Garrison Art Gallery – Presence 2.0: Works on Paper by Doug Navarra

Garrison Art Center is pleased to present Presence 2.0, a solo exhibition of works on paper by Doug Navarra. This will be Navarra’s first solo exhibition in the Riverside Galleries at Garrison Art Center. The exhibition will be on view from January 25 – March 1, 2020, with an opening reception on Saturday, January 25, from 5-7pm.

Presence 2.0 is a marriage of old and new as expressed through Doug Navarra’s choices of vintage documents and the alterations he makes to them with gouache, pencil and ink. Collections of old papers, some dating to over one hundred years old, provide the substrate and starting point for Navarra’s mark making. Using a variety of mediums, Navarra skillfully reconstructs these documents to reflect his own intentions and narrative. He is inspired by the potential found in objects from the past and in retrieving a piece of that history and reshaping it.  Each document possesses its own history via imagery, faded colors, torn edges, smudges, and narratives, all providing Navarra with a rich tapestry of possibilities. Navarra playfully explores color, shape, and pattern as he weaves in and out of the existing compositions to transform ideas from the past into relevant concerns of today.

In tandem with the historical fragments present in the work, there are the formal explorations of color, line and pattern which simultaneously avert our attention away from the “old” to the “new” and invite us to engage in the works as part of a long tradition of painting. What initially appears to have roots in Minimalism, ultimately lands squarely in a Maximalist place through Navarra’s layering of images and patterns. His emphasis on the dichotomies between past and present are also the same vehicle and visual technique he uses to bridge that which unites our human commonality. These characteristics have been evident in his work over a period of years and continue to provide a rich panorama for exploring ideas and visual sensibilities.

Doug Navarra has exhibited his work extensively on the national stage. He is the recipient of numerous artist awards including the Pollock-Krasner Fellowship, a Fulbright Hays Fellowship, and a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts, to name a few. His work is in many collections, including The Brooklyn Museum, the Los Angeles County Art Museum, Museum of Arts and Design, N.Y.C. and many others. He received his MFA from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN and a BFA from the Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA.

This exhibition will be on view in the Riverside Galleries concurrently with Divergent Boundaries, an exhibition of digital media works by Matt Frieburghaus. Both exhibitions will be on view from January 25 through March 1.

For all press inquiries and high-resolution images contact Barbara Smith Gioia Exhibitions Coordinator, at [email protected] Riverside Galleries at Garrison Art Center are open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm, and located on the banks of the Hudson River, next door to the Metro-North Hudson Line, Garrison stop, one hour from Grand Central.