Chasing Rainbows

Kelly Denato
Chasing Rainbows
Solo Exhibit

Opening reception - May 3rd, 7-10pm

May 3rd, 2013 through May 27th, 2013


BROOKLYN, NY (RELEASE April 16th, 2013) — Bunnycutlet Gallery is pleased to present Chasing Rainbows, a series of new works by Brooklyn-based artist Kelly Denato, in what will be her first solo exhibition at Bunnycutlet.

The title of the show, Chasing Rainbows, came to the artist’s mind while sketching her flirtatious yet doom-laden subjects for her solo exhibit. To Denato, the pursuit of a thing that dissipates upon discovery is heart-crushing disappointment in waiting; yet she feels that such futile and cyclical endeavors define the human condition. Her paintings, which are marked by darkness as well as gleeful exuberance, are emotional expressions of an elusive pursuit for meaning and the simultaneity of ill-fated happiness.

Denato’s painting technique is characterized by tiny brushwork meticulously layered on a textured background. Her colors are glistening and candy-like, often lifting her characters out of darkness as if they have been carved by lacerating strokes. Her genius is her ability to richly layer paint while still employing economy in her use of line, maintaining an empathetic sense of gesture. Her characters are often floating and tangled, drawn with a masterfully delicate illustrator's hand and an eye for the whimsically sardonic.

Denato’s process speaks to the surreal and fluctuating world that her subjects inhabit. In the artist's words "Everything starts with drawing. I will draw as often as possible in a ‘stream of consciousness.’ As patterns, imagery, and symbols begin to emerge, a theme presents itself. Like a Rorschach test of my own doodles, I interpret meaning from those symbols. Then I develop from there, symbols feeding into meaning and meaning into symbols in an infinite loop."