Graphic Rapport
Andrew Sovjani & Graceann Warn
October 8th - November 5th, 2022
Graphic Rapport is a dual exhibition by Andrew Sovjani and Graceann Warn at Calloway Fine Art. While the two artists work in very different mediums - Andrew in photography, Graceann in encaustic and acrylic - with different approaches to their work, they share a bold, tactile style. Andrew’s compositions are deliberate and carefully constructed before the photography begins, while Graceann’s paintings reveal themselves to her during the process of their creation. While Graceann’s surfaces are physically rich, Andrew's photographs are rich in surface detail, both of which pull the viewer closer. Presented together, their obvious affinity makes a striking impact.
Artist Statements
Andrew Sovjani:
Physical books are the poster-child for things that are on the verge of disappearing as we adopt more digital devices. The consequence of this choice is that we are unwittingly losing many full, multi-sensory experiences. An old book has many visual qualities as well as a certain heft, a memory inducing smell, a texture in the paper acknowledged by our fingers while turning each page, etc. I must admit that I worry about this path toward single sense experiences.
This series pays respect to the experience of the physical book, by hiding the major commonality it has with it’s digital step-cousin; the title. I paint all the books I use in constructions to subdue the reference to its contents and allow the viewers eyes and mind time to absorb its physicality. Now we see their shape, wear and texture. They become building blocks in artist constructions, defying gravity and identifying as a piece of an abstract whole. More recently they have become accomplices in my explorations of perceived space, time, fact and fiction.
Graceann Warn:
Inspiration to Physical Form. I most often begin with a word, phrase or a scientific or mathematical concept in my head. I have lists of these things on my studio wall or in sketchbooks. I am constantly listening and reading, looking for the spark from my engagement with a word or two. I imagine what this word, etc. “looks like,” what mood it evokes for me, and begin by laying down color onto a substrate to start the painting process. Frequently the painting takes shape as I work it. It is rare that I know exactly what a piece will look like before I begin therefore it’s a very active, conscious process that evolves over the time I am working.
Biographies
Andrew Sovjani is a fine art photographer and printmaker. He grew up in a family of working artists and after a few years of trying to escape the artistic pull, both as a mechanical engineer and an international businessman living in Japan, he returned to his creative roots and picked up a camera. Since then, his award-winning work has been shown in exhibitions throughout the U.S., Europe, and Japan and is held in many public and private collections. He has won awards of distinction at many of the top fine arts festivals in the nation and was a finalist for the Critical Mass book awards. Andrew has his studio in Easthampton, an old mill town near the Berkshires in western Massachusetts.
Graceann Warn’s academic background is in urban design and classical archaeology. In 1985 she decided to take a leap of faith and become a full-time artist. She started out as an oil painter but throughout the 1990’s became best known for her assemblages. In 2000, a 16 month long commission to design sets for a major opera production led to a shift in medium and scale in her studio work. Since that time she has primarily been painting on wood panels using oils and encaustic. The present work reflects the structural logic of her architectural beginnings as well as her abiding interest in archaeology and science. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is in the collections of Yale University, Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY, US Embassies in Nairobi, Sarajevo and Nepal, Pew Charitable Trusts and many others.
