Debbi Kenote and Mark Sengbusch. Cross Cut.

Meer Magazine
February 16, 2024

Cristin Tierney Gallery is pleased to present Cross Cut, an exhibition of new work by Debbi Kenote and Mark Sengbusch. Cross Cut, which features both artists' explorations of the language of sculpture through painting. This marks Kenote’s first and Sengbusch’s second exhibition with the gallery. 

 

Cross Cut is a nice metaphor for both of our interests in woodworking and our interaction with the 3D plane while painting. We intersect shapes horizontally, quite often through the act of tiling or joining, something quite unusual for painters. Cross Cut is also used in the sense of taking a journey or cutting through history. While working as contemporary painters in New York City, we both find similar landmarks in history to claim as influences (architecture, craft, as well as over a decade shared in NYC).

(Debbi Kenote & Mark Sengbusch)

 

In Cross Cut, both artists focus largely on color and geometry. They are deeply influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement, with a focus on the storytelling potential of media such as textiles, ceramics, and woodworking. Their practices unite abstract forms with an individualized approach to color. Although both artists’ works exhibit naturalistic elements and observations, their newer paintings reveal their fascination with architecture and architectural elements such as tessellations in tiles and sidewalks.