Sheila Ghidini: In-between Spaces

January 11–March 15, 2018

Chandra Cerrito Contemporary is pleased to announce In-between spaces, a solo exhibition of drawings by San Francisco artist Sheila Ghidini.

Sheila Ghidini is known for her delicate and lifelike drawings of objects like nests, books, and chairs using graphite on paper sometimes layered with beeswax. She is intrigued by classic artistic concerns of light, shadow and the negative shapes that form between objects.

In her latest body of work, Ghidini depicts architectonic structures–buildings, staircases, and revisited chairs–in a striking new way. Whereas most of her previous drawings emit a sense of stillness and clarity of form, her new works are complex visual puzzles that evoke dynamic movement. Skeletal drawings of houses have transparent planes for walls and floors that appear to be sliding side-to-side or stairways that jut through the roof. Jumbled masses of intertwined and piled-up chairs in a variety of styles, from familiar to fantastic, appear as visual symphonies or perplexing cacophonies.

Early 20th century Cubism, with its compositions of deconstructed and re-constructed objects portrayed from multiple vantage points at once, may be Ghidini’s historical precedent. Among her contemporaries are painter Joan Banach, with her monochromatic fields of complex geometric structures, and Toba Khedoori, whose monumental renderings of architectural forms as well as her incorporation of wax echo Ghidini’s interests in subject matter and use of materials.

With objects as common as chairs and the most basic of drawing materials, Ghidini creates energized and evocative images. In-between spaces presents a powerful and intriguing series of drawings that represent a thrilling leap in her practice.