IF YOU STEAL MY SUNSHINE : CALIFORNIA ABSTRACTION NOW

CHELSEA BOXWELL, HEATHER DAY,
PRISCILLA FRANCO, ADEE ROBERSON,
LADAN SEDIGHI, RACHEL STRUM

NOV 3 - DEC 22, 2019

Royale Projects is pleased to announce If You Steal My Sunshine: California Abstraction Now a group exhibition featuring Chelsea Boxwell, Heather Day, Priscilla Franco, Adee Roberson, Ladan Sedighi, and Rachel Strum opening November 3 and running through December 22. 

The cross-pollination of music, style, and culture defined the 1990s. This fluidity of genres allowed for a unique expression based on the mishmash of fragments from a multitude of sources. Released in 1999, brother and sister duo, Len’s top charted single “Steal My Sunshine” brought together alternative, indie, pop, post-punk and hip-hop while sampling Andrea True Connection’s disco hit "More, More, More"  (1976) and inspired by The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" (1981) forging an unprecedented sound characteristic of the time.

Today, visual abstraction has drawn a new generation of artists with urgency. Eradicating the constraints of the canon and systems in place, these young artists thrive with the freedom to explore uncharted territory. The six artists in this exhibition sample from their predecessors while infusing composition, color, form, material, and a vocabulary, fearlessly of their own aesthetic and narrative.

(b. 1989) Chelsea Boxwell creates suspended multidimensional paintings that reinvent the medium. Embarking on a journey to highlight the beauty of the unfinished while embracing the uncontrolled, the artist lays out various fabrics across her studio pouring and splattering paint and glitter that spills onto the multiple surfaces before creating the final site-specific form that does not adhere to a stretcher, frame, or wall. 

Large scale canvases of Heather Day (b. 1989) make use of puddling, scraping, and smearing pigment and other mediums to convey experiences translated through expressive codes, or mark making, that relay how she navigates through the world. 

(b. 1982) Priscilla Franco’s hard-edge painting expands on the approach utilizing hinged modular panels that can be rearranged into diverse compositions. Motivated by sacred geometry and numerology her works are intended to transcend the viewer into an imaginative state.    

Eliminating boundaries, (b. 1981) Adee Roberson’s free flowing, unstretched canvases dance with vibrant hues. Her abstract exploration of African diaspora liberates her documentation of energy and emotion.

Using prefabricated material, (b, 1977) Ladan Sedighi transforms the dynamic colors and designs of Middle Eastern architecture, Persian rugs, precious jewels, and insects into shimmering holographic compositions that touch upon Abstract Classicism, minimalism, and Light and Space. 

Observing the tension of the subliminal consciousness and the built environment, (b. 1985) Rachel Strum’s addition and subtraction of layers composed with an array of mediums form striking geometric abstractions that are synchronized with soft gradient shifts.

If You Steal My Sunshine: California Abstraction Now will exhibit artists never before shown at Royale Projects.