Opening Reception

Saturday July 11, 3–6 pm

Andy Louie has returned from the virtual studio to the physical realm of paint, canvas, drying times, and the absorbent tack of paper. Aftera deep foray into the digital lands of composition, beginning in the early zoom days of 2020, Andy brings new sensibilities of connection and craft to his visual work, all of which is based around the buttons and knobs of modular synthesizers. These motherboards contain neighborhoods, inputs and outputs connecting people and pets, trees and boxy cars. Energy moves from place to place and seems to electrify certain figures. Like Agnes Martin, Andy Louie asks important questions of the Grid. What does that button do? Is it different from a knob? Where does the sky begin? Can connect two cats and a bird? What is a birds-eye view anyway? Alongside Andy's visual art practice, he is a dedicated member of the Videotones digital media collective, and half of the Jandyband, a musical duo (Joel Stotesbery and Andy Louie) whose homegrown collaborative process utilizes chance-based systems, open-ended prompts, and free improvisation alongside an idiosyncratic gear setup that combines traditional instruments with digital and analog hardware, effects processors, software synthesizers and music apps.

Buttons and Knobs, Right and Left asks us questions about what differentiates visual and musical composition. Can you do both at the same time?