Reynolds Gallery group exhibition explores negative space across mediums

Emily Richardson, Contributing Writer

Negative space: the empty space in an art piece surrounding the subject of a composition. A piece may utilize negative space to define forms, communicate certain concepts or to emphasize focal points, according to a press release from Reynolds Gallery. 

Reynolds Gallery’s current exhibition, “Deep Parts,” features a number of works employing negative space in a variety of ways, from print to glass. Gallery Associate CM Turner curated the exhibition, consisting of 25 works.

“It’s an exhibition that serves as a window into the breadth and depth of artists we work with at the Reynolds Gallery,” Turner said. “The works on view offer multiple access points for viewers and collectors to engage with the exhibition.”

The exhibition is dominated by works in black and white and saturated with reds and yellows, creating a unique visual rhythm, Turner said.

“That allows you to get into the works and then have that rhythm punctuated and break you out of the routine a little bit,” Turner said. “It was very much in consideration of not only the works going on the wall, but how a viewer would navigate the exhibition.”

Paloma Wall’s “Urn” is an example of a work that both physically and conceptually addresses the idea of negative space, Turner said. “Urn,” a stone pot with cremated remains baked into the work, features a hollow center through the base.

“Not only are we talking about the physicality of the work and how that matches, but then what kind of spaces are left in our lives when people depart,” Turner said.

Paloma Wall, one of 16 artists featured in the show and a VCU alumna, creates works aiming to explore the human figure while simultaneously examining ancient pottery vessels, according to the press release.

“For me, my sculptures symbolize how you can grow around loss,” Wall said. “In my work, those negative spaces are almost just as important as the form itself.”

Wall said incorporating cremated ash into an urn-like vessel felt natural to her, as some of the language used to describe ceramic works is similar to that used to describe a human body.

“It has a belly, or it has a collar, or it has a foot,” Wall said. “You talk about a ceramic like it’s a person. To draw a comparison or a parallel between the human figure and a vessel is inherent.”

Printmaker Laura Snyder’s work in the exhibition is titled “Traveling Drawing, IV (Two Stones).” The work consists of a watercolor pigment called “Maya Blue” on a folded cotton paper. 

The work is part of a series Snyder works on as she travels the world, with the final works holding a physical history of their production through folds in the paper, according to the press release. Her work draws from a long history of minimalism, Snyder said.

“The background, which becomes the negative space, becomes an object,” Snyder said. “In that sense, it’s just as much of an element of the work as the lines themselves.”

The imagery used in “Two Stones” draws from Snyder’s study of the Mediterranean Sea while at an artist residency outside of Barcelona. The piece employs many lines to create a moiré effect, which occurs when different parallel lines are overlapped and disrupt the surface of the image, Snyder said.

“In my work I am very aware of the materials, and over the past years I’ve been only using the essential marks in order to create the image that’s coming out of the surface.”

Jack Wax, professor of glass and head of the glass program at VCUarts, has one work in the exhibition titled “(& Ugly),” a black and white cylindrical form of glass reading “beautiful” on one side and “ugly” on the other.

Wax said the range of featured artists is one of the key points of the exhibition.

“Through the range of artists, you end up not addressing the same issues but using some of the same language to address different issues,” Wax said.

An opening reception for the exhibition will be held Friday, Jan. 20 at 5 p.m at the Reynolds Gallery’s Main Street location, 1514 W. Main Street. The show runs through March 3.