P R E S S    R E L E A S E

BLT Gallery Presents

Jan Frank
Kissinger and the Ladies

New Paintings and Drawings
January 15 – March 8, 2009

January 21, 2009 – NEW YORK: BLT Gallery is pleased to present its inaugural exhibition, 'Kissinger and the Ladies', a selection of new paintings and drawings by renowned artist Jan Frank. The work on view demonstrates Frank's continued fascination with the competing styles of abstraction and figuration in the story of American modernism. This exhibition also marks Frank's first solo show in New York in ten years.

The large paintings at the front of the gallery are a direct nod to Philip Guston's caricatures of Richard Nixon from the 1970s. Frank appropriates the recurring image of Henry Kissinger's horn-rimmed glasses and arranges them within Mondrian-like grid patterns across the white canvases, calling the viewer's attention to the ways in which they perceive art and the world around them. This technique, which the artist also demonstrates with a series of smaller paintings and collages, also complicates the notion of representation; Kissinger's face or body may not be visible in this work, but the presence of this controversial figure remains.

The smaller works from the 'Kissinger' series are juxtaposed with a series of abstract nudes (or 'Ladies'), a subject the artist has focused on intensely since the 1990s, particularly after the death of abstract painter Willem de Kooning. These delicate yet energetic works exude a rich understanding of line and form that bring a welcome erotic contrast to the rigid geometry of the 'Kissinger' paintings.

Jan Frank (American, b. Netherlands) first exhibited his work in New York in 1977 at The Kitchen with a large-scale video installation. He attended the Whitney Independent Study Program. His works are in numerous public and private collections and he has exhibited widely throughout the United States and Europe. He lives and works in New York.