“Gestures, or actions of the body (most notably the hands and arms), that are used to communicate ideas and intentions have their source in the physical presence and movement of the communicator. They can be slow or quick, and necessarily have a relationship with time as part of the perceived meaning. A gestural mark can be a very immediate way to respond to a source or a surface. A gesture can also be extensive, and even repeated to determine an entire composition. An accumulation of different gestures, too, can bring ideas into physical presence.”
Heaven Gallery in Chicago presents the work of Gianna Commito, Nina Rizzo and UT alumna Stephanie McMahon (MFA in Studio Art, 2004) in their group exhibition Small Gestures.
The exhibition challenged the featured artists to take a closer look at the material, conceptual, material and bodily relationship to gesture. McMahon’s work in Small Gestures explores her observations when in different environments. Her paintings not only “refer to the present moment” but also “reconstruct a past experience” of when she made these observations.
Small Gestures is on view from Feb. 1 through March 10, 2019.