Garvey|Simon Art is pleased to present Shape Shifters, a group exhibition featuring eight contemporary artists curated by Ray Beldner / Startup Curatorial.

Artists include Stephanie Beck, Joan Grubin, Miriam Hitchcock, Valerie Wilcox, Kerry Vander Meer, Carrie Lederer, Ray Beldner and Rich Lanet. The Shape Shifters exhibition showcases the work of artists who eschew traditional formats, work with unconventional materials, embrace the unexpected, and revel in the joy of invention. By ignoring the physical limitations of the frame, their work often creates an immersive experience and an intimate relationship between the viewer and the artwork.

In the early 20th century, artists like Picasso and Braque pioneered the use of collage, while the Surrealists incorporated the elements of time, chance, and play into their practices. These artists, working with unusual materials and found objects, began to present their work in rawer forms, untethered by the rectangle. Today, these techniques are widely accepted. However, not long ago, this kind of work represented a radical break from the concept that the artwork was “representation,” a "window" into the artist's self-contained world. Like their predecessors, the artists in this show ask us to consider art as an encounter, and the art object as a tool to access new experiences.

Stephanie Beck creates intriguing wood mosaics in shapes that are simultaneously organic and architectural. They are inspired by arched doorways, windows, or buildings seen from above.

Ray Beldner’s collage-based works are made from images of historic artworks which he deconstructs to create playful new forms. He is interested in the tension between realism and abstraction, and how 2D forms can occupy, define, and create space.

Joan Grubin's work fits thematically into the exhibition because of its quirky format, its found color, and its alluring and whimsical presence.

Miriam Hitchcock's eccentrically shaped paintings employ a hybrid visual language that is both abstract and figurative, and fuses domestic and landscape imagery.

Carrie Lederer's work consists of ornate compositions that use a pattern-based topographical matrix to portray ideas about land and our natural world, using fabric, fur, flock, glitter, glass eyes, and more.

In Rich Lanet's work lighting and shadows play a prominent role. His three-dimensional wall sculptures playfully engage geometric shapes along with light to create varying perspectives of his compositions, which are activated by the viewer's relation to the multi-dimensional works.

Kerry Vander Meer is inspired by the shapes of nature - intertwining line, pattern and color to create vibrant and life-affirming work. She found a key inspiration in the writing of Thich Nhat Hanh which reminded her that nothing exists without its opposite: that there is no joy without suffering.

Valerie Wilcox uses common and salvaged materials to intuitively explore contradictions and uneasy associations between indefinable shapes, mark-making, and painting.