Mesmer Eyes Solo Exhibition by Kathy Goodell

This March, Causey Contemporary is pleased to present Mesmer Eyes, a solo exhibition by Kathy Goodell. Sculpture and drawing, Goodell's most familiar forms, are utilized as physical accents within Mesmer Eyes, the tactile qualities leading one from nature to the metaphysical. Mesmer Eyes is characteristic of Goodell’s meditative approach to space, time and consciousness, while optimizing her interests in light and prismatic color to create a hypnotic effect, allowing the tangible to meet the abstract. This will be the first solo exhibition by Ms. Goodell at the gallery, which will include a large-scale, interactive painting installation, aqueous pigment print photographs, sculptures and drawings from 2011-2012.

The centerpiece of Mesmer Eyes is a twenty-five foot long installation, comprised of more than 8,000 small oval shaped ink paintings, with suspended optical lenses. A six foot corridor between the paintings and the grouping of lenses exists so that one may observe the paintings independently or through the lenses. As the viewers move past the lenses, contemplating the paintings through them, they become part of the piece to other viewers. This dynamic allows for chance occurrences; through the lenses, the paintings are constantly in flux, and no two glimpses will ever reveal the same results.

Effectively, there exists a complex set of contradictions between inside and out, between matter-of-fact size and sudden indeterminate size, between surface and illusion, distortion and clarity. A hidden but decipherable code exists between all of the works in Mesmer Eyes; the most direct relationship existing between Goodell's photographs and the painting installation. The photographs utilize the painting installation as subject matter, creating images that capture moments of the piece, that will perhaps never be seen again, and chance occurrences are captured and amplified. Shot through the lenses of the installation, the optical nature of the installation is mutated and further abstracted through the aqueous pigment printing process.

Kathy Goodell’s work has been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions, both nationally and internationally, a few of the many diverse venues include: The New York Public Library; The Queens Art Center, NY; The Berkley Museum, CA; The Drawing Center, NYC; Los Angeles Center for Contemporary Art, CA; Art Basel Miami, FL. In addition to her extensive exhibition record, Kathy Goodell’s work has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards. Selected awards include two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, two New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships, a Pollock-Krasner Grant, A Fulbright-Hays Fellowship, and many others. Ms. Goodell has been included in many publications, most notably: Juxtapose Magazine, Arts Magazine, The New York Times and Avalanche Magazine. She was also included in the film Crumb, (directed by Terry Zwigoff) a biographical documentary about artist Robert Crumb.

Mesmer Eyes will open at Causey Contemporary on March 2 with a public reception from 6- 9 pm and will be on view through April 15, 2012 at the gallery’s Williamsburg Brooklyn location. The public is invited to attend the reception or visit the gallery during normal hours: Wed-Sun, 11 - 7 pm and Sun, 12 - 6 pm.