Jonathan Faber: IDLE

Champion is pleased to announce the solo exhibition Idle by Austin artist Jonathan Faber. Faber's works involve the paradox of memory and observation, intentionally seeking out subjects that co-exist between the expansive and the intimate, the recognizable and the ambiguous. Subjects are drawn from domestic and landscape settings as they manifest from memories of places or things observed, lived with, or passed through.  In the studio Faber's paintings are developed concurrently and then continually revisited and reconstituted – while simultaneously retaining something of their past built up through the paintings’ myriad of layers. Barren muted landscapes are interjected with chaotic abstracted objects, creating entangled, chaotic scenes. Spatial relationships break down into a fractured semblance of memories, where nearly recognizable forms emerge and dissipate against the friction of shifting ground. The result finds form and color merging not to create an allusion to a tangible place – such as the vernacular of houses and their backyards in the Northeast where the artist grew up – but to one that is partly invented by virtue of recalled experiences.  Idle makes reference to a state of suspension. Like the neutral position of a boat's motor – running only to sustain itself – the paintings in this exhibition hover in a transitory state. A heightened sense of the passing of time, perpetual movement, and a honed intuition occupies a space between representation and abstraction.  Jonathan Faber was born in New Orleans in 1970. He received his BFA from Alfred University in New York in 1994 and MFA at University of Texas Austin in 2003. Faber has participated in group exhibitions including 22 to Watch: New Art in Austin, Austin Museum of Art, Galveston Arts Center; Blanton Museum of Art with solo exhibitions at David Shelton Gallery. Recent awards include the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in 2011, Joan Mitchell Foundation in 2003, and a three-time nominee for the Arthouse Texas Prize. Faber was a resident at the Vermont Studio Center in 2011 and is currently part time Assistant Professor at Southwestern University Georgetown and lectures at the University of Texas at Austin. Faber lives and works in Austin. For further images or information please contact sonia@championcontemporary.com  Idle will be on view from November 17 through December 22, 2011. Gallery Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 11-6 PM.