reviews, features & interviews
Art without borders–Ashley Flynn at Knapp
By libby
July 10, 2009 · 8 Comments
Ashley Flynn’s free-for-all installation of paintings and drawings and murals at Knapp Gallery all flow into into each other, art without borders. The painting in Flynn’s first exhibit, Forgiven (it’s not their fault), is free, exuberant and sure of itself.
Flynn is one of those artists whose impulse to make marks comes straight out of her fingertips and her soul and touches everything in sight. The gallery, to its credit under the direction of Knapp’s new gallerist Karl Slocum, allowed her to paint and draw on the walls and let her have at it. In fact, there was a two-week lull between the previous exhibit and the next, and lucky for Knapp, Slocum squeezed her in. Lucky for us too.
That means that much of this exhibit–the extensions of the paintings onto the walls, and the links between the drawings–is ephemeral, the paint, spray paint and charcoal along with the layering and interweaving of drawings and poems there for but three more days.
Flynn clearly has some major emotional obsessions driving her work. Odd families, animals and rapists are part of the circus of life among the humans. The result is X-rated and grotesque, with blow jobs, ejaculations, penetrations, birth, copulation and death. The energetic style has a little of George Grosz, a little DeKooning, just for starters..
The images burst at the seams, too explosive to behave inside the usual rectangle and on the single sheet of paper. Some of the layers break the frame, others the surface. Flynn also writes poetry related to the narratives in the paintings and drawings.
I recognized the images from her senior thesis exhibit at Moore College. They reminded me of Judith Schaechter a little. In the show at Knapp, Flynn has taken everything to the next level. Next to it, the thesis work looks relatively academic and proper. But here she shows with panache that she is not safe and she is not predictable. In fact, she’s pretty wild!
Installation shot of Ashley Flynn's exhibit, Forgiven (It's Not Their Fault); some of the images on the rear wall are cut from her senior thesis.
This inaugural exhibit of Flynn’s post-college career is not to be missed. Alas, you have only until Sunday to get there.
Tags: ashley flynn, knapp gallery
I love Ashley!
BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO! to Ashley Flynn.
What an incredible, unforgettable experience.
Hi, sheila, One of the things that the pictures don’t capture, I think, is the scale and the sense of being overwhelmed. It’s really an full-body immersion installation. The pictures as individual items are there, but they are so integrated with the walls, top to bottom, left to right, that while I was in the space, they were hard to discern as individual, sellable pieces.
Hi, Zoe, Oh, I’m so glad to see this woman is getting around making contacts! (the best of the best contacts, of course).
Way to go Ashley this is incredible! Alas, I was away and didn’t get to see the installation firsthand. Believe me, I’m kicking myself…
Ashley: you finally grew into your art,into your soul. You are truly artistic,wonderful and sweet person whom I always will love. I will never forget that you have empowered me with art and poetry. We need you here. GO—Embrace the world. But I know you will never forget those who love you.
Luv ya —-Aunt Muriel
Awwwww.
Ashley is one of the best and most honest artists in the city. Which is refreshing in a city full of duplicates. And I love her.