Ed Mottau
Untitled, 2018
Wood with granite base
24 x 18 x 6 inches
Christine Mottau
Meditation #1, 2016
Oil on linen
14 x 18 inches
LAUNCH F18 is delighted to present Whatever Happens a two-person exhibition by Christine Mottau and Ed Mottau. The exhibition will be held at LAUNCH F18's Project Space located at 28 Grove Street, Peterborough, NH and opening on Friday, October 12th. The opening reception is from 5:30 – 8:30 PM and is free and open to the public.
Ed Mottau presents recent wood sculptures that are abstract compositions with form and gesture that are rooted in nature. A suggestion of birds or figures or landscape is inherent in the abstractions, yet the pieces remain free and unencumbered by representation. Mottau reveals an ability to create sculptures that appear simple and harmonious, yet are technically detailed with blind joinery, compound angles, and inlay of stone. In several of these works, Ed juxtaposes the end grain and straight grain of the wood creating textural pattern and adding depth to the surface. Each piece is hardwood, and is finished using a hand rubbed oil technique. His process is free form and mutable allowing for “whatever Happens” to happen and he is interested in discovering where each piece will go and how it will reveal itself from the found pieces of wood that he uses. This new body of work was made in 2017-2018
Christine Mottau’s new abstract oil paintings, made in 2016 - 2018, are based on chakra meditation theory. The show represents a turn inward. The recent oil paintings distinctive interest in color and light captures swirling psychic energy with luminous reds, shimmering purples and searing greens, using a unique glazing technique. Mottau layers translucent colors to construct an immersive sense of form and depth. With little discernible brushwork, each abstraction appears ephemeral, evocative of transitory images coming into consciousness. Throughout her work, Mottau aims to portray a sense of beauty that can emotionally connect with viewers in an increasingly chaotic world. Particularly at a time when it seems like conflict is an inescapable part of everyday life, Mottau’s paintings create a necessary space of tranquility and gesture toward individual and collective transcendence.
Ed Mottau is an American artist living and working in the Monadnock region of Southern New Hampshire. He is a sculptor, painter, musician, and builder. His art has been seen in Dublin Ireland, Los Angeles, New York City, New Orleans, Washington DC, Boston, Portland Maine, and Peterborough NH. This is his second exhibition at LAUNCH F18 Project Space.
Christine Mottau has exhibited regularly in solo and group exhibitions in American galleries since the 1980’s. Living and working In New York City and Spencertown, NY, she was educated at the Art Institute of Boston and the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. Her work is represented by Ceres Gallery in NYC, where she has shown her paintings, drawings and paper sculptures in both solo and group shows. This is her second exhibition at LAUNCH F18 Project Space.
Ed and Christine Mottau are brother and sister who grew up in Greenwich Village in New York City and the Monadnock region of southern NH. Having been raised in a family in the arts who encouraged and nurtured their creative interests, they share a fluidity in their creative lives, and interaction with each other. An early influence in their artistic development was a Waldorf education, which gave them a visual vocabulary and set them on a parallel trajectory creatively. A common thread of complex compositions, organic shapes, curvilinear line and attention to refined material and finish is seen in both of the artists work. This is the second time they have exhibited their work together.
