In Plain Sight
Gregg Louis

September 6 - October 19, 2024
Opening Reception September 6, 5-8pm

Louis' video work Blots consists of nine screens all depicting participants in a pseudo psychological experiment. Louis, who serves as the administrator of the test, is featured centrally in the composition and presents a series of abstract shapes on index cards. As he turns each card, he reveals a shape to the participants who then promptly respond with the first word that comes to mind. The result is a cacophony of answers. As the video unfolds, it becomes more like Hollywood Squares than Freud's couch.

Using the Rorschach technique, Louis creates mono-prints by folding sunless tanning lotion into sheets of watercolor paper. The images that result depict foreboding mask-like entities that serve as a wink-and-nod to both the Jungian concept of 'shadow self ' & the contemporary absurdity of reality tv characters like ‘Tan Mom.’

About the Artist

Gregg Louis is a multidisciplinary artist who works in a myriad of mediums including sculpture, painting, drawing, video, and installation. Louis was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, and received his B.F.A from Missouri State University and his M.F.A from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His work often focuses on the blurry edge between representation and abstraction and draws from several art historical movements such as surrealism, pop art, and conceptualism.

In 2009, Louis was an artist-in-residence at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Solo exhibitions include Monaco, Saint Louis; NH Galería, Cartagena; Nohra Haime Gallery, New York; Hverfisgallerí, Reykjavik; Hotel Maria Kapel, Hoorn Netherlands (collaboration). Select group exhibitions include Frieze, London; Vienna Contemporary, Vienna; ARTBO, Bogata; Nohra Haime Gallery, New York; Postmaster Gallery, New York; Galerist, Istanbul; Here Art Center, New York; Interstate Projects, Brooklyn; and Los Caminos, Saint Louis. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Sculpture Magazine, and several other prominent online publications and journals have covered his work. 

Louis lives and works in Saint Louis, Missouri.

https://gregglouis.com/
@gregg_louis

Events & exhibitions at the Foundry Art Centre are free and open to the public. For more information, please email Jessica Mannisi, Director of Art & Exhibitions, at jmannisi@foundryartcentre.org