Review

A review of Andrew Lyles's Defining Things and Not Words

Andrew Lyles, installation view of "Untitled," acrylic on paper, vinyl, Plexiglas, poplar, metal. Photo: T. Abeln

KCAI Crossroads Gallery
Kansas City, Missouri
April 2 — 16, 2010*

What is a painting, really? It is: pigment, wood, fabric, various other materials used by various artists at their particular discretion. And somewhere in the midst of building this object, the artist imbues his or her canvas with meaning. Once meaning is given to the object, the object itself takes on another life. It is hung on a wall, admired, pondered, and generally fawned over to the point that eventually it loses its object status. It no longer gets regarded as a thing as much as the physical representation of an abstract quality the artist wanted to convey.

View of First Friday crowd on April 2 at the KCAI Crossroads gallery. Photo: Corey Light

Andrew Lyles's solo exhibition, Defining Things and Not Words, challenges the notion of the art object, as well as addresses ideas of the body, fabrication, and composition. Initiating a “wall/floor” dialog is something that Lyles strives for. A panel colored in vibrant swaths of acrylic, spray paint, and collage rests at an angle against one moveable wall. Atop this panel Lyles has set a second panel, which sits flush against the wall.

Andrew Lyles, "Untitled," Plexiglas, acrylic, and archival tape, 2010. Photo: T. Abeln

Several of the pieces in the exhibition share similar constructions. A smaller panel awash in deep blues and violets acts a shelf for the even smaller elongated panel perched on top of it, which, while sharing a basic similar palette, seems painted more aggressively. Lyles points out that the top piece can be removed, that these two panels aren’t “married” but can be incorporated with and into other pieces at any time. Lyles says that within his paintings, nothing is ever “finished.” Everything is in a state of perpetual change, and he is constantly reinventing and re-appropriating his work in order, it seems, to maintain a level of invention and fabrication of art objects as just that — objects.

Andrew Lyles, "Believable Landscape," (view 1) plastic, spray paint, acrylic paint, tape, Lexan, poplar, 29" x 31" x 4", 2009. Image: courtesy of the artist

The fabrication element is apparent in the materials used in the work's production. Corrugated metal, large bolts, and strips of multi-colored plastic are some of the industrial materials found in Lyles's work. These materials are obtained from hardware stores and can sit in his studio untouched until a composition is achieved to deem it useful. The inclusion of these materials provide visual cues to the physicality of the pieces and to their place as objects in a space. The understanding of the construction of each piece, and the knowledge that none of these artworks are ever in what could be considered a final stage, attests to the unbridled creative state in which the artist’s work perpetually exists.

Andrew Lyles, detail of "Believable Landscape," (view 1) plastic, spray paint, acrylic paint, tape, Lexan, poplar, 29" x 31" x 4", 2009. Photo: T. Abeln

The dynamism in which Lyles applies acrylic, spray paint, and collage to his panels draws the eye into the work and engages the viewer with its liveliness. Much the way that the objects themselves are slowly added to and subtracted from, so can one see the process of layering color on top of color, scraping it down, and building back up. His colors are borrowed from manufactured goods, clothing, and bicycle parts, seemingly in an attempt to understand why these mass-produced colors appeal to a person’s visual sensibility. Using these colors, and using paint in particular, has an inviting effect on the viewer, drawing him/her into the piece, and engaging a relationship with the piece itself.

Opening reception night, April 2, First Friday in the Crossroads. Photo: Corey Light

Lastly, and possibly the most subtle of the relationships that Lyles inserts into his work, is the relationship between the artwork and the human form. Angles of lumber can represent arms or legs. Long, freestanding boxes brightly painted and arranged beside a wall on which hangs equally vivid pieces of wood fixed together can form the idea of upraised arms, or the simplified lines of a torso. This, as well as the many other ideas that dwell simultaneously within one body of work, attests to the amount of devotion and contemplation that Lyles puts into his art.

Andrew Lyles, installation view of some of "Untitled," MDF, acrylic. Photo: T. Abeln

The ever-evolving process that Lyles uses to create his paintings and sculptures ensure a continuity and freedom in production that make this work so compelling. Its vitality rests in Lyles’s devotion to reminding the viewer of the object itself as well as his ability to impart his own ideas, interests, and creativity into such a visually captivating and thought-provoking manner. Defining Things and Not Words is a successful introduction into the workings of an artist who is constantly looking for a new way to envision the way art is made as well as what can be said through its production.

Andrew Lyles, "Untitled," canvas, acrylic, and plastic, 2010. Photo: T. Abeln

Note:
*Open Fridays, 6-9 p.m. or by appointment with the artist: 219-313-1353

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