Mark Masyga

Untitled.06.15.12

2012

Violet, blue and red intertwine in this gestural abstract painting by Debra Drexler. This painting is inspired by the intensity of light and colors in Hawaii, where the artist splits her time between there and New York City. Bold lines and brushstrokes enhance the composition in this large scale painting by the artist. Debra Drexler maintains studios in both New York and Oahu, and her work is informed by her unique bi-coastal experience. Her work translates the inner experience into outer form through a vigorous athletic painterly process. Drexler has had over 30 solo exhibits and over 100 group exhibitions at galleries and museums in New York, Hawai’i, Australia, Berlin and across the states. New York, NY. In 2017, her two-person exhibition was reviewed in Whitehot Magazine and Arte Fuse. Her most recent solo New York exhibits were at Van Der Plas Gallery in 2015 and 2017. She had a solo exhibition at The Majestic Theater curated by The Dorado Project in Jersey City in 2016. Other recent New York solo exhibits include: Pool Art Fair, Chelsea Hotel Blue...

This is a contemporary abstract painting by the New York/ Hawaiian artist, Debra Drexler. A cerulean blue form nestles against a vibrant nearly neon orange shape, with linear gestur...

48"x72" oil and acrylic on canvas, signed on reverse by the artist. This is a contemporary abstract painting by the New York/ Hawaiian artist, Debra Drexler. Inspired by sunset col...

A violet impasto stroke of color is positioned next to a raspberry violet form in this contemporary abstract painting by the New York/ Hawaiian artist, Debra Drexler. The shapes create a layers of cut-out colors with cool blues, peach orange and yellows. Debra Drexler maintains studios in both New York and Oahu, and her work is informed by her unique bi-coastal experience. In her luminous, large-scale abstract paintings, she brings the transcendent experience of the Hawaiian landscape to a New York audience. Through her New York based studio and curatorial practices, she is also deeply engaged in critical conversation surrounding new abstraction. She states “Abstraction takes us to a state of timelessness that is primal in its humanity, disconnecting us momentarily from the mediated “now” of our electronic devices, and connecting us to a “now” that gives us a glimpse of the infinite. While our insistent digital projections can take us away from both our animal and spiritual nature, abstract painting reminds us again of what it means to be human. The corporality of the paint mirrors the flesh of the body and transports us into the timeless.” Debra Drexler's paintings are informed both by participating in the contemporary resurgence of abstraction coming out of New York, and by living in the Post Colonial Pacific for close to three decades. In the 21st century, much of our experience is mediated through the screens of our devices. In contrast, the making and viewing of paintings remains a direct, engaging experience in Drexler's paintings. She aims to take us to a state of timelessness that is primal in its humanity, disconnecting us momentarily from the mediated “now” of our electronic devices, and connecting us to a “now” that gives us a glimpse of the infinite. As a colorist, Debra Drexler provokes unexpected color relationships and creates spatial contradictions that come from those interactions. Some of her color choices reference the post digital experience with its highly saturated synthetic color. The luminosity and saturation also mirror the unique quality of light and tropical color interactions in Hawai’i, where Drexler also lives. Her work is driven by an athletic painting...