary abstraction.