Astrid Preston
September 2 - October 14, 2023
Artist Reception: September 9, 2023 (4-6pm)
Artist Talk: September 30, 2023 (11am)
Astrid Preston: For the Trees
Craig Krull Gallery: 2525 Michigan Avenue, B3, Santa Monica, CA, 90404 www.craigkrullgallery.com
Having worked with Astrid Preston in the 1980s at Jan Turner Gallery, and then at Craig Krull Gallery since 1999, we have been on a meandering path together through her metaphysical and ever-evolving landscapes, or more appropriately, her deconstructed interpretations of natural phenomenon. Over the years, I have consistently pointed out that landscapes do not exist in nature, they are purely a mental construct. And, in support of that perspective, Astrid recently wrote, “Quite early I found that working directly from nature was too distracting.” Her “landscapes” have always embodied mystery because she is suggesting that something is either about to happen, something is missing, there are unexpected occlusions, perception is veiled, or ultimately, “ceci n’est pas un paysage.” In this regard, her new exhibition For the Trees, (i.e. “can’t see the forest for the trees”) is appropriately titled. These paintings continue her ironically crystal-clear obfuscation with untethered floating geo-orb snowflakes, or rectangular snowflakes seen from a moving car that look like questionnaire boxes that need to be filled in. Fractal webbing is scrimmed over the entire surface of some paintings, implying the natural geometry that unites us all. She renders fog as one might expect, in a blur of ambient tones, but it’s not really fog, just look at the next painting and it becomes a three-part grey scale à la Brice Marden. Occasional glowing blips of protoplanets pulse here and there, reminding us that she also supports astronomy research at UCLA, another vast unknown.
(Craig Krull’s introduction from Astrid Preston’s exhibition catalogue)
Northern Woods, 2023, oil on canvas, 28 x 35 inches
January 19 - February 18, 2023
Color and Form
Tufenkian Fine Arts: 216 S Louise Street, Glendale, California 91205 www.tufenkianfinearts.com
Tufenkian Fine Arts is pleased to announce, Color and Form, a group exhibition featuring artworks by Richard Bruland, Fatemeh Burnes, Tanner Goldbeck, Diane Holland, Moko Khachatryan, Astrid Preston, Alain Rogier, Ann Marie Rousseau, Ann Thornycroft, and Laurie Yehia. The exhibition will be on view from January 19th through February 18th, 2023, with an opening reception to be held at the gallery on Saturday, January 21st from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
Color and Form brings together a group of artists whose practices privilege the formal qualities of art-making when creating their distinct visual languages. The complex relationship between color and form offers the organizing principle for this exhibition, with artists grappling with the complexities of personal and communal identity through experimentations in tone, movement, texture, and geometry.
Astrid Preston approaches painting as a synthesis between representation and abstraction, with nature and landscape acting as the artist’s source of inspiration. For Preston, this fusion is sufficient to carry the full freight of emotion and spirituality. It also allows the artist to explore a wide gamut of painterly possibilities: the coexistence of flat space with texture and pixilation; using line, geometry and the effect of a superimposed grid; the repetition and variation of motifs; and the psychological and perceptual effects of color.
