JRB Art at The Elms presents “Orient Shift” by Mary Ann Strandell.  For this exhibit  Strandell observes storied  ancient and modern culture through the mediation of handmade paintings and through the lens of technology 

with lenticular prints. The exhibit opens with a reception from 6:00 to 10:00pm on Friday, March 1st during The Paseo’s First Friday Gallery walk and runs through March 31st, 2013. 

In her second solo exhibition at the Joy Reed Belt gallery, Orient Shift, Strandell 

uses source material from fine art auction sites and architectural renderings in exploring 

the re-assertion of meaning through pictorial reflection. From blue and white  Chinese

dynastic vessels, Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture, and  European Chinoiserie she 

presents an array of oil paintings, archival prints, and a large scaled installation made 

from sumi ink with lenticular print media.

The orientation of these works shift in meaning from original object through the 

veneer of photography and internet imaging into the public arena of museum and 

auction house, and often to the market place.  Strandell's painting Ultra Blue 

(peaches) was sourced from Christies Hong Kong auction site, documenting the Ming 

Dynasty vase which sold for over $71 million in 2006.  Several oil paintings are derived 

from documentation of the 15th and 16th century Chinese Dynastic vessels, and from

European Chinoiserie porcelains. Strandell's  paintings of this sourced subject matter 

suspend the image in a dislocated space, reframing one's experience of the work. This 

dislocation flattens and distends the image to draw an aesthetic observation 

reconfigured somewhat as the elemental character of the vase becomes distorted in the 

market.In the painting “Usonian,” Strandell uses the image  of another canon in the 

market of art. She combines two worlds, that of architecture and images from nature. A 

view of Frank Lloyd Wright's Kaufman house partially built, dominates the figure 

ground as a portal surrounded by birds and butterflies, derived  from field guide 

handbooks. This combination conflates the tendencies and effects of modernism with 

intimate nature of a much smaller scale. Wrights concept of the 1930's Usonian home 

garnered a scale of living that was affordable and "free of previous architectural 

conventions" (Wikipedia).

Strandell's first solo show at JRB, Indexes of Mediated Space, curated by 

Shannon Fitzgerald, was reviewed in five publications, including the blog Might Be 

Good, by Sarah Jesse, and Review Magazine by Heather Read. Strandell lives and 

works in New York  City. She has exhibited her work in the United States as well as 

Japan, Mexico, Germany, and France. She is the recipient of various awards and 

residencies, some include the National Endowment for the Arts in Painting, The 

Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Fellowship Award, The Art Omi International 

Residency, and Artist in Residency at The Bemis Center for Contemporary Art.