A Minor Constellation at Chris Sharp

A group painting show in Mid City takes up the notion that bigger is not always better. The exhibition gathers small-scale works by over 30 painters, with each modestly-sized piece hung at eye level in a spacious line around the gallery walls. Scale tends to denote importance, with smaller works often perceived as studies for larger, grander pieces. But here, the compact works each feel like their own portal, doorways into each artist’s individual working style, subject, and process. 

Dan Loxton’s painting on panel features a cloud of white pigment whirling over a tangle of marks below, with the painting continuing onto a piece of scrap wood that is affixed to the work’s top edge. Hayley Tompkins similarly makes use of ad-hoc surfaces, with a washy pink color field painted into a scratched and weathered plastic tray. Other works, like Lauren Spencer King’s exquisitely painted orchids, prove that tiny scale need not sacrifice realism, intrigue, nor detail. Nearby, three works by Alexandra Noel — an artist that commits her entire painting practice to a diminutive scale — feel like a snapshot of a dream, a surreal little portal into our subconscious.

On view: July 30 – September 3, 2022 

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Photo: A Minor Constellation at Chris Sharp (installation view). Image courtesy of Chris Sharp.