Simon Lee Gallery is proud to present an exhibition of new and recent paintings by New York and Marfa-based artist Jeff Elrod, his third with the gallery to date. Recognised for his large-format abstract paintings concerned with the relationship between hand-painted and digitally created mark-making, for this exhibition Elrod has created a series of hybrid images that incorporate analogue techniques into his continued experiments in digital and print technology.
The expansive and visually-engaging paintings presented across two floors navigate fluidly between the various modes and techniques that have come to characterise his practice. Since the early 1990s, Elrod has employed digital manipulation to create abstract art. Treating the computer mouse as an extension of the paint brush or pencil, his works are first developed digitally using programmes such as Illustrator and Photoshop. Perfecting his computer-based technique into what he calls “frictionless drawing”, blue monochromatic works on display demonstrate how these abstract and vector-like gestures are meticulously transposed onto canvas using acrylic, tape, UV ink and spray paint. In some paintings the letters ‘ESP’ - a recurring motif or tag in his work - float in and out of vision, referencing at once the subconscious doodles of the artist’s hand as well as a literal abbreviation of ‘Extra Sensory Perception’.
