Sorcha Dallas

The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art presents Size Matters: XS – recent small-scale paintings, the first of a two-part exhibition investigating issues of scale in contemporary painting featuring many of today’s established and emerging artists. From the monumental to the miniature, a painting’s dimensions are crucial to its context and success – whether it is a massive wall mural commissioned for a specific architectural space or a small religious icon used for devotional purposes.

Size Matters: XS – recent small-scale paintings opens in the mezzanine gallery on Saturday June 9, 2007 and the public is invited to attend the artist reception from 5-7 pm. This exhibition runs through November 10, 2007.

For the first installment of Size Matters, the HVCCA brings together a diverse group of international artists for whom working in minute proportions is an integral part of their practice. Abstraction, figuration, photo-realism, and caricature are just a few of the art historical genres being examined by artists in the exhibition. With an average size of approximately one-foot square, these paintings attest to the fact that many artists are producing complex and unconventional statements that are enhanced rather than restricted by the tight confines of the picture plane. Featuring work produced within the last five years, the exhibition includes artists such as Nigel Cooke, Tala Madani, Amy Bennett and Anj Smith, with several artists, such as Thordis Adalsteinsdottir, Andrew Sendor, Aaron Johnson, Ridley Scott, and Skyler Brickley, offering new paintings specifically for Size Matters: XS.