Eric Inkala: Picking Up the Pieces

Fort Works Art is pleased to present Picking Up the Pieces, a solo exhibition featuring Brooklyn-based artist Eric Inkala in our Main Gallery. The exhibition will run from September 4 through September 28, 2019, with an artist reception on Saturday, September 7th for Fort Worth’s Fall Gallery Night. ‘Picking Up the Pieces’ is Inkala’s return to the gallery following his participation in the massive group show #28grams in 2017 and comprises over fifteen acrylic on canvas paintings created within the last year. Focusing on large-scale works, he has produced several monumental 7ft by any artist 7ft pieces that are the largest the artist has ever created for a gallery setting.

In the same vein as KAWS and Keith Haring, Eric Inkala’s graffiti-turned-contemporary paintings depict environments of emotional expression and abstract escapades emphasized by bold color palettes. He uses a vocabulary full of cartoon-like imagery to explore and work through themes of love, mortality, coping and coming back from loss. Inkala’s paintings present a playful graphic language in the form of a signature character who serves as a vehicle for an autobiographical narrative. It's through this personal storyline that he is able to illustrate thoughts and emotions with expressions of shape, color and text. Inkala uses a deceivingly complex process to design his imagery by drawing, cutting, and re-assembling the broken-up form to come up with an intricate pattern. He will masterfully hand paint these unique compositions with an extreme machine-like precision that exemplifies putting the pieces back together. Three years ago, as Inkala was gearing up for his first group-exhibition with the gallery, he suffered a personal tragedy that upended his desire to paint. The artist found a way to deal with the emotional aftermath by channeling it into long hours in the studio obsessively continuing to make work. As a result, this new series has grown to be a dynamic body of paintings in which Inkala renders his own ‘return of spirit’ with skillfully executed line and color compositions that depict a deeper connection to his practice.

Picking Up the Pieces will be paired with the exhibition ‘Honey Bee’, featuring Fort Worth artist Jay Wilkinson’s graphite portrait studies on paper.

Event Details:

Picking Up the Pieces
September 4 - September 28, 2019
Fort Works Art (2100 Montgomery St, Fort Worth TX)

Opening Reception:
September 7, 2019 (Fort Worth Fall Gallery Night)
12-9 pm (open gallery)
6-9 pm (evening party)

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