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Martina Johnston Gallery

February 18 - April 16, 2012

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1201 Sixth Street, 2nd Floor
Berkeley, CA 94710 Berkeley, CA 94710
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DiviNation Jaime Cortez, "Naprapathy”, Charcoal on paper, 30” x 22”, 2011.
The Martina }{ Johnston Gallery is proud to present "DiviNation," an exhibition featuring new works by Bay Area artist Jaime Cortez. Cortez is presenting a series of bold yet exquisitely detailed charcoal drawings. An initial impression of abstract form unfurls to reveal imagery merged from two disparate sources - anatomical scanning electron photomicrographs and historical paintings created to serve nationalistic interests. They prompt a branching series of inquiries about our physical form and the process of forging national identity through imagery. As we try to recall the historical paintings used as sources, such as David’s "Napoleon Crossing the Alps" or Leutze’s "Washington Crossing the Delaware," our attention is directed to the artist’s choice to render certain forms as bodily and to leave others as void. Becoming aware of our widening perception and the conceptual substructure of Cortez’s work, we are caught in a loop of filling the void from memory, and finding conditions to relate the ‘negative space of the positive form’ to the molecules of our body. In an exciting counterpoint, Cortez creates an exuberantly interactive sculptural installation in the screening room, which follows up these queries in an unavoidably physical manner. The immediacy of physical threat turns ecstatic turns violent turns playful turns conceptually concrete. We are caught in yet another kind of inescapable loop. Please join us for an opening reception on Saturday, February 18th, from 4 to 8p.m. to celebrate this extraordinary work! Artist Talk: Sunday, March 11th at 2 p.m. Closing: Sunday, April 15th, 1 to 4 p.m. Hours: Sundays 1 to 4 p.m. or by appointment
DiviNation Jaime Cortez, “Blood Vessel” (detail), Charcoal on Paper, 30” x 22”, 2012.