ERIK SPEHN

ERIK SPEHN’s new paintings present the latest in an ongoing evolution of a distinct formal abstract visual language, loosely based on the grid and rooted in philosophy.

Operating within self-imposed compositional and procedural parameters, these works continue to examine notions that arise from the philosophical concept of principium individuationis, as well as its dissolution, blurring the lines between field and figure, objectivity and subjectivity. Rigid Apollonian systems of order are juxtaposed against Dionysian gestural mark-making, acknowledging the inherent mercurial and chaotic nature of paint itself, and the architecture necessary to constrain it.

Further reinforcing these seemingly dichotomous relationships, a concurrent and parallel line of inquiry investigates ideas of simulacra. Shaped panels are introduced and presented here side-by-side with their rectangular counterparts in pairs. Utilizing similar proportions, as well as the same reduced palettes, these Doppelgänger raise questions of authenticity, replication, and illusion, suggesting a perplexing ontological paradox.

ERIK SPEHN received his BFA from the University of Michigan School of Art, Ann Arbor, MI. He has exhibited at museums and institutions including the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY; Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO; Saarländisches Künstlerhaus, Saarbrücken, Germany; Centre d’Art Contemporain, Metz, France; and more. His work is in numerous public and museum collections, including the Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO; Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis, MO; Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY; Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO; Temple University; Microsoft; JP Morgan Chase; among others.