Craig Rempfer

Shelter Gallery is delighted to announce the opening of Parallels, Craig Rempfer’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. The artist’s new work, a fusion of intricate woodworking, painting, and drawings, delves into the exploration of geometry, line, and composition.

Rempfer embarks on an intuitive journey without preliminary sketches, yet this culminates in works of deliberate harmony and precision. In the studio, this process reveals an engaging narrative of discovery and revelation, allowing each piece to slowly unveil its final form for the artist. For the viewer, the final piece can be visually broken down into its built components of strategically placed veneer, oil paint, or ink.

Many of Rempfer’s new wood paintings and drawings show a deliberate simplification of the color palette to black and white, enabling a focused exploration of light and shadow, and the compositional effects this starkness achieves. Geometric shapes and lines come to the forefront in high-contrast where the artist’s hand is inevitably present, but never distracting from the equilibrium of the whole.

Imbuing his furniture works with a sense of sleek intrigue that harkens back to Bauhaus or Memphis design, the artist goes further to add a sense of nature and warmth when addressing minimalism. While these furniture-based works showcase the precision of a master, his sculptural wood paintings bring the essence of human touch. We see an artist cutting and fitting wood based on his eye; not preoccupied with the surgical measurements and limitations of a cabinetmaker, but driven by the creative force of an AbEx painter.

This approach underscores the exhibition's thematic core: the unity and equality of different creative processes and the attention to detail that characterizes Rempfer's practice. Parallels invites audiences to explore a world where contrast and simplicity coalesce into an explorative narrative of artistic creation.

Craig Rempfer (b. 1986, Clinton, IA) lives and works in Westminster, CO. He holds a BFA in Painting from University of Iowa and an MFA in Painting from Tyler School of Art (PA). Rempfer has exhibited in Iowa City, Philadelphia, and New York. Press and publications include Studio Visit Magazine, New American Paintings, and The Philadelphia Weekly.