Fine artist Chase Westfall might be described as a minimalist who thrives in the reductive state of Modernism. Minimal art emerged in New York in the early 1960s at a time when geometric abstraction came into favor. (Above, Rainbow, oil on canvas, 24 x 24 inches).
Through his unique artistic process, Chase Westfall veils his subjects with a system of geometric patterns. Once he completes his composition, he overlays a grid of geometric shapes over the entire work taking away vital information, and now replacing visual detail with monotone forms. The subject now becomes further simplified, obscured and isolated away from its original form. (Above, Rosebush, oil on canvas, 24 x 24 inches).
To put it another way, says Westfall, “The shifting uncertainty of these positions accounts in part, I believe, for the recurring form or motif of the diamond, which has the geometric regularity of a grid, but provides a more dynamic, and therefore more ambiguous, form: equally legible as (or capable of) violence and/or transcendence.” (Above, Agnes, 24x24 inches, oil on linen).
This first solo exhibition by Chase Westfall with the gallery is made possible in part by generous grants made by East Tennessee State University Research Development Committee and the Department of Art and Design. Chase Westfall is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at ETSU and his work was recently featured in New American Paintings No. 100 (2012). Chase Westfall has exhibited at ETSU’s Tipton Gallery, and Twin Kittens Gallery of Atlanta, Georgia. (Above, Blue Trap, oil on canvas 24 x 24 inches).
