AJ Fosik
At the Edge of Town

Gallery I
Solo Exhibition

May 12, 2007 through June 9, 2007

NEW YORK, NY (April 16, 2007) – Jonathan LeVine Gallery is please to present an exhibition of new mixed media sculptures by AJ Fosik. This will be Fosik’s second exhibition at Jonathan LeVine Gallery, his first solo show and largest exhibition to date. The exhibition will be on view from May 12 through June 9, 2007.  An opening reception will be held on Saturday, May 12th from 7pm - 9pm.

Drawing inspiration from his background creating street art and signage, Fosik’s work possesses wit, humour, and raw subversiveness. For At The Edge of Town, Fosik creates eclectic and intricately designed animal sculptures and paintings using wood and found materials. He handcrafts each form, which often involves a painstaking process of arranging hundreds of pieces of individually cut, varnished, and painted wood in vibrant color patterns. Sculptures are mounted or constructed as freestanding forms, alluding to modern taxidermy practices. Fosik’s uncanny representation of man-made animals, and absurd notion of preservation of such artificial creatures, parlays to Fosik’s playful discourse. Fosik embraces the kitschy elements of taxidermy, presenting his sculptures in various poses, echoing that of popular displays offered as hunting trophies.

Through a process evocative of American Folk Art, Fosik renders his animals as simultaneously unnatural and anthropomorphized beings. He explores the powerful medium of language and metaphor to emphasize narrative and interpretation. A cluster of cultural icons and familiar imagery stemming from Americana is, in fact, merely a series of paradoxes. For some creatures he renders them half animal, half human with rifle in hand. Viewers are confronted with cryptic symbols from overlapping sources, both traditional and contemporary, which intrigue and provoke. Fosik engages the viewer and evokes questioning of familiar concepts, creating a dynamic tension where art and viewer come together in an expanded definition of culture and assumption.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
AJ Fosik studied illustration at Parsons School of Design and graduated in 2003. An avid traveler, Fosik prefers the experience of foreign and constantly changing environments. Fosik’s work has been published in SWINDLE magazine The New York Sun, Wooster Collective, Ideal Digital, and Juxtapoz magazine.