DIRTY LAUNDRY: a solo exhibition of works by Layne Kleinart

ZINC contemporary is pleased to presents DIRTY LAUNDRY, a solo exhibition of works by Layne Kleinart. With this body of work, the artist depicts children and animals, exploring the transient nature of innocence and memory in gestural paintings on second-hand bedsheets and pillow cases. Kleinart explores the use of natural stains, such as coffee and beet juice as well as raw pigments on repurposed linens. The unpredictable interaction of materials and subtle nuances, highlight the the passage of time in these portraits. Figures and heads, both animal and human, function as ethereal facades that can hide, reveal or blur the subject’s intentions. The images are haunting, yet curious and playful. Kleinart first began using second-hand sheets when she was exploring materials that were easily transportable on cross-country trips. Rather than mask the identity of these found materials, Kleinart embraces and accentuates their original purpose by suspending them from the wall, to shift with the air currents and the movement of the viewer.

Layne Kleinart is a Seattle-based artist who holds Fine Art degrees in Painting from the University of Hawaii and Printmaking from the University of Washington. She has shown nationally at institutions such as the Seattle Art Museum, the Portland Art Museum and 5+5 Gallery in New York. Internationally, her work has been featured at Instituto de Artes Graficas de Oaxaca, Mexico, and the Shenzhen Art Institute, China. Kleinart has also served the arts community on numerous boards, including the Seattle Art Museum Contemporary Art Council Board, the Pratt Fine Arts Center Board of Trustees and UW School of Art +Art History + Design Advisory Board.