Jeff Koegel

Los Angeles

In the essay ‚Orchestral Maneuvers in the Shade‘ written for Jeff Koegel’s current exhibition catalogue, art critic Shana Nys Dambrot writes: “Contemporary history is told like a huge concert where they present all of Beethoven’s 138 opuses one after the other, but actually play just the first eight bars of each.”

That’s from Milan Kundera’s 1995 novella ‚Slowness‘ – a strange, slim, prescient volume having to do with the relatively frenetic pace of modern life and what that both does to, and says, about the condition of our perceptions. The concept of “slowness” comes up in speaking with Jeff Koegel about his painting practice, because the remarkably measured pace at which he proceeds is germane to both the experience and meaning of his work. At least as fundamental as color theory, pattern, and texture, slowing down and inhabiting nuance also applies to the work’s effect on the viewer’s eyes, mind, and bodily motion. These complex, intriguing, generous and elusive paintings exist in the fullness of time and in conscious objection to the relentlessness of our world.“

Jeff Koegel

Merry Karnowsky Gallery

May 18 – June 15, 2013
170 S. La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
USA

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