November 20, 2006: .anti_space will present Maximal Minimal: New Paintings by Grant Wiggins from December 1 through 23. As a part of First Friday festivities, .anti_space will host an opening night reception beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, December 1. Thereafter, gallery hours will be by-appointment only. The gallery is located at 718 N. 4th Street, two blocks south of Roosevelt Row, in downtown Phoenix.
For Grant Wiggins, a Tempe artist who has shown in the past two Arizona Biennials, Maximal Minimal will be his first solo show in five years. He will showcase several new, large-scale minimalist paintings characterized by dramatic curves and vibrant color combinations.
The exhibit is the second that .anti_space has organized since moving to its new location near Roosevelt Row. Co-owners Justin McBee and Scot McKenzie have devoted the past several months to renovating the formerly vacant, boarded-up warehouse. In addition to its own "house" gallery, titled Mothball, .anti_space houses several artist studios, galleries and clothing boutiques.
"We’ve designed. anti_space to give exposure to artists who have merit and are important to us—artists like Grant," says McKenzie. "Our goal is to show work that is fresh, thought-provoking and unexpected."
Although he gained a reputation as an offbeat, "neo-pop art" painter, Wiggins has focused much of his attention toward creating pared-down compositions with clean edges. His work demonstrates a clear devotion to a "less-is-more" aesthetic that recalls minimalist painters like Ellsworth Kelly and Jo Baer.
"Minimalist painting has meant different things to different generations of artists," Wiggins says. "Long ago, minimalism was viewed as a turning of the tide away from Abstract Expressionism. For me, I think of minimalism is a visual antidote to over consumption. The question of how to conserve natural resources is flowing through our zeitgeist. And I’m exploring ways of saying and doing more with less, seeing beauty in simplicity more than ever."
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