An exhibition in response to COVID-19
John McDevitt King
"I have always been intrigued with how humans observe and transfigure meaning based on what we see, even if that information is incomplete. I try to capture those gaps— the spaces between thoughts or blankness right before information begins to crystallize."
ABOVE:
Bitter Time (2020)
14" x 12" print (28" x 22.5" paper)
Ghost Monoprint on paper
BELOW:
Count to End, Count to Begin (2020)
14" x 12" print (28" x 22.5" paper)
Ghost Monoprint on paper
John McDevitt King brings the same attentive intimacy to his artwork as he brought to his former career as a diamond grader. Each of his prints, like diamonds, contains an interior depth that extends far below the surface of the paper. For him, that depth is sensorial. A color invokes rhythm. A marking on a paper becomes a tactile terrain. A ghostly print conjures solitude and quiet.
These works, Bitter Time and Count to End, Count to Begin were created in early 2020 and serve as both a prelude and a continued conversation for the affects COVID-19 has had on King's creative practice.
When describing the early days of the pandemic, King states "It seemed sudden. Everything closed. A city of millions yet alone. Limited routines and limited contact." In this period, the artist worked on a series of monoprints and was encouraged by his printer to explore "ghost prints," the act of pulling a second print without re-inking the surface to create a ghost image of the first with residual ink.