Dimensional Dialogue – New works by Joan Konkel
Extended show dates: May 5 – July 29, 2023
Artist Reception: Saturday, June 24, 2-5 pm RSVP Here
At 1429 Iris Street NW, Washington DC, 20012
Read reviewed in the Washington Post
Washington DC artist, Joan Konkel, uses aluminum sheet metal layered with finely woven mesh to form abstract works that interact with light. She describes her creative process as a sculptor’s exploration of color and how it is affected by nanospace, light, and grids. Light waves refract and reflect, not only off layers of painted canvas, but off thousands of strands of painted metal mesh which leads to constructive and deconstructive interference. She achieves this dynamic interplay of light and color by layering different colors of metal screen mesh and juxtaposes them with varying combinations of flat planes or fiberglass mesh. Metal mesh is often shaped to take up 3-dimensionality and greater space between the layers allows light to resonate within the artworks as well as the surface.
“I love working with the opposing forces of light, absorption versus reflection and refraction. Whereas metal reflects light, the mesh draws light into the piece where it bounces off every colored strand and surface. At times a bit of refracted magic takes place that gives the illusion that the piece is lit from behind the canvas. I’m also fascinated by the properties associated with mesh: its play with depth perception, formation of patterns, and the malleability of color.”
Konkel’s artwork has been displayed in the U.S. Arts in Embassies Program at ambassadorial residences in Paris, France and Tirana, Albania and is included in private and corporate collections nationally and internationally. She was awarded a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Anni Albers Designer Award.
Now celebrating 45 years in the nation’s capital, Zenith is recognized for its unique mix of contemporary art in a wide variety of media, style, and subject. The gallery provides high-quality acquisition, art consulting, commissioning, appraisal, and framing services, through its gallery/salon/ sculpture garden off 16th Street at 1429 Iris St NW, WDC 20012. Zenith also curates rotating exhibits at the Eleven Sculpture Space at 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, WDC 20004.
