.skin
Nick Schleicher
PLAQUE Gallery at Granite City Arts and Design District, Granite City, IL
May 13, 2017 – June 10, 2017
G-CADD is proud to present a solo exhibition with St. Louis- based artist Nick Schleicher. In .skin, Schleicher experiments with the versatility of paint as a material while simultaneously exploring titles based on first impressions.
Computer file names are typically titled to condense the file into a shortened version of what information it holds. It is a unique system that is intended for the user to quickly and efficiently identify a file that lives within an overcrowded device. In his body of 31 works, Schleicher considers this method of computer filing, using the process of titling each work after the first comparable idea. In silver_surfer.skin, a silver background is overtaken by an undulating clear coat of paint as if the painting is displaying the aftermath of a surfer drowned by an ocean wave. Similar in its latex-like texture, Rad_reptile.skin also tells an odd, somewhat macabre story. Purple and green paint is transformed into a peeled-skin, appearing as if a large lizard had taken too many drugs at a nightclub, was ran over by a taxi upon exiting the club, and mounted on a canvas. Covered head to toe with works hung salon style, the gallery is ultimately converted into a database for these works. Schleicher effectively narrows down the stories behind each work into short, yet informative file names.
Nick Schleicher (b 1988) received a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2011. Recent solo exhibitions include Hoffman LaChance Contemporary, St. Louis, MO; The Millitzer Gallery, St. Louis, MO; and the Third Degree, St. Louis, MO. He has also participated in group exhibitions, including Art:314 at The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis; Julius Caesars Whitney Houston Biennial 2, Chicago, IL; and Art Café Hemingway, Kauai, HI. He currently lives and works in St. Louis, MO.
Special thanks to Marianne Laury and Galen Gondolfi
all photos by Austin Fuller