Mixed Greens is thrilled to present Renovation, Sonya Blesofsky’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. For this exhibition, Blesofsky’s drawings and sculptures continue her investigation of architecture, this time with increased interest in the visual evidence of a building’s evolution over time.

Blesofsky’s focus was triggered by a recent event: the large freight elevator in her DUMBO studio was earmarked for conversion to a passenger elevator. Soon enough, the doorframe was modified and bricked over to fit a door of standard width. This change signaled a familiar trend in New York City—the conversion of affordable workspace into living space for higher income residents. She states, “I’m particu- larly drawn to makeshift architectural alterations and modifica- tions that happen in an as-needed manner, as well as the layering that happens when architectural details fall apart and quick fixes are made around them.”

In preparation for the show, Blesofsky examined renovated exteriors, remodeled entryways, and restored moldings from her current and former residences as well as the gallery building at 531 West 26th Street. In the past, her fragile vellum sculptures demonstrated the instability of the structures she was referencing. The same sense of impermanence is present in this new body of work, however artifacts such as paint scrapings and antique door hinges from the referenced locations serve as concrete underpinnings for layered wall drawings, blind embossings, paper sculptures, and architectural interventions. The pieces have a new-found solidity without losing a sense of transition.

Renovation consists of several individual vignettes with Blesofsky’s own renovations and manipulations evidenced in layered materiality and drawing that creeps off the paper and into the gallery space, at times mimicking tin ceilings and cinder block walls. The visible strata track the artistic process in the same way one might experience stages of remodel. In every piece, Blesofsky captures both remnants and voids, and memorializes the resourcefulness of the ever-changing city.

Sonya Blesofsky has shown extensively since receiving her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2005. Solo exhibition venues include Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Plane Space, New York, NY; Gallery Diet, Miami, FL; Cleopatra’s, Brooklyn, NY; and Swarm Gallery, Oakland, CA. Group exhibition venues include Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, MN; SHO Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY; Islip Art Museum, Islip, NY; Transformer Gallery, Washington DC; and Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco, CA. She has been a studio artist at numerous residencies including the Artists Alliance Lower East Side Studio Program, The Museum of Arts and Design, Smack Mellon, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Swarm Gallery, Dieu Donne Papermill, and Plane Space. Blesofsky grew up in Los Angeles County; she currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

For more information, please visit sonyablesofsky.com


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