USE ONLY AS DIRECTED

Adam Stennett, "Drink", 2007, oil on wood, 72 x 72"

I can't wait! Adam Stennett's long awaited third solo show with us opens this Thursday night. I'll post more images soon.

ADAM STENNETT- “USE ONLY AS DIRECTED”
OCTOBER 11– NOVEMBER 10, 2007
Opening Reception: Oct. 11, 7-9pm
at 31GRAND
143 Ludlow St. New York, NY 10002 t: 212.228.0901

31GRAND is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works by Adam Stennett at our new space in the Lower East Side.

The exhibition includes five paintings based on a new series and a new video work. With this show he continues his exploration of the intimate dramas of the everyday, and the precarious balance of awareness and oblivion. His subject matter has evolved—the adventurous mice that had been his trademark are now replaced by images of girls poised precariously near turbulent water and various medicinal products put to queasy, off-label uses. They are simultaneously seductive and discomforting. They speak directly to the all-too-human highs and lows we all experience.

The final work in the show is the projected video Harmful or Fatal if Swallowed. The video opens with a low angle shot of a road in the foreground, green trees in the distance and the soft twittering of birds. A red plastic gasoline container falls into frame, bounces awkwardly and comes to rest on its side. Its contents slowly spill onto the pavement as a spreading wet stain. The camera never moves and the flow eventually slows to a trickle. It is unclear whether the spill is accidental or intentional.

Adam Stennett was born in Kotzebue, Alaska in 1972 and grew up in Oregon. He received his Bachelor of Art in English and Studio Art at Willamette University in 1994 and moved to Brooklyn to pursue painting. Stennett’s work has been exhibited at the Chelsea Art Museum and The National Arts Club in New York, Irvine Contemporary in Washington D.C., Centro de la Imagen in Mexico City, Central House of Artists in Moscow, Scope in London and 21C Museum Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. Adam Stennett lives and works in Brooklyn.