Eric Uhlir
Recalled in Human Memory
May 3 – May 26, 2019
Eric Uhlir’s current body of work explores abstraction in a visceral language of paint to consider the line between reference and history in an attempt to give voice to conflicted space. Irreverence and absurdity battle amid parables of conflict between civilization and the natural world.
Each piece springs from the experience of looking, using varying degrees of abstraction as the scaffolding on which Uhlir hangs references and structure to entice the viewer, while leaving entrances and exits relatively unobstructed. References are not secrets in these kinetic abstractions, they’re the condition of the work which enables the viewer to travel fluidly between content and context. A Géricault shipwreck or heroic Joan Mitchell become the culturally shared currency that allows us to relate to each other and make sense of a seemingly senseless present built on the triumphs and tragedies of the past.
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Eric Uhlir is a painter and photographer. He grew up in the sunny melting pot of 1980s Southern California and earned his BFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin in 2003. He currently lives and works in Washington, DC with his wife Phoebe and their dog, Violet.
