Rush of Spring
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Rachel Dinwiddie
Mark Joshua Epstein
Una Ursprung
Opening May 7, 2021 at 12pm EST, views.yngspc.com
On view on June 13, 2021
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Young Space and STEAK are delighted to present Rush of Spring, a three-person exhibition by Rachel Dinwiddie (Little Chute, Wisconsin), Mark Joshua Epstein (Ann Arbor, Michigan), and Una Ursprung (Alsace region, France). Comprising a selection of paintings and works on paper, Rush of Spring features each artist’s distinctive approach to new beginnings and perspectives as the world emerges from a period of deep change and springtime arrives, bringing with it a redefined sense of renewal and regeneration.
In March of 2020, upon graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Rachel Dinwiddie moved to a small Northeast Wisconsin town just as stay-at-home regulations came into effect. Without public events to attend or many businesses open as usual, the ability to connect to her new community was ultimately limited, with little opportunity to meet new people or explore much of the region. Dinwiddie developed a relatable coping mechanism during quarantine in the form of online shopping, especially for clothes, and could become fixated by an object and how it might exist in the world, yet acutely aware that by purchasing the object, the gleam of desire would be dulled by trying to possess it. Her richly hued oil paintings describe a fascination with objects and decoration, especially personal possessions and their relationship to identity. By incorporating these objects into paintings, the desire is reshaped into a fantasy, a vessel to contain it.
Mark Joshua Epstein also relocated home and studio to Ann Arbor, Michigan, from Brooklyn, New York, where a change in scenery—and more space—allowed for a bigger studio and an opportunity to experiment with scale and elaborate patterns in new ways. Throughout the past several months, he has reconnected to a vital focus on pure pattern as an expression of entering into a new environment and settling into its pace and local culture. Influenced by geometric abstraction, Op Art, and Pattern and Decoration Movement of the mid-1970s and early 1980s, Epstein’s exuberant patterns explore queer ornament and geometric excess in their hugged edges and dancing colors. The details are precise yet intimate, highlighting the intricacy of Epstein’s process of patternmaking that underscores the presence of the artist’s hand.
Flitting through foliage and flowers, or through meadows next to mountains, Una Ursprung chronicles her personal experiences and transitions from Taiwan, to France, and then to Switzerland, through landscapes and their natural inhabitants. Combining representational imagery of flowers and plants, as well as mountainous vistas and expanses of forest, Ursprung’s paintings playfully toy with abstraction through dreamy paint effects in pastel hues that could be stars in our eyes from looking into a bright sun, or the trails of bees or pollen dancing from blossom to blossom. A connection to the transformative cycles of nature continuously influences the artist’s relationship to the experience of land, place, natural revolutions.
Each of these three artists consider the possibilities that lie ahead in response to a time when we have all felt moored in place, and at one time or another, stuck, uncertain, or depleted. And yet, like a tree that loses its leaves in the winter, that energy is re-centered so that it can channel nutrients and life to new growth. The works in this exhibition share a sense of renewal in their practice, and like a rush of spring meltwater from months of heavy snow, they seek to embrace change and movement through this new work, to share a universal experience.
Please point inquiries to Kate Mothes at kate@yngspc.com or info@steak.gallery.
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About Rachel Dinwiddie
Rachel Dinwiddie (b. 1999, Monterey, California) is a 2020 graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio. Recent exhibitions include the 2020 SAIC BFA Show, Sullivan Galleries, (Chicago, IL), the SAIC Burren Study Trip Exhibition, The Burren College of Art (Ballyvaughan, Ireland), Past Present, Present Past, Roger Brown Study Collection (Chicago, IL), and Traditional to Contemporary: A Figure and Portrait Exhibition at the Oak Park Art League (Chicago, IL).
About Mark Joshua Epstein
Mark Joshua Epstein (b. 1979, Washington, D.C.) received an MFA from the Slade School of Fine Arts, University College London, and a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Epstein has had solo or two person shows at SPRING/BREAK Art Show (NY, NY), Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY), NARS Foundation Project Space (Brooklyn, NY), Caustic Coastal (Salford, England) Vane Gallery (Newcastle, England), Demo Project (Springfield, IL), Biquini Wax Gallery (Mexico City, Mexico), Breve (Mexico City, Mexico) and Brian Morris Gallery (New York, NY). Selected group shows include Des Moines Art Center (Des Moines, IA), Collar Works (Troy, NY), Good Children Gallery (New Orleans, LA), Monaco (St Louis, MO), DAAP Galleries at the University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH), and Beverly’s (New York, NY). Epstein has been a resident at Vermont Studio Center, Millay Colony, Jentel Foundation, Macdowell Colony, and Saltonstall Foundation amongst others. His work has appeared in publications such as New American Paintings, Art Maze Magazine, and Dovetail Magazine. He is currently based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
About Una Ursprung
Una Ursprung (b. 1985, Taipei, née Chang-Yu Hsu) graduated from the Taipei National University of the Arts in 2007, and Ecole Européenne Supérieure d’Art de Bretagne site Quimper in France in 2011 (from which she received Diplôme National Supérieur d’Expression Plastique, the highest honor awarded by the National Arts Councils and Culture Agencies). She has exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions with Liang Gallery (Taipei, Taiwan), and duo or group shows at Studi0 (St. Moritz, Switzerland), Galerie Tracanelli (Grenoble, France), Saint Maison Gallery (Tokyo, Japan), and Hashimoto Contemporary (New York, NY). Her work has appeared in Vogue Hong Kong, ArtMaze Magazine, and Execute Magazine. She currently lives and works in the Alsace region of France, near Basel, Switzerland.
About Young Space and STEAK
Young Space (est. 2014) is an independent, itinerant curatorial project and online platform organized by Kate Mothes, emphasizing new and exciting work by early-career and emerging artists. Exhibitions about the US, UK, and Europe are organized in collaboration with artists, spaces, and other organizers.
Rush of Spring marks a new initiative called STEAK, a gallery developing from the existing framework of Young Space to present exhibitions both online and offline of compelling work by emerging artists worldwide. A series of exhibitions on Views throughout 2021 aims to introduce some of the artists and ideas that will shape this new project, which will launch formally in 2022. To register your interest in future STEAK projects or to inquire about available works, visit http://steak.gallery to sign up. Please point inquiries to Kate Mothes at kate@yngspc.com or info@steak.gallery.