SLATE contemporary's Hall Gallery | 473 25th Street, Oakland, CA
June 2017 | Hours: Thursday—Saturday 12—5p + by appt
Presenting guest artist Tobias Tovera (Oakland, CA) and new SLATE artist Gregg Reynolds Conly (Los Angeles, CA).
Tobias Tovera is an American visual artist recognized for his work in painting and the sensory surrounds of his multi-media installations. Tovera was born in Sacramento, California, and studied at the California College of the Arts and the San Francisco Art Institute. Using the concept of time as a foundation, Tovera’s studio practice explores energy systems, finding new dimensions in his materials as they metamorphose from one form to the next. The conception of his work was inspired by alchemy, medicine, and the primordial formations of living matter. From the chemistry of water reacting with minerals to a magic that reaches beyond science, Tovera’s work examines opposing elements such as nature and artifice, chaos and order, to reveal how they interact, transform, or propel each other.
Gregg Reynolds Conly‘s new body of work uses rectangular bands of color stretch horizontally across his canvases. Through complex interactions of color, Gregg seeks to communicate emotions and moods that the logical mind can not always translate into words. He specifically works in oil rather than acrylic for the density of color. And with each coat of oil paint, the surface becomes deeper and richer. Conly was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and received a BS from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science in 2000, concentrating on Weaving and Print Design. Since then, he has worked as a professional carpet designer for private residencies, institutions and luxury hotels.