Steven Baris: Mobility of Frames

DM CONTEMPORARY is pleased to present Mobility of Frames, an exhibition of recent paintings by Philadelphia-based artist Steven Baris in his second solo exhibition at the gallery. The exhibition opens Friday, April 28th, with a reception for the artist from 6 - 8 pm, and remains on view through June 10th, 2017.

The paintings in this exhibition further develop Baris’ ongoing investigation of the expanding industrial landscape and the rapid pace at which open natural spaces are shrinking - totally changing the American rural landscape. The structures of the massive horizontal buildings known as ‘distribution’ or ‘fulfillment’ centers have provided a geometric vocabulary aptly suited to Baris’ subject. Appearing in earlier paintings as massive dark monoliths, Baris’ bare bones representation of these spaces in his current paintings tends to focus more on the individual's experience of these spaces almost at a glimpse while speeding down the highway. Increasingly, the sprawl of the built-up environment is best captured, according to Baris, through ‘frames in flight, frames perpetually incomplete’ incorporating movement through space and time.

All paintings in this exhibition are oil on canvas or Mylar, with one 3- dimensional acrylic painting on Plexiglas.

Steven Baris was born in Aberdeen, Washington and grew up on various Indian reservations in Northern California, Montana, and Washington State. He received a B.A. from The Evergreen State College and an M.F.A. from the Tyler School of Art. His work has been exhibited in many nationally-and-internationally-recognized galleries and cultural institutions [Margaret Thatcher Projects (NYC), The Drawing Center (NYC), Pentimenti Gallery (Philadelphia), Boecker Contemporary (Heidelberg, Germany), Space Gallery (Denver), Poiesis Spec (Berlin, Germany), Martina Kaiser Cologne Contemporary Art (Cologne, Germany), and the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, to name a few]. Baris is the recipient of many grants - most recently, in 2013, he was awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in Painting. His work is included in numerous private collections in North America, Europe and Australia, as well as in the collections of Wilmington Trust (NYC), Liberty Properties (Philadelphia, PA), Canon, USA (NYC), and Progressive Insurance Company (Cleveland, OH), among others. He lives and teaches art in the Philadelphia area.