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John Henderson
The Frugal Genius
January 24 - March 12, 2011

For Henderson, the practice of painting functions as both a performance and a symbolic field, a daily activity through which to examine, dismantle, reconfigure and question the traditionally unique aura of self-expression. Engaging with multiple bodies of work simultaneously, his practice is more discursive than declarative. Henderson pushes the initial immediacy of his painterly investigations through processes associated with serial reproduction, framing expression as an open-ended question rather than a resolution. The resultant works can be read both as conceptual analyses and highly formal objects. These works present painting as a self-perpetuating system of visual signs in flux, where the activity of "the painter" occurs within and outside the surface of the painting simultaneously.


Press release (pdf)
Henderson CV (pdf)

John Henderson at T293, Naples, 2011.
John Henderson at Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, 2011.
Michelle Grabner, Artforum, 2011.
Marissa Perel, Time Out Chicago, 2011.

1 Henderson_Cast_Vertical

John Henderson, Cast, Cast aluminum, 2011, 20 x 15 x 1.5 inches.

2 Henderson_2010_Cast_Vertical2010

John Henderson, Cast, Cast aluminum, 2010, 20 x 15 x 1.5 inches.

3 Henderson_Cleanings_GOLDEN

John Henderson, Still from the video Cleanings, 2010, Digital video, 6 min 54 sec loop, Edition of 5.

4 Henderson_Cast_Horizontal

John Henderson, Cast, 2011, Cast aluminum, 15 x 20 x 1.5 inches.

5 Henderson_Cast_Horizontal(detail)

John Henderson, Cast (detail), 2011, Cast aluminum, 15 x 20 x 1.5 inches.

6 Henderson_Flowers

John Henderson, Flowers, 2010, Photograph, 10 x 8 inches.

7 Henderson_2011_Untitled_Painting

John Henderson, Untitled Painting, 2011, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.

8 Henderson_2011_Untitled_Painting(detail)

John Henderson, Untitled Painting (detail), 2011, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.

9 Henderson_2011_Untitled_Painting2

John Henderson, Untitled Painting, 2011, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.

10 Henderson_2010_Untitled_Painting

John Henderson, Untitled Painting, 2010, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.

11 Henderson_2010_Untitled_Painting2

John Henderson, Untitled Painting, 2010, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.

12 Henderson_2010_Untitled_Painting2(detail)

John Henderson, Untitled Painting (detail), 2010, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.

13 Henderson_Flowers2

John Henderson, Flowers, 2010, Photograph, 10 x 8 inches.

Henderson_install_GOLDEN_1

Installation view

Henderson_install_GOLDEN_2

Installation view

Henderson_install_GOLDEN_3

Installation view

Henderson_install_GOLDEN_4

Installation view

Henderson_install_GOLDEN_5

Installation view

Henderson_install_GOLDEN_7

Installation view

John Henderson, Cast, Cast aluminum, 2011, 20 x 15 x 1.5 inches.John Henderson, Cast, Cast aluminum, 2010, 20 x 15 x 1.5 inches.John Henderson, Still from the video Cleanings, 2010, Digital video, 6 min 54 sec loop, Edition of 5.John Henderson, Cast, 2011, Cast aluminum, 15 x 20 x 1.5 inches.John Henderson, Cast (detail), 2011, Cast aluminum, 15 x 20 x 1.5 inches.John Henderson, Flowers, 2010, Photograph, 10 x 8 inches.John Henderson, Untitled Painting, 2011, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.John Henderson, Untitled Painting (detail), 2011, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.John Henderson, Untitled Painting, 2011, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.John Henderson, Untitled Painting, 2010, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.John Henderson, Untitled Painting, 2010, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.John Henderson, Untitled Painting (detail), 2010, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches.John Henderson, Flowers, 2010, Photograph, 10 x 8 inches.Installation viewInstallation viewInstallation viewInstallation viewInstallation viewInstallation view