Le Deuce

Mason Saltarrelli and Bill Saylor

October 13 - November 12, 2017

179 E Broadway, New York, NY 10009

Whether it is translated as a dice throw of two, a tied playing field, or even as a euphemism for the devil; Le Deuce playfully outlines the shared creative spirit and artistic energy between Mason Saltarrelli and Bill Saylor. Both New York City artists, Saylor and Saltarrelli explore abstraction as a means to define space and create atmospheric backdrops for graffiti-like scrawls, recurring motifs and highly personalized symbols. Strange creatures, cartooned figures and disembodied faces float in and out of focus in compositions that create the suggestion of narrative while still remaining elusive.

Bill Saylor has been a significant presence in New York’s contemporary painting scene since the late 1990s. His work consistently merges genres and refuses to align with recognizable trends. Sourcing material from both his imagination and the world around him, Saylor twists familiar symbols from pop culture and American history into an abstract visual language to create work that is at once humorous and profound. Recent shows include solo exhibitions at Magenta Plains (NYC), Peter Makebish (NYC), Leo Koenig (NYC), The Journal (Brooklyn) and Loyal Gallery (Stockholm); and he has been included in group shows at Ceysson Benetiere (Luxembourg), The Brant Foundation (Greenwich, CT), Mier Gallery (Los Angeles), The Yerba Buena Art Center (San Francisco) and Hiromi Yoshi Gallery (Tokyo).

Mason Saltarrelli creates hypnotic paintings and drawings using a deliberately restrained hand. His limited palette, subtle mark making techniques and abstracted forms impart a “less is more” aesthetic and leave viewers in charge of filling in the gaps. Recognizable imagery dissolves into deceptively simple painted lines, bursts of color and repetitive hash marks to create blurred renderings of repeating themes and subjects. Saltarrelli has had solo exhibitions at Turn Gallery (NYC), Randall Scott Projects (Washington DC) and Outeast Gallery (Montauk, NY); and has been included in group shows at Feuer Mesler (NYC), Interstate Projects (Brooklyn), Moran Bondaroff (Los Angeles), Geukens and De Vil (Belgium), Gallery Steinsland Berliner (Stockholm) and Galleri Tom Christoffersen (Copenhagen).

Shrine will also release a collaborative zine as part of Le Deuce with full-color pages worked on by both artists.