Selected Work
After more than a decade of exhibiting with Galleri Urbane, Gail Peter Borden returns to Dallas to present Diverse Fields. While many of Borden’s recent exhibitions with the gallery have included explorations in a wide range of media, including works on paper and welded-steel objects, this exhibition is comprised entirely of the resined panel paintings that have become a signature of the artist’s oeuvre. In each of his roles as an artist, architect, author, and professor, Borden’s projects are always driven by an interest in material, perception, and composition. This exhibition is no exception, including work that is rooted in ideas of spatial creation and the optics of perception.
Borden’s well-known architectural, resin paintings have evolved from earlier surveys of object-horizon relationships viewed from an expansive, external perspective. These have since transformed into studies of a more internal space, with abstracted planes and edges arranged to suggest a depth of field within. Color also plays an active role in the creation of space: fields of solid hues transcribe the form of an object and its relative position in space. Through this approach, the rectilinear panel becomes a portal that allows compositions to be read as shallow and deep at the same time.
The relationship between a painting’s composition and its square frame is intrinsic to Borden’s investigations. Many of the works in Diverse Fields directly address the frame and the notion of it as a boundary. In multi-panel works, the configuration of an object is projected beyond a singular painting and realized across the surface of two to four panels. Each individual unit maintains an ability to work independently, yet when installed as a collective the adjoined panels offer a perspective of their subject in its entirety. In a different approach, Borden creates single-panel paintings that are hung in a linear manner to create one continuous installation. The contained forms within each painting of the installation are activated by the neighboring panels, with numerous possible arrangements cultivating infinite compositions. It is these limitless possibilities of perception that ultimately serve as the core of this exhibition.
