Social ledger

3 October – 7 November 2024

Nick Modrzewski

Curated by Maximiliane Leuschner

Sarah Kravitz is delighted to present Social Ledger, a new exhibition ofpaintings by Nick Modrzewski, the Los Angeles-based artist’s first soloshow in the UK. Curated by Maximiliane Leuschner, the exhibition willopen on 3 October 2024 and run through 2 November.

Reminiscent of accounting ledgers, which precisely record a company’stransactions, social ledgers capture human activity: each flow of the bodyacross another body, every conversation, debate, and disagreement.Modrzewski seeks to record these engagements in his paintings, looselydepicting bodies as they move through a vast network of social entanglements.In doing so, he explores how painting can function as a dynamic ledger, markedwith the often-abstract inscriptions of human interaction, human interaction.

An artist's studio with a young man sitting on a black office chair, surrounded by artwork. The walls are decorated with sketches, paintings, and color tests. A large colorful abstract painting is behind him. The floor has visible paint marks.

The dualities within the paintings—flatness and volume, construction anddeletion, opacity and transparency—mirror the tensions inherent within anyrecord-keeping system, where moments of clarity dissolve into ambiguity, andthe ‘ledger’ gives way to a more fluid, elusive account.

Contemporary abstract paintings displayed in a white art gallery with bright lighting and tiled floors.
Abstract modern painting with swirling colors and textures, including white, green, purple, brown, and orange on a canvas displayed on a gallery wall.

Nick Modrzewski
Record No.1
2024
Acrylic and charcoal on linen
220 x 200 cm

Meanwhile, fragmentedand distorted forms, caught in frenetic moments of movement andmetamorphosis, reflect how bodies might slip between categories as they are‘logged’ in the social ledger, shaped by etiquette, law and language. Ultimately,the exhibition explores the ways in which painting, through its accumulation ofmarks, traces and erasures, can archive the body as it shifts physical states andengages with the socially constructed world.

Abstract painting with a figure of a woman with long hair, surrounded by colorful, swirling shapes and patterns.

Nick Modrzewski
Record No.3
2024
Acrylic and charcoal on linen
180 x 160 cm

Nick Modrzewski (b.1988, Melbourne) lives and works in Los AngelesHe holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Victorian College of the Artsand a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Melbourne.

Solo exhibitions of his work have been held at COMA (Sydney); TheCabin (Los Angeles); Discordia (Melbourne); Watch This Space (AliceSprings); First Draft (Sydney) and The Melbourne Art Fair.

Abstract watercolor painting with flowing lines and soft colors, featuring shades of blue, pink, and purple, hung on a white gallery wall.

Nick Modrzewski
Record No.2
2024
Acrylic and charcoal on linen
61 x 76 cm

His work has been included in group exhibitions at theTimes Museum(Guangzhou, China); The Armory Show with Ames Yavuz (New York); theInstitute of Contemporary Arts (Singapore); the Monash UniversityMuseum of Art (Melbourne, curated by Jennifer Higgie); La Trobe Art In-stitute (Bendigo); Blindside (Melbourne); Sydney Contemporary; COMA;the Margaret Lawrence Gallery (Melboure) and the Contour SculptureBiennial (Canberra).

Abstract contemporary art piece on gallery wall with swirling lines and muted colors.

Nick Modrzewski
Record No.7
2024
Acrylic and charcoal on linen
150 x 130 cm

Abstract painting with a mix of colors and textures hung on a white gallery wall.

Nick Modrzewski
Record No.8
2024
Acrylic and charcoal on linen
150 x 130 cm