NICOLE FIACCO GALLERY
336 Warren Street
November/December 2010
Ken Polinskie: Nothing to Fear
In his third solo exhibition with the gallery, Ken Polinskie presented paintings created from paper pulp as well as ink and gouache drawings on artist made paper.
In a mash-up of sources ranging from Audubon’s mammals to scenes from Tod Browning’s Dracula, Polinskie’s new body of work pulls disparate subjects together into imaginative gatherings that move beyond reinterpretation and instead work to completely reinvent their stories by simultaneously telling the artist’s own. In previous works, Polinskie’s “low” subjects used sentimentality and charm to great affect. However, in his most recent works, the artist abandons the “low/high” paradox and instead concerns himself with how the story is conveyed in technique, presentation and subject, rather than the story itself.
The artist describes the recent body of work as among his most challenging. Polinskie directly confronted personal, professional and artistic fears in the studio. In so doing, he was able to work freely, creating uninhibited and often provocative content. At the same time, Polinskie made significant discoveries in working with, and presenting, paintings made of paper pulp, which the artist views as simply another medium for painting, rather than the exclusive domain of “paper arts”.
Ken Polinskie is a founding board member of Dieu Donne Papermill has exhibited in New York City at Fischbach Gallery, Hirschl and Adler Modern and the Dieu Donne Papermill. Polinskie’s museum exhibitions include Southeast Museum, Brewster, NY and the Corcoran Museum, Washington, D.C. Ken Polinskie’s has been reviewed in Handmade Paper Magazine, The New York Times, Newsday, ARTnews, Art and Auction, Artforum, and American Artist magazine. Ken Polinskie attended the School of Visual Arts and the New School for Social Research, NY, NY. He currently resides in Claverack, NY and maintains a studio and private paper mill in Hudson, NY.
