These small paintings on found paper are made anonymously in India (especially in Rajasthan) by practitioners of Tantrism—some of whom are artists—to represent and embody fundamental aspects of Tantra, a vast and complex spiritual and philosophical practice. Viewing or meditating on these reductive and essential images stimulates specific mental and/or spiritual experiences that are part of Tantra’s teachings. While the images are centuries old with highly codified forms and colors, the paintings are packed with such a high level of the artists’ intentionality that they continually appear fresh and alive. Despite their didactic function, they also have a history of being coveted, both in India and in the West, as decorative objects and abstract art. Feature Inc. began exhibiting these anonymous Tantra paintings in 1998, as a result of the gallery’s research into contemporary Indian artists and art.

Connected is a concurrent exhibtion of works on paper by five artists not represented by Feature inc., all of whose work has been influenced by the type of Tantra paintings that Feature exhibits (there are other kinds of Tantra paintings that are very different). The five artists are: Ben Berlow, Mel Bernstine, Léonie Guyer, Bobbie Oliver, and Sherman Sam.

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Mamie Holst distances her subject matter with the use of a limited palette of black, white, and gray. This helps the paintings close down on notions of illustration and, as well, expand out into diagrams. In the midst of all that, there are moments in the paintings that open the door to science fiction. Yet this is countered with a big breath of non-fiction as much of her imagery is gleaned from her experiences with Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome, and is so noted in the titles. The heavier textures, which are the most recent development in the work, bring a funkier and more eccentric expressiveness to the table that for me makes this work feel all the more urgent, personal, and singular.

Mamie Holst began exhibiting with Feature Inc. in 2000, and Secrets Of The Universe is her fourth one-person exhibition with the gallery. Born in Gainesville, FL, she has an MFA from School of Visual Arts (1987) and currently lives and works in Fort Myers, FL.

John Torreano's most recent paintings are based on imagined collisions between deep space objects, such as nebula, with images/theories of or about dark matter. While the source images of nebula are actual and scientific, the images of the dark matter, which are from the Hubble gallery, are hyped, or even invented, in order to enhance a visual understanding of what they depict. "By combining these images/concepts of dark matter with images of various nebula, such as Orion or Carina, I find a place of working wherein I have to invent ways to bring these imagined collisions to some kind of painterly resolution. The chaotic nature of these imagined layers of impossible realities, forces me to invent things in the painting of the paintings, I wouldn't have a need for otherwise."

John Torreano has an MFA from Ohio State University (1967) and lives and works in NYC. He began exhibiting with Feature Inc. in 1998, and Impossible Collisions is his fourth solo exhibition with the gallery.

Upfront: JENNIFER SIREY

Upfront houses Three Holes, 2011, by Jennifer Sirey, a mysterious, fragile, alluring, and sexy sculpture with just the right slice of frightening.

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