Hashtag Abstract

Ronchini Gallery is pleased to present Hashtag Abstract, a group exhibition that brings together new works by international artists Oliver Clegg, Richard Höglund, Christopher Kuhn and Kasper Sonne. For his inaugural exhibition as a curator, London based collector Kamiar Maleki presents work exploring trends and current developments in abstract painting.

Hashtag Abstract explores the phenomenon of news traveling fast in the digital era and the impact of social media as well as the power of the individual as a critic. Addressing how trends emerge organically, Hashtag Abstract invites the viewer to interact with the works through social media in a critical and engaging way, moving beyond the barrier of mere observation and advocating the power of the image as a tool of engagement.

Los Angeles based painter Christopher Kuhn’s works combine gestural abstraction with geometrical designs. Kuhn’s recent paintings depict a multitude of techniques within a canvas referencing the changing and fast-paced art world. For his new work at the show Kuhn studies the techniques and devices that Old Masters employed, such as the 17th century Dutch painter Gerrit Dou, in creating the illusion of depth while accentuating the flatness of the picture plane. Brooklyn based, Danish artist Kasper Sonne’s works are also examples of divergent trends. His work of revolves around conceptual strategies, invoked with a certain sense of poetics, melancholia and doubt. Sonne explores how individual and cultural references influence the way we read the world around us, and how meaning is determined by the viewer's own active construction. British born, New York based Oliver Clegg uses figuration for his basis of abstraction. Deconstructed figures take on new meaning as they become abstracted. Paris based Richard Höglund’s works use language and mark making as a starting point for his works, turning linear forms into melodic abstract compositions.

Hashtag Abstract demonstrates the current diversity and range of techniques within the genre of contemporary painting. The artworks become the triggering element for a debate around the very definition of a trend and whether anything is really trending.