Yin and Yang
Danette Landry

GALLERY II

Albatross, 2017
Bronze on polished steel
54 x 4 x 1.6 inches

August 1 - September 1, 2019
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 1, 6-8pm

A.I.R. Gallery is pleased to announce Yin and Yang, an exhibition of paintings and sculptures by artist Danette Landry. Exploring gestural action through abstract painting and sculpture, Yin and Yang responds to polarizing principles of identification. This is Landry’s first solo exhibition in New York City. 

Yin and Yang includes a selection of recent dip paintings and bronze sculptures by Landry. Forming a deep visual field, Landry’s paintings trace hand gestures through the application of paint, be it poured, spread, or repeatedly dipped. The physical process of moving geometric lines back and forth is employed as a method for ordering chaos. In her sculpture, Landry imbues each with animistic qualities. For example, some totems depict resilience and strength through a complex stacking of very small geometric plates; while other totems portray a physical and emotional weight, bearing a similarity to geological elements with smooth eroded lines and rock-like features. Together, these paintings and sculptures invite the viewer to meditate on their formal qualities and a subliminal sense of belonging.

Landry addresses the principle that is the basis of Yin and Yang: that we are taught all things exist as interrelated and contradictory opposites, such as dark and light, chaos and order, female and male. In return, the artist calls for a constant reconstruction and materialization of one’s self. As such, catharsis may be manifested through sensory and visual perception or repeated gestures. In this exhibition, Landry poses questions about the dualistic paradoxes that can trap us in binary systems.

Born and raised in Detroit, Danette Landry was a longtime resident of Los Angles before moving to Paris in 1995 to pursue studies in Cultural Anthropology. After receiving a master’s degree at La Sorbonne, and studying at l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Landry decided to devote herself to a life of creating. This turning point manifested as a profound and splintering journey, reigniting a creative process that was instilled into her at a young age by her mother, a self-taught painter. She has exhibited in both the United States and across Europe; currently, she has public art installations in both France and California. She is represented by Arena Gallery in California.

Read the full press release here.
View Landry's webpage here.