McKenzie Fine Art: James Lecce Exhibition 2010

55 Orchard Street, New York, New York 10002 212 989 5467 fax 212 989 5642


	James Lecce May 6 - June 12, 2010
	For his new cycle of poured and layered acrylic paintings, James Lecce has set up a unique set of rules and challenges for each piece. Commencing with a predetermined palette, his acrylic polymer emulsions are carefully mixed to determine the translucency or opacity of each color. Also preset is the manner in which the paint will be manipulated, using various pouring, tilting, brushing, and pooling techniques, as well as the length of time between the manipulations. These decisions determine the specific look of individual paintings, yet all share core technical and aesthetic principles that make them work together as a group. Inspired by the constantly changing rhythms and sheer power of nature and the sense of awe this evokes, Lecce's work also references music and rhythmic movement. His pouring and layering techniques allow for compositions that are engaged with activity and motion while simultaneously suggesting a figure-ground relationship. In these new paintings Lecce has chosen a cooler, lighter palette which provides a sense of purity, clarity, and open space within the paintings. For Lecce, these color choices are evocative of nascent growth and emergence, similar to buds in early springtime. As in earlier work, Lecce incorporates iridescent and metallic elements to give a seductive tone and sense of adornment to the paintings. They also serve to deliberately define the skeletal or armature-like forms developing within the compositions. These iridescent striations accent the forms coming into their own, swooping through and articulating the open spaces of the paintings and providing a sense of rapid flow or flight.