Exhibitions: Austin Eddy NY

Austin Eddy
Cold on the 4th of July
February 27 – March 1, 2020
Institute 193 (1B), New York, NY

Opening Reception: Thursday, February 27th, 6–9 pm
Gallery Hours: Thursday–Sunday, 10–7pm and by appointment: info@saladeditions.com.

Cold on the 4th of July brings together a suite of 10 etchings and a painting produced by Austin Eddy in collaboration with Salad Editions. For the majority of these prints, Austin drew directly on copper plates using a variety of rudimentary mark-making techniques that echo and explore the language in his painted works.

The Piano Kissed… (Romances Sans Paroles: Arriettes Oubliées V)

‘Joyous notes, a sounding harpsichord’s intrusion.’ Pétrus Borel

“The piano kissed by a delicate hand
Gleams distantly in rose-grey evening
While with a wingtips’ weightless sound
A fine old tune, so fragile, charming
Roams discreetly, almost trembling,
Through the chamber She’s long perfumed.
What is this sudden cradle song
That gradually lulls my poor being?
What do you want of me, playful one?
What do you wish, slight vague burden
Drifting now, dying, towards the window
Opening a little on a patch of garden?”

— Paul Verlaine

As with his painted works, the energetic marks that make up these images are often offset by an underlying calmness alluded to in each scene. He works with simplified forms and organic gestures to create a rhythmic momentum. This rhythm invites the viewer in to rest within each proposed moment, but energetic mark-making also highlights a tension within the work. By combining busy marks with serene natural scenes, Austin is offering a truncated perspective, coupling birds in flight, that are exploring a narrative setting that can be seen both as naive and complex. The birds in the work linger in a place between longing and indifference. The tension of this contradictory state evokes a sense of resolve in the forms. Color and its metaphors are key to the mood of these works. Often the drawings allude to specific locations, hours of day, personal interactions, and universal emotions. The prints presented here, and the birds they depict, are a vessel for longing and contradiction.