FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Opening reception: Saturday, October 11, 6-8 pm

Friedrich Petzel Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of an exhibition of new paintings and drawings by Charline von Heyl. In this most recent body of work von Heyl demonstrates her unique dexterity as an artist who can constantly push the boundaries of painting as a formal practice.

The starting point for the new series is a group of 28 works on paper that von Heyl began making last fall. These drawings explore the indeterminate space between abstraction and figuration. Primarily collage, they are composed of ink drawing and photocopied images that come from a variety of personally significant sources. This broad range includes Jugendstil, Otto Ubbelohde and Aubrey Beardsley illustrations; photography and filmstills; and renaissance and baroque drawings.

The paintings draw from the works on paper as a source for their abstraction, but recognizable images become obfuscated in skeins of luxurious paint. Von Heyl uses innovative and dynamic techniques to combine formal opposites: stillness and speed, flatness and illusional space, outline and color, all resulting in startlingly fresh painted images.

The exhibition will open on October 11, with an opening reception from 6-8 p.m., and will be on view through November 8, 2003. For further information, please contact the gallery at info@petzel.com, or call (212) 680-9467.