Jordan Kantor, Installation view, 2013. Ratio 3, San Francisco.

Artist: Jordan Kantor

Venue: Ratio 3

Exhibition Dates: January 11 – February 9, 2012

Ratio 3 has a great solo exhibition on view highlighting the works of Jordan Kantor.  Kantor is featuring a new body of paintings that use re-purposed materials found within his painting studio.  Materials such as old rags and the muddy sludge you find at the bottom of your jar of mineral spirits.  The rag paintings hang playfully on the wall with frames that the artist made, where the slats on the paintings’ edges hang off in a counter clockwise rotation.  Each edge has been determined a color evoking a context between the frame and the rag within, which is sewn onto a stark white canvas.  Kantor is re-defining a purpose for the rags in his paintings, bringing attention to the arbitrary marks made during the creative moments in his studio.  Scattered within the colorful works are the sludge paintings, which seem to have a heavier presence within the space.  When looking closely at the works subtle gestures and brush strokes are present, which give a small view into the works creation.  It seems like a freeing moment for painters everywhere knowing that Kantor used the muck on the bottom of his mineral spirits to make these works. The works have a playful existence with one another in the space and contain a notion of humor of where they originated.

Jordan Kantor, Untitled (20A), 2012. Oil on cotton and pencil on canvas, oil on wood. 50 x 45 inches. Courtesy of Ratio 3

Jordan Kantor. Untitled (17B), 2012. Oil on canvas. 16 x 20 inches. Courtesy of Ratio 3.

Link: http://www.ratio3.org/exhibitions/2013/jordan-kantor