Cris Worley Fine Arts is pleased to announce our first solo exhibition of oil paintings by gallery artist Robert Sagerman. Small Gestures, and the Fullness of Fields, opens with an artist’s reception on Saturday, April 7th, and will run through May 12th, 2018. The artist will be in attendance for the opening reception. In this recent body of work, Sagerman explores new and expanded color combinations as each of his “small gestures” build upon the canvas’ field. While the artist is deeply influenced by Minimalism, and “field” painting in particular, Sagerman says, “My own work, as Cris Worley pointed out to me in conversation not long ago, is far more “maximalist” in nature. This, in part, is that to which the exhibition title alludes. The field paintings that I make partake of a “fullness”. Of course, these paintings are full of thick paint, and they are also full of “small gestures”. These thickly applied impasto paintings evolve from thousands upon tens-of-thousands of strokes meticulously made with a palette knife, the title of each work corresponding to the number of marks within. So layered are the canvases, that the artist hand mills his own oil paint from elemental pigments. His disciplined method of working directly correlates to his personal interest in the practices of Medieval Mysticism, an area in which he is a published PhD.
Robert Sagerman was born in Queens, NY and currently works in Jersey City, NJ. He received his BFA (1990) and MFA (1998) from Pratt Institute. He also holds an MS in Art History from Pratt Institute as well as an MA in Religious Studies and a PhD in Hebrew and Judaic Studies from New York University. Sagerman’s work has been reviewed by Art in America, NY Arts Magazine, Kunstforum International, Art News and the Atlanta Journal Constitution among many others. His work is in the public collections of the Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR), The Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum (Hagen, Germany), and the Museum Für Konkrete Kunst (Ingolstadt, Germany).

OPENING RECEPTION : Saturday, April 7th, 5 – 8pm

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