Petra Projects is pleased to present the debut solo exhibition in New York of Aaron Maximilian Gleason at Mehr Gallery. Entitled These Wounds Will Beckon the Flood, this biographical collection by the New York based artist features oil paint and mixed media works on plywood in which Gleason aims to render “energy” a tangible substance and to reference the dichotomy between physical and non-physical matters.

Flowers are a recurring motif in Gleason’s work, used as a visual symbol for clusters of energy; they represent motion and tension between people and their literal or figurative surroundings. In 5 Wounds flowers embody a force flowing from self-inflicted wounds. They demonstrate, as classical symbols of beauty, rebirth and life within a visual art tradition, a sense of renaissance and healing. Meanwhile, in Haloed Brothers, flowers crowning three embracing figures lift the head of one figure to suggest the presence of a dominant enigmatic force.

Gleason employs a consistently muted, flesh-toned palette, save for brighter pinks and reds representing areas of heightened activity. For example, in This That Runs Through Us II, the color pink is used in amorphous swaths to reference ever-present energy. “The pink, in contrast to the flower, seeks to illustrate the undefined and fleeting nature of our experience of this energy. As if there were blood rushing to these energy-rich pockets of space.”

50 Panels, a mixed media work on fifty pieces of plywood, encompasses the same usage of neutral tones and ambiguous figures. The repetition of various symbols and forms – an octopus, a microphone, a telephone, a decapitated bull’s head – serves to bind the panels into a unified piece. Two characters, “our boy” and “our girl”, also appear - sometimes engaged with each other, sometimes solitary, sometimes with some third party - illustrating tension and energy flow caused by interaction throughout.

Aaron Maximilian Gleason lives and works in New York as a painter and a video artist. He graduated from Rhode Island School of Design class of 2002 with a BFA in sculpture. Gleason has exhibited painting, sculpture and video work in New York, Providence, Boston and Atlanta, and most recently participated in Scope Art Fair, Hamptons, NY.

For additional information or images please contact Anastasia Rogers at 1.917.679.5496 or Anastasia@PetraProjects.com.