| Exhibition: | Trygve Faste, Op-Tech |
| Dates: | 10 September, 2016 through 15 October, 2016 |
| Reception: | Saturday, 10 September, 2016 — 4-7 |
| Location: | Ruth Bachofner Gallery 2525 Michigan Avenue, Suite G2 Santa Monica, CA 90404 |
Ruth Bachofner Gallery is pleased to present Op-Tech, an exhibition of new paintings by Trygve Faste. There will be a reception for the artist on Saturday, September 10, 4-6 PM.
Trygve Faste responds to prevailing currents in contemporary products, design and technology through abstract paintings that address the aesthetic and cultural impact of these forces. Faste's particular language of abstraction expresses a fascination with the visual aspect of consumerism, while acknowledging the correlating complexities that come with it – particularly issues pertaining to outward perception. Faste uses visual cues of product design within the practice of fine art to incite a conversation about how images (or products) are comprehended and intended to be read and the consequences of those choices.
Faste's work begins with an architectural approach where hand and computer-generated drawing help form the intricate substructures for his paintings. Through the use of airbrush and painting, his surfaces slowly evolve into spatially complex objects, where illusion of depth supports actual dimensionality and vise versa. While the bright palette and angularity of the work creates a kinship with the slickness of a manufactured product, there is an enduring intimacy that most industry does not achieve or even strive for. The slight lift of built-up paint, evidence of a moving hand to push paint across the surface, and imperfectly articulated transitions keeps the work grounded in the world of painting.
“My current body of work uses abstraction to reference the aesthetic sensibility of the many contemporary products and technologies that I find fascinating,” Faste states. “Similar to the way in which science fiction can address societal issues in a way that removes them from the immediate reality of politics so that they can be more openly and less controversially discussed, I use these paintings to examine the duality of futuristic opportunity and tragic side effect that can be found in many aspects of consumerism. The relationship of appearance to substance in design can be fickle. It is also an area that naturally merges with my interest in the interconnected nature of image as realized through graphics on form.”
Trygve Faste received an MFA in painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art, and a BA in Mathematics-Computer Science and Studio Art from Whitman College. Trygve Faste lives and works in Eugene, Oregon where he is an Assistant Professor of Product Design at The University of Oregon.