Keys and Codes: Corey Antis’ Works and Days
This piece of writing is related to a review segment in Roof Chill Episode 2*
Cellar Window by Corey Antis | Image by Clear Bright Matter
The labor of looking, slow looking, is a meditative process that has been pushed out of our
daily lives. With the rapid pace of our social media feeds, patience has become a commodity.
Corey Antis’ drawings, paintings, and books in Works and Days at Haw Contemporary,
forced us to hit the reset button to stop, look, and listen to both the work and ourselves.
On the walls in the round of the gallery were Antis’ human-scale drawings and books of
various sizes. Each of the drawings became portals to explore the depth within the surface
detail. You could choose to look slowly, moving closer in or farther away to notice the subtly
shifting materials. Little flecks of paper reveal a treatment that could be sanding or a tear but
the layers on top of a graphite-like material make the work shimmer in the light of the gallery.
Installation shot of Works and Days | Image by Clear Bright Matter
On opening night, these books were displayed on counter height tables with one page open.
Because of the material quality of the work and the presentation, people wanted to lean in
and touch, feel the books, but they couldn’t. This aspect could throw off the typical audience
of Haw Contemporary a bit, as the office space in the gallery near the back is filled with
books and flat files that invite touch. As I looked further at the exhibition, it seemed there was
a code to crack, hidden somewhere in the unturned pages, but what I didn’t realize was that
key was right in front of me in the use of material itself.
Daybook 1 by Corey Antis | Image by Clear Bright Matter
I was interested to see further how this work came about. Knowing that Antis is always full of
bountiful information and cultural commentary as an Assistant Professor of Painting at The
Kansas City Art Institute, I assumed there had to be an agenda. During my studio visit with
him mid-summer I had the opportunity to see some early sketches of the watercolors that
he had been sharing on Instagram. This practice of making watercolors is one that is
consistent and of great importance to his work that Antis presented at Haw. There are stacks
of books filled with these observational drawings. It made me realize that the books
presented in the exhibition are simply referencing this practice; taking the poetic moments
that he finds in these observational watercolors which become the underlying reference for
his work as a whole.
Untitled by Corey Antis | Image by Jordan Hooper
When the books were displayed in Works and Days they weren’t trying to be literal
representations of that originally captured moment, but instead chances for the viewer to
interpret something new. Antis’ work is pliable in this way it allows for one to come into it and
leave at any point. The surprising thing is, that his work is something that is going to show
more about ourselves than we may even be willing to acknowledge, rather than comment on
larger theoretical narratives. It’s about pattern recognition. The place in which one can
meander in the interplay of how things relate to one another. Antis is really astute in his
ability to take these small parts of our human experience and convert them into visual art.
These details often lead to a place that is a little bit scary, but a visual delight.
While in Antis’s studio he discussed how to find beauty in the mundane, and shared stories
relating to the work like the search for a lost cat in a limestone basement window, or working
with his father as a roofer. These narratives showed their subtle history in Works and Days.
When you think about the manipulation of material it becomes clear that Antis has a romance
with it and continues to ask new questions and pose new challenges. Both for the artist and
the observer, the work of Corey Antis functions like a mirror and his pieces will show more
about ourselves than we are willing to let on.
Daybook 5 by Corey Antis | Image by Clear Bright Matter
Corey Antis: Works and Days ran from April 29, 2016 – June 11, 2016 at Haw Contemporary
more info on this exhibition is available here
*link to Roof Chill Episode 2 will be available October 4th