© Images Cheonho Ahn
AUSTYN WEINER
HONEY HIGH
KÖNIG SEOUL
15 APRIL – 22 MAY 2022
KÖNIG SEOUL is pleased to present a solo exhibition by abstract painter Austyn Weiner. HONEY HIGH focuses on Weiner’s most recent works in oil on canvas which unite the opposing artistic qualities of the small drawings that she constantly produces during her travels and her previous large-scale paintings. In an extension of her diaristic habit of constant doodling, writing, photographing, and drawing, Weiner’s body becomes the brush, as her rigorous process steadily fortifies a direct channel from emotion to action. Standing out from the hyperreal figurative milieu of her generation, Weiner’s abstractions offer a perspective that is indicative of the times, imbued with visceral reactions to current events and the female experience.
“There comes a time when the substances stop working and it’s just you and the problems. Both the biggest and most minute gestures matter. It’s not the move I make, it is the energy, veracity, intention, and speed with which I make it. Action lives on the surface. Energy lives on the surface. Insecurity lives on the surface. Life can be felt and seen on the surface. The adrenaline of a single gesture being anything or everything is what I live for. It is the sole thing to get high on; to gamble it all on.
I was traveling for two months and came home with 150 works on hotel stationery, plane tickets, menus, any surface I could find. It had been a while since I had taken to paper again; a staple in my practice. When I came back into the studio from my travels, these experiences and these drawings were what I looked to; they became the reference point for the paintings.
Coming from the large-scale, very physical experience of the “Vertigo” works, these paintings feel like a hybrid between that experience, and the intimacy garnered on paper during my travels.
There is an equal focus on large and small gestures, and a continuation of the exploration of color, both blocked and stained.
The weight of a line continues to play a pivotal role in my approach to paint.”
Ranging from charcoal, house paint, oil paint, and oil stick, Weiner’s diverse mark-making suggest a disposition of combative struggle and distressed victory. From small works on paper to large-scale canvases, her works touch upon the duality of forces that are influential and abject to the subjective mind; romance, rejection, isolation, and performance. Emerging from the fluidity of her visual language, Weiner’s paintings are a reflection of the balance she strikes between introspection and her study of historical and contemporary cultural influences.
15 APRIL – 22 MAY 2022
KÖNIG SEOUL is pleased to present a solo exhibition by abstract painter Austyn Weiner. HONEY HIGH focuses on Weiner’s most recent works in oil on canvas which unite the opposing artistic qualities of the small drawings that she constantly produces during her travels and her previous large-scale paintings. In an extension of her diaristic habit of constant doodling, writing, photographing, and drawing, Weiner’s body becomes the brush, as her rigorous process steadily fortifies a direct channel from emotion to action. Standing out from the hyperreal figurative milieu of her generation, Weiner’s abstractions offer a perspective that is indicative of the times, imbued with visceral reactions to current events and the female experience.
“There comes a time when the substances stop working and it’s just you and the problems. Both the biggest and most minute gestures matter. It’s not the move I make, it is the energy, veracity, intention, and speed with which I make it. Action lives on the surface. Energy lives on the surface. Insecurity lives on the surface. Life can be felt and seen on the surface. The adrenaline of a single gesture being anything or everything is what I live for. It is the sole thing to get high on; to gamble it all on.
I was traveling for two months and came home with 150 works on hotel stationery, plane tickets, menus, any surface I could find. It had been a while since I had taken to paper again; a staple in my practice. When I came back into the studio from my travels, these experiences and these drawings were what I looked to; they became the reference point for the paintings.
Coming from the large-scale, very physical experience of the “Vertigo” works, these paintings feel like a hybrid between that experience, and the intimacy garnered on paper during my travels.
There is an equal focus on large and small gestures, and a continuation of the exploration of color, both blocked and stained.
The weight of a line continues to play a pivotal role in my approach to paint.”
Ranging from charcoal, house paint, oil paint, and oil stick, Weiner’s diverse mark-making suggest a disposition of combative struggle and distressed victory. From small works on paper to large-scale canvases, her works touch upon the duality of forces that are influential and abject to the subjective mind; romance, rejection, isolation, and performance. Emerging from the fluidity of her visual language, Weiner’s paintings are a reflection of the balance she strikes between introspection and her study of historical and contemporary cultural influences.