Jeff Bailey Gallery is pleased to present, Paolo Arao: Fornever, an exhibition of charcoal and graphite drawings.
Arao�s drawings unfold in a cinematic-like narrative. Religious imagery, intimate portraits, artifacts of battle and depictions of crowds at rock concerts frame a narrative alluding to both ritualistic experiences and idolization.
In Neon Mary, the head of a statue peers downward, seemingly lit from behind with neon tubing. Simultaneously personal and impersonal, this icon could be a roadside shrine, or one of hundreds of statues of Mary that fill a shop selling religious mementos.
Light Leaves features the lead singer of a band on stage before an adoring crowd, with a spotlight almost washing him out. In The Same Deep Water, a young man stands near the ocean�s edge while a wave is about to break. These drawings suggest a before and after sequence, but the order of events is open to question.
There is a wistful and searching quality in Arao�s drawings and the varied images seem to come from a slew of personal memories or experiences. The stark contrast of velvety charcoal on white paper evokes an almost photographic effect. The drawings, taken as a whole, seem to form an album of images, capturing a time that may have passed, or is imagined to come.
This is Paolo Arao�s third solo exhibition with the gallery. He received his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1999 and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2000. Arao�s work has been exhibited in group shows in New York at The Drawing Center, the Bronx Museum for the Arts, Socrates Sculptures Park and Sculpture Center, Rental Gallery; and at Madder Gallery in London. He is a member of the New York band Catjaw. Arao lives and works in New York.
