Michael Reafsynder:
Flying Colors

On view through June 11, 2021

Contemporary Art Matters is pleased to present Flying Colors, a group show curated by Dion Johnson featuring five painters from Southern California: Rema Ghuloum, Pamela Jorden, Heather Gwen Martin, Michael Reafsnyder, and Dion Johnson. The show will be on view through June 11, 2021. For more information on the exhibition, related events and forthcoming catalog, please contact us at [email protected].

Michael Reafsnyder’s abstract paintings are widely appreciated for their immediate sensuous appeal: vibrant, generously worked surfaces visualize luscious worlds of color and movement seemingly unencumbered by physical constraints.

Reafsnyder’s slippery technique—using planks of Plexiglas to swipe and slide plentiful applications of unmixed acrylic over large zones of canvas—yields a visual abundance that confounds conventional descriptions of pictorial effect. Yet sustained looking will reveal the rigor of Reafsnyder’s formal investigations. There is a seriousness to his work that exists in concert with his spirited and mischievous play. As in the art of Hans Hofmann, the manifest pleasure we may take in simply enjoying the quality of Reafsnyder’s surfaces is accompanied by our thoughtful engagement with his art, which rewards our attentive regard.

Michael Reafsnyder is based in Los Angeles, California. Born in 1969 in Orange, California, Reafsnyder studied at Chapman University and the Arts Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. He has had numerous exhibitions internationally. Select solo exhibitions include Miles McEnery Gallery; Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, New York, NY; “Sunday Best,” Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA; “We Ate The House,” Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, New York, NY “Feast,” Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, New York, NY; “Delight,” Marty Walker Gallery, Dallas, Texas; “Sweetness,” Rebecca Ibel Gallery, Columbus, OH; “Put it There: New Paintings and Ceramics,” Western Project, Culver City, CA. His work may be found in the permanent collections of the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH; Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA; Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; and Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA, among others. Critical appraisals of his work have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Artnews, Artforum, Art Issues, Flash Art, and El Mundo.