JANINE POLAK
SwerveNovember 12 - December 11, 2021
Opening Reception: Friday, November 12, 6-8pm
Janine Polak, Almost There, 2021, graphite on paper, 16x20 inches
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Essex Flowers is pleased to present Swerve, a solo exhibition of new work by Janine Polak. The show is the artist’s third solo show with Essex Flowers, and includes simple (yet detailed) cross-hatched graphite drawings of dancing, intertwined, nearly touching, or struggling ribbed tank tops. The austere drawings are installed next to sculptures of slip dipped porcelain “beads” strung on dirty shoelaces, embedded directly into the wall via the shoelaces’ aglets. The work reflects quiet beauty and desperation, fragility and permanence, fleeting moments frozen forever.
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Janine Polak was born in Nebraska and raised primarily in Virginia. She has exhibited throughout the US including at Essex Flowers, NYC; Brennan & Griffin, NYC; TSA NYC; Sculpture Space NYC; Scott Charmin, Houston, TX; and Sardine, Brooklyn. She has also exhibited internationally in China, Australia, and Iceland. She received a BA in Studio Art (Sculpture and Photography) and Economics from the University of Virginia and an MFA from the Yale University School of Art, Department of Sculpture. She currently lives and works in Queens, New York.
fold
roll
crease
twist
tangle
pull
tug
continue
erase
a pair of…
Essex Flowers is pleased to present Swerve, a solo exhibition of new work by Janine Polak. The show is the artist’s third solo show with Essex Flowers, and includes simple (yet detailed) cross-hatched graphite drawings of dancing, intertwined, nearly touching, or struggling ribbed tank tops. The austere drawings are installed next to sculptures of slip dipped porcelain “beads” strung on dirty shoelaces, embedded directly into the wall via the shoelaces’ aglets. The work reflects quiet beauty and desperation, fragility and permanence, fleeting moments frozen forever.
- -
Janine Polak was born in Nebraska and raised primarily in Virginia. She has exhibited throughout the US including at Essex Flowers, NYC; Brennan & Griffin, NYC; TSA NYC; Sculpture Space NYC; Scott Charmin, Houston, TX; and Sardine, Brooklyn. She has also exhibited internationally in China, Australia, and Iceland. She received a BA in Studio Art (Sculpture and Photography) and Economics from the University of Virginia and an MFA from the Yale University School of Art, Department of Sculpture. She currently lives and works in Queens, New York.
