C. Grimaldis Gallery is pleased to present two solo exhibitions this spring: HIDENORI ISHII: IcePlants and FOON SHAM: Building the Natural. Both exhibitions open on Wednesday, April 3, 2013 with a reception from 6:00-8:00 p.m.
IcePlants is Hidenori Ishii‘s second solo exhibition at C. Grimaldis Gallery. His new work continues his investigation of integrating psychological and environmental systems into self-contained worlds. The paintings’ surfaces have a slick, sensuous quality; they contain both natural and man-made patterns, and suggest transformations, erosions, and constructions of improbable environments. The new paintings in particular respond to the destruction of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in 2011, a consequence of both natural disasters and human error, and its ongoing impact on the landscape.
Ishii received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art. He now lives and works in Long Island City, NY and has exhibited in the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, MD, the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, and numerous galleries in New York including Sloan Fine Art, Ligne Roset, and Black and White Gallery. He also earned several prominent awards and was nominated for the Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Fellowship in 2004.
Foon Sham makes his C. Grimaldis Gallery debut with Building the Natural, a solo exhibition of sculptures and drawings. With his preferred media of wood and paper, Sham explores the intersection between the natural and the man-made by using the forces of chance and intention to strike a delicate balance between control and chaos.
The centerpiece of Building the Natural is “Channel”, a life-sized cast iron sculpture that was previously installed on the Washington Mall in Washington, D.C. Sham has exhibited internationally with solo exhibitions in Hong Kong, Norway, and Australia. His artwork resides in the collections of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Museo De Arte Contemporaneo Ateneo de Yucatan in Mexico, and the corporate collections of PNC Bank, Freddie Mac Corp., and Sallie Mae Corp.
Sham is a professor of sculpture at University of Maryland, College Park. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the Virginia Commonwealth University, and is now based in Washington, D.C.