Graphic Serendipity

GR gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition 'Graphic Serendipity,' featuring the artworks of Adam Lister, Gavin Lynch, and Jiri Mayer. The title takes inspiration from the historical show ‘Cybernetic Serendipity’ (London, 1968) alongside from the three artists paintings in the digital generation. As the fundamental exhibition is focused on the mechanical sense as a new manner in art, GR gallery seeks to explore how digital sensibilities are integrated into contemporary painting through the unique perspectives of these artists.

The opening reception will take place on Thursday, January 16th, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. The exhibition will run from January 16th through February 8th, 2025. Press members are invited to contact GR gallery to schedule private viewings or interviews with the artist prior to the official opening. Visitors who wish to attend the reception can RSVP by contacting the gallery.

GR gallery, 255 Bowery (between Houston & Stanton) New York, NY, 10002 | info@gr-gallery.com | tel: +1 212 473 2900 | Wednesday to Sunday, 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm

As our daily lives become increasingly intertwined with technology, contemporary visual observations are shifting toward digitization. The exhibition Graphic Serendipity presents 15 paintings that explore this evolving relationship, resembling low-resolution digital screens or glitches captured in computer programs. Yet what visitors encounter are Digital Code-scapes—a new graphical style of painting that merges the originality of art with the precision of high-resolution physical quality.

These Code-scapes feature delicate, expressive works by Gavin Lynch, minimalist approaches by Adam Lister, and Jiri Mayer's nostalgic tributes to early computer programs like MS Paint. Much like the groundbreaking Cybernetic Serendipity once redefined interactions with machine sensibilities, GR gallery introduces a bold transition in contemporary painting. Through a digitized lens, this show transcends mere representations of computer screens, offering fresh perspectives on how we perceive and interact with the digital world.

ABOUT THE ARTIST 

Adam Lister (b. 1978) lives and works in Rhinebeck, New York. Lister is a visual artist whose work consists of geometric interpretations of iconic imagery and pop culture references. Lister breaks down classic images to their most elemental forms by combining the deconstructed and minimal aesthetic of pixelated graphics with the transparency of watercolor paint and the flatness of acrylic paint. These paintings are influenced by geometric thinking and a desire to capture the briefness of a mental picture. Lister’s curiosity surrounding visual perception and spatial arrangement plays with the way that he describes each image with a specific level of clarity. The artist has been in collaborated with many brands: A Bathing Ape, New Balance, UNIQLO, Disney, Pixar, Yohji Yamamoto, VHTS, Hello Kitty, Reebok, CARROTS, Nickelodeon, Sergio Tacchini, Chocoolate, GROCERY, LG ULTRA, Way of Wade, Li-Ning, Unique Board, Most Heye, Budmen Industries, Friends & Goods, Casetify.

Gavin Lynch (b. 1978) is Quebec-based artist. Gavin Lynch has quickly become a key player in the new vision of landscape painting that is invigorating this archetypal Canadian genre.  Employing a collage approach to the picture plane, Lynch resists pictorial and painterly continuity in favor of unexpected and often conflicting combinations of elements, some derived from memory, others from the artist’s imagination. Sharply delineated forms are juxtaposed with fluid areas, while highly stylized rocks and trees are painted in naturalistic colors. Wavering between material flatness and pictorial depth, luminosity and darkness, and abstraction and representation, these paintings exude an energizing tension that invites extended looking.

Jiri Mayer (b. 1990) lives and works in Brno, Czechia. Using Windows Paint (Microsoft Paint), Mayer prompts to evoke the sense of nostalgia for the digital native generation. Mayer said, the artist's artwork is a dialogue between the past and the present, bridging the gap between childhood and adulthood. Through the work with Windows Paint, Mayer aims to transport viewers back to their childhood with cybernetic nostalgia. The pixelation of lines and surfaces that results from zooming in creates an impression of uncertainty and randomness reminiscent of children’s drawings. It is through this intentional blurring of lines and shapes that the artist captures the essence of a child’s fresh gaze in the digital-ish paintings.