Amy Applegate: Set and Setting

My paintings are meditations on impermanence. Making them is a gesture of appreciation for the moment I find myself in and a reflection on its inevitable loss. In this way, the paintings are colored by anticipatory grief.

-Amy Applegate 

Massey Klein Gallery is pleased to present Set and Setting, a solo exhibition of new and recent paintings by Amy Applegate. The exhibition will be on view from December 9th through January 28th. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, December 10th from 4-7pm. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. For press inquiries or questions regarding works available, please email info@masseyklein.com.

The thirteen paintings in Set and Setting are meditations on impermanence, each representing a passing moment, an intimate narrative, a fleeting memory - something the artist is intent on remembering. Poetic and familiar, Applegate’s paintings depict ordinary objects and simple views. Chosen from the artist’s immediate surroundings and depicted in quiet, muted colors, she explores the ways in which ordinary observances can change depending on how, when, and by whom they are witnessed. The artist’s work calls on the viewer to pay attention to things they encounter by chance in everyday life and to acknowledge that moments can never be fully captured and documented before they’ve changed.

Applegate is an observational painter, with her method rooted in realism - techniques deliberately chosen by the artist because they force her to “be still and pay attention.” She purposefully concentrates her visual environment by physically constricting her surroundings, choosing to work in intimate spaces and often indoors. In fact, all thirteen paintings in Set and Setting were painted indoors, with the exception of Late March. Even Snow Grass, which depicts dried and withered blades peeking through the cover of snow, was painted indoors while looking out the confines of a window. Her chosen surroundings imbue her simple painted subjects with an atmospheric gravity, resulting in compelling illustrated documents of the psychological and physical spaces she finds herself in.

Applegate’s preference for intimately-scaled works have commonalities with Albert York’s commitment to small yet intense depictions of dreamlike landscapes and still lifes. Her tendency to use muted, subtle and tonally unemotional colors reference the works of Giorgio Morandi and Félix Vallotton, and the poetic narrative that Applegate composes through her paintings echoes the work of Richard Diebenkorn. Though deeply inspired by her fellow observational painters, Applegate’s work remains distinct, informed by her own intense and individualized investigation of subjective experience, perception and conscience.

Amy Applegate graduated with a BFA from the Herron School of Art and Design in 2015, where during her studies was awarded the Paul W. Zimmerman Memorial Scholarship and the A.G. Fraser International Travel Scholarship. This year, the artist has been awarded notable grants including The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant and the Katherine B. Sutphin Artist Grant. The artist has exhibited at contemporary art galleries across the United States, with recent exhibitions at Tyger Tyger Gallery in Asheville, NC; Smoke the Moon in Santa Fe, NM; and Vining Gallery in Indianapolis, IN. Her work has been exhibited at cultural institutions nationally, notably at the Harper College National Juried Exhibition, the Indianapolis Art Center and The Harrison Center. The artist lives and works in Indianapolis, IN.

Amy Applegate wishes to thank The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation for its financial support in preparation for this exhibition.

Massey Klein Gallery is located at 124 Forsyth St. New York, NY 10002. Gallery hours are Thursday - Sunday 12pm-5pm. To schedule a private viewing, email info@masseyklein.com.