March 8-April 14, 2012
522 West 24th Street
New York, New York
Prisms and other optical instruments perform an illuminated duet with simple, household items in Charlesworth’s studio. The images in Available Light are illusory hijinks, manipulating reflections to obscure object and pattern. Classic compositions with water in a bowl or a single candlestick stir thoughts of Man Ray’s still lifes or William Eggleston’s incessant search for beams of light. The new work is playful and mesmerizing.

Sarah Charlesworth, Magical Room, 2011. Fuji Crystal Archive Print mounted and laminated with lacquer frame, 32” by 41 1/2” framed. Edition of 8. (image courtesy of Susan Inglett Gallery)

Richard Forster, Incoming sea's edge on fourteen consecutive occasions at random time intervals Saltburn-by-the Sea, Jan 5 2010; 11:30am-11:37am One of fourteen drawings in sequence. Graphite and acrylic medium on card, 45 x 30 cm page and image size. Photograph John McKenzie
January 21-May 19, 2012
545 West 25th Street
New York, New York
Richard Forster is presenting three series of his meticulous pencil drawings at FLAG. His photorealist images are centered on tropes commonly found in photography, including pastoral nudes and seascapes. There are also twenty-four drawings from an archival video that observe the construction of the visionary housing projects in Dessau, Germany in 1926. Forster’s work revolves around place and the historical cues that allow meaning to accrue. He realizes the strength of retrospect, linking the glory of architectural innovation with the value of his upbringing on the sea that inspired the series of the same subject. The nudes are situated in the American tradition of the genre paintings. These idyllic images are simultaneously grounded in the strength of their surroundings yet appear so fantastical, so delicate, they could easily dissolve without a trace.