Jenene Nagy
Rock Creek Helzer Gallery
The Weight, graphite on folded paper, 79.5″ x 233.5″, 2016
The Weight
- Dates: March 6 – May 4, 2024
- Artist talk and gallery reception: Thursday, April 18, 11am-1pm
- Gallery hours:
- Monday – Friday, 9am-4pm
- Saturday: 10am-4pm (free parking)
Included in this exhibition is a decade-long meditation on everything and nothing. The basic materials that comprise the work bind us to this earth and each other. The drawings investigate ideas of labor and ritual while exploiting the physical properties of paper and graphite, resulting in a seemingly unknowable yet familiar surface. The intimacy of this process is a welcoming, a space where quiet contemplation can lead to a deeper understanding of this world.
With these drawings, devoid of narrative, there is no spectacle, only attention. The simple mark is the moment, and the moment an infinite unto its own. Dense yet radiant, the works create an expansive space that opens the door to something unforeseen. The resulting surface is weighted by the patience to allow the poetics of nothingness to navigate uncertainty and instability in the contemporary world.
About the artist
Jenene Nagy is a visual artist living and working in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. She has exhibited nationally and internationally at venues in Los Angeles, Portland, New York, and Berlin. Her work has been recognized with grants and awards from the Foundation of Contemporary Art, the Oregon Arts Commission, Colorado Creative Industries, the Ford Family Foundation, and in 2016 a nomination for the United States Artist Fellowship. Nagy’s work is held in several permanent collections including the Portland Art Museum, the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, the University of Wyoming Art Museum, and Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts.