Tyler Vlahovich has a BFA (1989) from California Institute of the Arts and lives and works in Los Angeles. This recent work is his third one-person exhibition with the gallery. We began working together in 2000. It was Richard Hawkins who urged me to visit Tyler Vlahovich and see his work, with the comment that he was such a "natural painter." There's lots going on here, and while the competition between the elements is relatively peaceful, the overall also presents the possibilty of having one's identity or space being absorbed or pushed around by the encroaching mass(es). There are moments of landscape to escape into, yet as the many many similarly colored marks and shapes are mostly flat, in tone and intention as well, they flip us back into abstraction and the idea of parts and pieces all jockeying for the line up. The part-whole, separate-together dialogue is pretty strong, and ditto for some quiet humor that, despite the somber palette, drives us to see the beauty and game that is inherent in how we build our lives.

Wooden Command 3, 2011; acrylic paint, house paint, graphite on wood; 69.5 x 41 x 3.5”

Color Code, 2011; oil paint on panel; 24 x 32”

Untitled, 2011; oil paint on canvas; 54.25 x 42.5”

Untitled, 2011; gouache on canvas; 43 x 55”

October, 2011; oil paint on canvas; 41.25 x 55”

Watercolor Icon, 2010; watercolor on canvas; 24.25 x 18.25”; $ 6,500.

Still Life Event, 2010; watercolor, oil paint on canvas; 18 x 14”; $ 5,500.

Triangle Event 1, 2010; oil paint on panel; 22.75 x 22.5”

Triangle Event 2, 2010; oil paint on panel; 22.25 x 20.75”