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Stamford Art Exhibit Explores The Influence Of Painting

STAMFORD, Conn. -- Take a look at Leslie Wayne's pieces in a new exhibit at Franklin Street Works in Stamford, and you might think they were just rags hanging on the wall. But a closer inspection reveals they are actually pieces created out of oil and acrylic paint on panels.

Leslie Wayne discusses her technique used to create pieces hanging in a new exhibit at Franklin Street Works in Stamford.

Leslie Wayne discusses her technique used to create pieces hanging in a new exhibit at Franklin Street Works in Stamford.

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue
Pieces from Wayne's "Paint/Rag" series, part of the "About Like So" exhibit at Franklin Street Works.

Pieces from Wayne's "Paint/Rag" series, part of the "About Like So" exhibit at Franklin Street Works.

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue
Tim Davis's pieces used by painting photographs of classic paintings.

Tim Davis's pieces used by painting photographs of classic paintings.

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue
Dave Hardy's piece "Sandbag."

Dave Hardy's piece "Sandbag."

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue
Sophy Naess's piece "Georgia Dirt 1"

Sophy Naess's piece "Georgia Dirt 1"

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue

Wayne is one of several artists in the exhibit "About Like So: The Influence of Painting" now on display at Franklin Street Works. The pieces in the exhibit include paintings, sculpture, videos, photographs and digital prints.

The exhibit was curated by the gallery's creative director Terri Smith, who said the aim was to explore how history and processes of painting inform conceptual art practices. The pieces use paint in unorthodox ways or show its influence on other media. 

Wayne visited Franklin Street Works on Saturday afternoon for a talk on her series "Paint/Rag." She discussed her beginnings as a landscape painter who studied in Paris, and how she moved on to sculpture and eventually abstract expressionism. She eventually moved into paintings with shapes, such as her rag series, which are created by taking layers of paint and draping it over other layers to create the appearance of a rag hanging on a hook.

"The ideas come out of the process," Wayne said. Some of the pieces are meant to look like paint-stained rags, while others resemble African tribal fabrics. "It's very organic."

Other pieces in the exhibit include John Knuth's "Transformation Foresight," which he created by feeding paint to flies and letting them excrete it onto paper. 

Siebren Versteeg created abstract paintings using a computer algorithm, put them into Google Image search to find pictures that looked like it, and painted the results.

The Franklin Street Works will hold an artist talk and closing reception for the exhibit Saturday, Feb. 21, from 4 to 6 p.m. The event will feature some of the artists involved in the exhibit, including Sophy Naess and Siebren Versteeg.

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