Andy Cross

Hionas Gallery is pleased to present Face to Face, a solo exhibition of new and recent oil paintings by artist Andy Cross. This show features a curated selection of double-sided paintings on canvas, all including a portrait on at least one side. As the world entered lockdown nearly two years ago, Cross instinctively turned – and in a sense, returned – to portraiture, reveling in the resilience and aura of self-empowerment that the practice embodies.

Face to Face showcases a human-scale oil painting mounted to a movable base in the gallery’s center. Cross’ subjects are oriented to engage with viewers from both sides at eye level as one navigates the space. A selection of smaller double-sided paintings are mounted perpendicularly to the gallery walls, performing a dialogue between the two sides as well as the varied influences that inform them.

Many of art history’s grandest narratives and archetypal imagery are present, implicit in the details and spanning centuries of styles and movements. Within a single frame, Cross may splice gestural abstraction with a somber, Renaissance-esque portraiture style, or vibrant and painterly Fauvist pastels with the bravado of Spanish royalty posing for Velázquez. “The dilemma for me has always been how to fit all that moves and drives me into a single painting,” says Cross.

Cross’ choice to use both sides of the canvas goes beyond economy of materials or a need to experiment. In fostering dialogues between subjects, influences, and even the artist’s own past and present, Cross allows for a “recycling aesthetic” to occur. Each double-sided painting acts as a time capsule. Several years, even a decade can stand between the moments when each side of the canvas was painted. While Cross’ subjects are suspended in time, the “intuitive pairings” he concocts reveal an artist’s thoughts and instincts in continual motion. “You can never escape your own hand.”

Andy Cross is an artist, curator, and educator originally from Richmond, VA. He has exhibited widely throughout the U.S. and Europe since 2004, and several of his works are included among the Maramotti Collection in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Face to Face marks his first time exhibiting with Hionas Gallery. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.