Ivan Morley s third solo exhibition with Bortolami Gallery opens in New York
Ivan Morley, Fandango, 2021. Oil and KY jelly on panel, 40 x 43 x 1.5 in (101.6 x 109.2 cm)
NEW YORK, NY
.-Bortolami Gallery is presenting Hyperion, Ivan Morleys third solo exhibition with the gallery. Morley s distinct, vivid compositions are sewn in embroidery thread with watercolor on canvas or painted on glass that is slicked with water-based lubricant, peeled away with the aid of razors, and transferred to panel in one giant, layered skin of sumptuous oils.
The embroidered works are like lavish tapestries modeled in a chiaroscuro of near-like color palettes. Their chromatic combinations surprise, evoking the ethos and immediacy of gestural painting despite their slow and methodical creation by sewing machine. Morley dampens the thread to stretch the canvas, causing the watercolor underneath to bleed up through the surface. This effectively softens the edges in the work, transforming tapestry int