Ultraviolet

Gallery Diet is pleased to present Ultraviolet, a two-person exhibition of new works by Alina Tenser and Nathlie Provosty. Ultraviolet light exists just beyond the spectrum visible to the human eye, though all types of non-humans do see and use it. Taking this as a metaphor, both artists deal with how non-visual forces underly and enhance their highly -visual work. Provosty will present oil paintings from three ongoing series: Subject Without A Skin, Near Ultraviolet, and Near Infrared. Tenser will present a grouping of shallow-volume sculptural works, or “trays,” and two video projections.

Provosty’s letter-like forms and X-ray-like inspired images are built up into nuanced surfaces—complicated planes of reflection and absorption. Using dark blues, bright whites, and occasionally high-key colors, Provosty straddles the image/object divide, and stokes the sensations of the overlapping of languages. In Tenser’s work, body parts and abstract objects perform methodically movements across various surfaces—blurring their separations. Like a stone skipping across water, they are carried forward by speed and rhythm: repeated, abrupt, and gentle touches, while taut with molecular tension.