Marking the gallery’s inaugural exhibition of abstract painting, Don’t fence me in, debuts a collection of new work by Alicia Viebrock that redefines what it means to be free, in light of hardship from loss and separation.

Piero Atchugarry Gallery is pleased to announce Don’t fence me in, an inaugural solo exhibition by German- born abstract artist, Alicia Viebrock. The exhibition introduces the artist’s latest series of ink and acrylic abstract paintings of sizable dimension. Streaky colors in opaque masses coupled with washed-out pigments that marinate on the surface make up the walls of the exhibition space. As its title suggests, Don’t fence me in is at once a declaration of an individual that has overcome tremendous tribulations, and a promise to oneself to endure a life untethered.

Shapeshifting is possible for Viebrock, in Dopplegänger, 2022, the artist presents herself as she’d like to be seen—unapologetically—applying high-flowing ink and acrylic pigments to canvas, and with intense veracity. Sweeping color pools of blues, and reds burgeon from edge to edge, underlined with all-over drips and speckled with yellows that have been literally burned into the surface using a heat gun. Displayed in tandem are color restrictive paintings, depicting a more gentle, yet still gestural composition wherein the raw backdrop of the material used is as important as the painting itself. So as to lay down one’s arms and surrender to the canvas (or to lived experience), such is the case with Forgotten not forgiven, 2022. A cheekily titled Boy Bye, 2022, reminds us that at its core, Don’t fence me in, is a comeback story, in which the artist’s strength lies in the emphatic gestalt surfaces of her paintings and the titles that accompany them. They are complex, and sincere, reflecting the very nature of existence, like a diary recording of a moment in time, they are an instrument and result of observing, measuring, and navigating through life’s experiences.

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