Interviews by Brainard Carey

Photo by Lila Barth Jessica Cannon (b. 1979, Brooklyn, NY) lives and works in Brooklyn. She earned an MFA from Parsons School of Design and teaches at Parsons and CUNY Queens College. She is a recipient of the Brooklyn Arts Council’s Community Arts Fund Grant and has exhibited in solo and group shows at Winston’s Los Angeles, Honey Ramka (Brooklyn, NY), Crush Curatorial (Amagansett, NY), the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, among others. Veils, an exhibition of new paintings will be on view at thePolina Berlin Gallery in New York, NY through June 24th. Cannon'smystic landscapes confront time with a sense of ontological awe. She employs personal and symbolic language in concert with geometric motifs to depict the horizon and the space beyond it. Jessica Cannon Let It Be The Sky, 2023 Acrylic and iridescent pigments on linen 72 x 60 inches 182.9 x 152.4 cm Photo: Steven Probert. Courtesy the artist and Polina Berlin Gallery. Jessica Cannon Capitan, Spinning Light, 2023 Acrylic and iridescent pigments on canvas 44 x 36 inches 111.8 x 91.4 cm Photo: Steven Probert. Courtesy the artist and Polina Berlin Gallery. Jessica Cannon Setting Arch, 2023 Acrylic and iridescent pigments on linen 17 x 14 inches 43.2 x 35.6 cm Photo: Steven Probert. Courtesy the artist and Polina Berlin Gallery.

Deanna Havas (b. 1989 in New York, US) is an artist based in Budapest, Hungary. Havas received her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 2011 and attended the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Germany in 2016. Havas’ work has been the subject of solo and two-person exhibitions at the following venues: Tara Downs, New York, US (2023); Triest, Brooklyn, US (2022); Meow 2, Melbourne, AU (2022); Sundogs, Paris, FR (2018); Galeria Madragoa, Lisbon, PT (2017); Marbriers 4, Geneva, CH (2015). Deanna Havas's work has been presented in numerous group exhibitions including Colnaghi, New York, US (2022); 1857, Oslo, NO (2017); Jan Kaps, Cologne, DE (2017); Treize, Paris, FR (2016); Schloss Schöngrabern, Ebreichsdorf, AT (2016); Villa Empain, Brussels, BE (2016); and Eli Ping Frances Perkins, New York, US (2016). Exhibition view of Deanna Havas: Message From the Source. Tara Do'WllS, New York, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Tara Downs. Photo: Farzad Owrang Deanna Havas, Untitled, 2023. Inkjet and acrylic on canvas, 59 x 78 3/4 in/ 150 x 200 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Tara Downs. Deanna Havas, Enhanced Serenity, 2023. Inkjet and acrylic on canvas, 39 1/4 x 59 in/ 100 x 150 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Tara Downs.

Zoe Pettijohn Schade’s densely researched, seductively beautiful drawings and paintings of varying size explore the scientific, art historical, and philosophical aspects of pattern. Her lifelong repertoire of work rests on the premise that the pursuit of form, repetition, organization, and its arrangements are as vitally important and determining as the finality of the image itself. Pettijohn Schade studied at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York, NY in 1995. In 2012-13, she traveled to France on a Fulbright U.S. Research Scholars Grant to work with a collection of 18th century textile paintings, many completed by anonymous women laborers. The title of her third solo exhibition at Kai Matsumiya Gallery, The Hard Problem, on view until June 17, refers to the question of how physical matter gives rise to consciousness. Recent exhibitions include Our Secret Fire at Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY; Less is a Bore: Maximalist Art & Design, curated by Jenelle Porter, Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; and deCordova New England Biennial 2019, curated by Sarah Monstross, deCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA. Zoe Pettijohn Schade Mirrored Pyramid, 2021 gouache with dyed silver leaf on paper 10½ x 10½ in. 26.67 x 26.67 cm. Zoe Pettijohn Schade Attempts at Self-Organization 7, 2020 gouache with dyed silver leaf, oxidized silver leaf, composite leaf on paper 19 x 13¾ in. 48.26 x 34.92 cm. Zoe Pettijohn Schade, Attempts At Self Organization 8, 2021, Gouache with dyed silver leaf, toned aluminum leaf, copper leaf, gold leaf, and palladium leaf on paper, 22¼ x 18⅛ in. 56.52 x 46.04 cm.

George Widener’s artwork is as intellectually challenging as it is aesthetically compelling. A high-functioning savant who has channeled his extraordinary gifts of numerical computation into artmaking, Widener struggled for years before his talent was recognized. Born in Kentucky in 1962, Widener’s was not diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome until he was an adult, making an already difficult childhood even more so. Following a stint of service in the US Air Force, Widener was diagnosed with depression, and committed to several psychiatric hospitals. He eventually attended the University of Tennessee. He currently lives and works in Waynesville, NC, near Asheville. Widener’s brain has been proven to function as a super-calculator, a gift that allows him to process mathematical information in a radically different way than most people do. By directing his impulse to calculate complex sequences of numbers through stunning, often large-scale drawings, Widener makes visible not only his savant skillset, but also his unique creative talent for reimagining it aesthetically. Far from mere illustrations of mathematical process, his drawings stage through form and content simultaneously, often playing out elaborate numerical puzzles and games, complexpuns, palindromes, and informed prophecies. The artist’s love for punning is evidenced by drawings of magic squares: squares that contain 9 rows of numbers, in each row of numbers adds up to the same value. The artist’s work can be found in many notable public and private collections, including, among others, the American Folk Art Museum (New York), the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, D.C.), the Collection de l’Art Brut (Lausanne, Switzerland), the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the abcd/art brut Collection Bruno Decharme (Paris), the Museum of Everything (London), museum gugging (Klosterneuburg, Austria), the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art (Chicago), the High Museum of Art (Atlanta), and the Asheville Art Museum (Asheville, NC). George Widener, Titanic, 100 years, 1912 - 2012, 2012 Paint and ink on joined paper 60 x 60 inches George Widener, Blue Monday, c. 2002 Mixed media on paper 15.6 x 29.4 inches George Widener, Self Portrait, 2020 Mixed media on paper 60 x 59.5 inches George Widener, Magic Square (Revolutions), 2022 Graphite and acrylic paint on paper 33 x 40 inches

Martin Bodilsen Kaldahl is a ceramic artist based in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has worked with a myriad of spatial themes and ornaments that frequently reoccur in his formal vocabulary, and which emerge through a methodical, gradual and experimental serial process. Notably, the knot as a shape has been a leitmotif offering possibilities for various sinuous rhythmic cadences and abstract narratives. The hand built architectonic works appear as ‘spatial drawings’–solid, twisting and turning through space. Kaldahl’s interest also lies in the potential of the object to make a direct emotional impact on the viewer. The motif is always clear in its simplicity and easily decoded while remaining open to interpretations. Kaldahl first trained as a potter in the 1970s. In 1988, he joined the Masters program at the Royal College of Art in London, where he graduated in 1990.He is a co-founder of the artist run exhibition platform, Copenhagen Ceramics (CC) launched in 2012. Kaldahl’s works are represented in several public and private collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, The Danish Museum of Art & Design in Copenhagen, The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo and Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris. MARTIN BODILSEN KALDAHL, Load - Spatial Drawing #89, 2023, Glazed stoneware, hand-built, 36” H x 20.5” W x 17” D MARTIN BODILSEN KALDAHL, Talk - Spatial Drawing #85, 2023, Glazed stoneware, hand-built, 33.5” H x 20.5” W x 17” D MARTIN BODILSEN KALDAHL, Walk Done - Spatial Drawing #84, 2023, Glazed stoneware, hand-built, 34.5" H x 21" W x 21" D.

Ted Gahl creates intuitive paintings of varying scale, embedding and juxtaposing personal imagery of the present alongside art historical influences of the past. Gahl’s paintings often read as elements of subconscious activities–reveries, dreams, and memories, while being firmly grounded in the act of painting itself.He obtained his BFA from Pratt Institute in 2006 and MFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 2010. Recent solo exhibitions include MAMOTH, London; Harkawik, Los Angeles; Halsey McKay, East Hampton; Massif Central, Brussels; Alexander Berggruen, New York. Recent group exhibitions include Valentin, Paris; Bjorn & Gundorph, Aarhus, Denmark; S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium; Halsey McKay, East Hampton. Gahl is a 2022 recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. He lives and works in Northwest Connecticut and Brooklyn, New York. Gallery Installation. Courtesy, Harkawik. Ted Gahl, The Entertainer, 2022. Acrylic, Moroccan pigments, graphite, colored pencil on canvas in artist's frame, 40 x 30 inches. Courtesy, Harkawik. Ted Gahl Tree With Lichen 2022 108”h x 72”w (274 x 183cm) Acrylic on unstretched canvas. Courtesy, Harkawik.

Portrait of Nicholas Hatfull. Courtesy of the artist and Dracula’s Revenge, New York. Nicholas Hatfull (born in Tokyo, Japan) is a painter who lives and works in Norwich, UK. Hatfull’s first solo exhibition in the United States, titled Shades, is on view at Dracula’s Revenge in New York through June 18.Hatfull received a Postgraduate Diploma from the Royal Academy of Arts, London in 2011, and was the Sainsbury Scholar in Painting and Sculpture at the British School at Rome in 2012. Recent solo exhibitions include Josh Lilley, London (2020, 2017, 2014); The Club, Tokyo (2019); and Peles Empire, London (2012). Group exhibitions include Leave the road; take the trail at Xenia Creative Retreat, Hampshire (2022); Timelessness at The Club, Tokyo (2020); Stains On A Decade at Josh Lilley, London (2019); Folly at Emalin, Airth, Scotland (2016); D’Après Giorgio at Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico, Rome (2012); and Re-generation at Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome (2012). His work has appeared in Financial Times, Frieze, Mousse, and Time Out, among others. Hatfull’s writing about painting has appeared in Apollo, Frieze, Mousse, and monographs such as Michael Armitage ‘You, Who Are Still Alive’ (2022). Nicholas Hatfull Shades V, 2023 Oil, gouache and acrylic on canvas 67 x 51 1/4 inches (170 x 130 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Dracula’s Revenge, New York. Nicholas Hatfull Shades IV, 2023 Oil, gouache and acrylic on canvas 67 x 51 1/4 inches (170 x 130 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Dracula’s Revenge, New York. Nicholas Hatfull Shades I, 2022 Oil, gouache and acrylic on canvas 67 x 51 1/4 inches (170 x 130 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Dracula’s Revenge, New York.

Luciana Abait was born in Argentina and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Her multimedia works deal with climate change, environmental awareness and displacement issues facing immigrants. Abait’s artworks have been shown widely in the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia in solo shows in galleries, museums and international art fairs. Recent projects have been shown at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and the Palm Springs Museum of Art. She has completed numerous public art commissions and installations. Her solo exhibition “On the Verge” is currently on view at the Hilliard Art Museum, Lafayette, Louisiana. On the Verge 7, Photograph on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag paper, 11 x 16 inches, 2022 Green Sky and Black Mountain Archival pigment print mounted on wood panel, 50 x 60 inches, 2021. Agua, immersive video projection on the Petroleum Securities Building in Downtown Los Angeles, 37 h x 32 w feet, 2021.

Victor Boullet (b.1969, Oslo, Norway) lives and works in London, UK and Oslo, Norway. His exhibition at the galleryconsisted of two "chapters". The first 4 weeks with paintings installed. The remaining 2 weeks, the paintings were stacked in a corner covered in a blanket, becoming a single work; and 130 drawings were installed on the walls. Links to each chapter can be found here: Chapter One and Chapter Two. Victor Boullet, Binman (Heritage Problem), 2020-2021. Oil on linen Victor Boullet, Untitled (2021). Oil on linen Victor Boullet, Cherries from the Bin, 2019-2021. Oil on linen.

Erin Milez, Courtesy of the artist and Monya Rowe Erin Milez (b. 1994, Pittsburgh, PA)received a MFA fromNewYork Academy of Art,NY and a BA fromSeattlePacific University,Seattle, WA. Her work has recently beenexhibited atLorin Gallery, LA;Arsenal Contemporary Art, NY; Cob Gallery, London; and Kutlesa Gallery, Switzerland. In 2020, the artist was awarded anElizabeth Greenshields FoundationGrant.Milez will have a solo exhibition at Monya Rowe Gallery in October 2023. The artistlives and works in Bayonne, NJ, and is represented byMonya Rowe Gallery, NY. ERIN MILEZ Telephone, 2023 watercolor media, colored pencil, and flashe on paper 24 by 18 inches Courtesy of Monya Rowe Gallery, NY ERIN MILEZ The Cleaners Greet the Day's End, 2023 Oil and acrylic on canvas 66 by 48 inches Courtesy of Lorin Gallery, LA and Monya Rowe Gallery, NY ERIN MILEZ, The Tenders Become Their Land, 2023, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 43 by 72 inches. Courtesy of Lorin Gallery, LA and Monya Rowe Gallery, NY