Current Exhibition: The Chicken, The Box: New Works by Max Yawney. Max Yawney’s paintings involve the pairing of two disparate images on two separate supports. The two abstract images presented function as elements of a presented situation. Each element has no particular narrative, except as a contributor to the situation. The visual impact is similar to the viewing of a large tree with a bicycle leaning against it. The tree and the bicycle have no relationship to each other in pragmatic terms, however the relationship is formed due to their situation and their implicit beauty in contrast. Yawney’s paintings expand our understanding of the complex conversation between objects in our visual world, as well as, our understanding of painting as object. Yawney’s paint handling amply demonstrates this dialogue between the two disparate images using color, texture, and depth. The paint varies from loose and fluid to structural and composed. Yawney’s endless concern is quite like that of a poet working to place individual words with strong sonic, intellectual, and/or textural qualities against one another into an ordered context. Max Yawney lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He has been painting since the mid 80’s. The current project using two separate canvases began in 1996. I.O.I. - Items of Importance, is a new space located near the B.A.M. Cultural District of Fort Greene, Brooklyn. We specialize in exhibitions and installations by emerging and mid-career artists and designers, with the integration of talks, readings, and performances. We commission diverse and thought-provoking works of art and design. I.O.I began in November of 2007.