Logan Wayne White

ART AS CHAIRS PRESENTS

LAST SUPPER

ALLEN-GOLDER CARPENTER

LOGAN WAYNE WHITE

WORKS OF ART AND RESEARCH

DETROIT

Last Supper brings together the practices of artists Logan Wayne White and Allen-Golder Carpenter. The show centers on two sets of tables and chairs by White. It also features several collages encased in tarps by Carpenter.

Logan Wayne White calls his table sets "Jumbos" -thick, sculptural monoliths. The original idea was to present the table and chairs as a unified megablock, emphasizing scale and minimalist craftsmanship to create a visceral experience.

One of White's tables becomes a surface for Carpenter's large-scale image grids. The piece, composed of over 1700 images, was initially informed by "walls of shame", ready-made grids of surveillance images sourced from gas stations and convenience stores.

Allen-Golder Carpenter's image archive weaves together contemporary images with photographs from earlier eras, including material from The Great Migration, a time when Black Americans left the South in pursuit of opportunity in cities like Detroit. The work draws from attention to the evolution of Black music traditions and their deep connection with American identity and ritual. The pairing of the past and present demonstrates that history happens everyday, you just have to be able to see it.

An image Carpenter returns to, is the libation ritual, which is the act of pouring a drink out on the ground as an offering to the dead. It's a contemporary tradition with ancient roots, a form of reaching across the barrier into the afterlife. Carpenter use of everyday supplies in the work, via tarps and plastic, reminds the viewer of these barriers and veils.

The title Last Supper nods to humble objects-tables, chairs, bread, wine-that can be imbued with the weight of death and hope.

ART AS CHAIRS PRESENTS

LAST SUPPER

ALLEN-GOLDER CARPENTER

LOGAN WAYNE WHITE

WORKS OF ART AND RESEARCH

DETROIT

Last Supper brings together the practices of artists Logan Wayne White and Allen-Golder Carpenter. The show centers on two sets of tables and chairs by White. It also features several collages encased in tarps by Carpenter.

Logan Wayne White calls his table sets "Jumbos" -thick, sculptural monoliths. The original idea was to present the table and chairs as a unified megablock, emphasizing scale and minimalist craftsmanship to create a visceral experience.

One of White's tables becomes a surface for Carpenter's large-scale image grids. The piece, composed of over 1700 images, was initially informed by "walls of shame", ready-made grids of surveillance images sourced from gas stations and convenience stores.

Allen-Golder Carpenter's image archive weaves together contemporary images with photographs from earlier eras, including material from The Great Migration, a time when Black Americans left the South in pursuit of opportunity in cities like Detroit. The work draws from attention to the evolution of Black music traditions and their deep connection with American identity and ritual. The pairing of the past and present demonstrates that history happens everyday, you just have to be able to see it.

An image Carpenter returns to, is the libation ritual, which is the act of pouring a drink out on the ground as an offering to the dead. It's a contemporary tradition with ancient roots, a form of reaching across the barrier into the afterlife. Carpenter use of everyday supplies in the work, via tarps and plastic, reminds the viewer of these barriers and veils.

The title Last Supper nods to humble objects-tables, chairs, bread, wine-that can be imbued with the weight of death and hope.

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Joe Garvey, untitled chair painting (sun dog) 2024, motel study (road dog) 2024

ART AS CHAIRS PRESENTS

PAINTINGS AND CHAIRS

JOE GARVEY

OTIS HOUSTON JR.

AUSTIN LEE

MAIA RUTH LEE

LUCIEN SMITH

JOSH SMITH,

B. THOM STEVENSON

LOGAN WAYNE WHITE

ZEPSTER GALLERY

BROOKLYN

"To paint, or not to paint? That is the question."

- Lucien Smith

The artists bring unique perspectives on their practice beyond painting, and this show delves into the psychology behind these diverse approaches. Some view their chairs as an extension of their art, while others see them as separate design objects. Some chairs mirror their paintings, while others contrast.

Art As Chairs, a curatorial project founded by Joe Horner, examines why thousands of contemporary artists gravitate to chairs, a tradition shared by both the architect and the conceptual artist, similar to how every painter eventually interprets the still life or crucifixion. Chairs exist at two extremes, either as a commercial materialistic object or as an unsellable impractical one, making them a perfect symbol for artists who seek to push past conventional boundaries.

The exhibition Paintings and Chairs reflects why painting maintains the ultimate position in the artistic hierarchy and what motivates the painter to experiment in the realm of design and sculpture. Many artists move away from painting, feeling jaded, burned out, repetitive and restricted by some of its arbitrary elements, which drives them to seek new forms of experimentation before returning to painting. These shifts aren't always always reactions to painting itself but rather reflections of the artist's evolving interests or intuitions. Ultimately, the artist should have the opportunity to explore any kind of work independently.

In the exhibition, the chairs placement in front of the painting underscores the broader scope of each artists practice. In this case, the debate over whether a chair is art or design might be a distracting philosophical loop, but the fact that all of these chairs are made or presented by painters validates them as artworks in a way a designer would have a harder time convincing a skeptical audience. This show is about how each painter navigates the restrictions of our capitalist world and finds ways to secure and justify their own sense of freedom.