Troost Gardens

Troost Gardens is pleased to present “PRIMER: Charged Abstraction”, featuring seven artists hailing from Kansas City, St. Louis, Dallas and Fort Worth - Craig Deppen Auge, Marcus Cain, Martha Elena, Matthew Willie Garcia, Garry Noland and Philip Denker. The title of the show, “PRIMER”, refers to a cylinder containing a combination of compounds which responds to friction or an electrical impulse and ignites the charge in an explosive blast. Though the body of work created by each artist unequivocally stands alone, as a whole the collection of work manifests itself into a "charged" environment triggering emotions from comfort to tension to exhilaration.

The artists in “PRIMER” are bringing to their abstraction an energy born not out of the athleticism of the body, as the Expressionists and their descendants have, but out of containment, individualized mark making, and cultural reference connected to their life and time. Through “PRIMER”, Troost Gardens highlights artists that continue to expand the boundaries of abstraction. Primer was curated by Philip Denker. We hope you can join us for this powerful display.