Fritz Chesnut’s paintings are fields of action. The LA-based artist builds his works from vibrating moiré patterns and grids that appear torn, aged, decayed. Each line is a physical thread. An alchemist of process, Chesnut squeegees paint onto plastic, then cuts and transfers the dried skins onto canvas. The result is tensile, a surface hovering between image and structure, textile and digital screen.
The title “Field Recordings” nods to the documentation of ambient sound, as well as the act of recording a painted field. The bands and ripples suggest waveforms (Chesnut is an avid surfer). The fissures are glitches in the screen. While his work can recall the mechanical precision of Op Art, Chesnut’s patterns are faltering. In one work, undulating lines mimic a struggling analog broadcast; in another, stray threads reclaim painterliness.
