April 28 - May 29, 2022 ● Opening Reception Saturday, April 30th, 4-6 pm

440 Gallery, Brooklyn, is proud to present Short Stories, an exhibition of paintings and drawings by Robin Roi. This is Robin Roi’s first solo show at the gallery.

Consisting of intricately-patterned surfaces that are imbedded with imaginative narratives, Roi’s pieces are layered and collaged with vintage papers she collects, such as wallpaper, dressmaker tissue paper patterns, Japanese grocery lists and other ephemera. Paint, drawing materials and mark making is used to create richly-textured works on paper. In the artist’s words: “I often refer to my paintings as narrative patterns, referencing my passion and love of both storytelling and the realm of pattern making. By using pattern in the most inclusive way possible, it exists not merely as a decorative device, but as a way of seeing and understanding the world.”

Recalling the scenic, story-filled wallpapers that she encountered as a child, Roi’s work is an exploration of personal life paths taken over time. In Annunciation, two people tussle over a ribbon inscribed with words, while a tiger looks on from the corner as another animal flees; everything is encased within an intricate red pattern. Roi’s fascinations are evident here—we are reminded of the mythologic dream interpretations of Carl Jung.

As a child of the 1960s, her interest in psychology, dreams, mythology and psychedelics helped nurture a fascination with pattern as a visual motif. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Roi was active in the Pattern and Decoration Movement and her paintings were filled with vibrant narratives intertwined within highly-detailed patterns. In this current body of work, Roi’s focus has shifted and narrative has become the main emphasis while pattern takes on a secondary, yet still vital role. This exhibit, Short Stories, is thus aptly titled.

Robin Roi earned a BFA in printmaking from University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and an MFA from Claremont University in California. From 1974–1977, she was an Artist In Residence at the North Carolina Arts Council. In NYC, Roi held staff positions at The Drawing Center, The Heller Gallery and The American Crafts Museum. In 1983, she joined Evergreene Architectural Arts as a decorative painter. During her tenure at Evergreene, she was appointed Director of Decorative Painting and for over thirty years she designed surface finishes for some of the most iconic buildings in NYC, and advised top interior design and architectural firms around the country. Robin exhibits widely throughout the U.S. and her work has been represented by Barbara Gladstone Gallery, NYC and Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich. Robin currently devotes her time to her studio practice in painting and ceramics. She became a member of 440 Gallery in 2020.

Project Space: ‘Movement”

Movement is a three-person exhibition of printmaking, painting and weaving. The artists Jo-Ann Acey, Juliet Martin and K Sarrantonio each embrace different attributes of movement while powerfully conveying a unique message through combinations of techniques and emotional impacts.

Jo-Ann Acey’s abstract works are created as symbolic visual diaries of personal memories and events and convey an emotional sense of space. Her paintings, flashe paint and ink on paper, are characterized by spontaneity and saturated color. This new series, Dreaming, employs a range of perspectives that vary from a vast overview to more intimate explorations of subjects. Says Acey, “In these paintings, I am recalling reoccurring childhood dreams. The images evoke feelings of flying over imagined landscapes and places that bring me a sense of joy and playfulness.”

Using traditional techniques of weaving and sewing, Juliet Martin creates sculptural pieces infused with a language of love and loss. I Search for Flying and What I Get is Falling is a collection that the artist refers to as “fiber memoirs” and “discordant tapestries.” These highly-textured works are combinations of many sources of materials: figurative and digital images, hand- and machine-woven fabrics, passages of text, drawing and painting. Martin’s love of fiber as both a technique and a symbolic presence comes through in these emotional, often humorous pieces.

K Sarrantonio’s small-edition screenprints explore the emotional and playful world of queer domesticity. The works are printed on Stonehenge paper using a combination of paper cut-out, metallic-leaf and photo-emulsion processes. Sarrantonio uses printmaking to consider the ways in which artists are uniquely positioned to create new gender realities and futures, and to represent genderqueer existence as joyful and powerful.

About 440 Gallery: 440 Gallery presents engaging art to the community through exhibitions, talks, readings and events centered around direct contact with the artist. Open Wednesday - Friday 4-7, Saturday and Sunday 11-7pm, or by appointment.