Constructed of luminously painted bars of cast acrylic, Freddy Chandra’s work invites the viewer into a seamlessly crafted sensational experience.  Working within the confines of a logical structure, color is drawn across the surface of the bars in such a way as to create an illusion of depth and an inner light that lend the pieces a lyrical flow. Though static, the pieces imply movement as the colors vibrate off one another, and the bars engage with the negative space of the wall that drifts between them. External space punctuates and disrupts the internal space of the work, and a rhythm is formed as presence relates to absence. This combination of structured form and fluid gesture raises the question: is one viewing an image, or an object?

Chandra, whose background in architecture strongly informs his work, views his process as one that is brought to fruition through a unique method of drawing-based mark making, rather than painting. In a recent interview with Brent Hallard for Visual Discrepancies, the artist states, “Although my current work is usually referred to as paintings, I often feel they are more about drawing. Yes, they are obviously painted. Yes, my use of color recalls that of color field painting. But the work comes together through the physical process of drawing: pulling a mark across space. In this case, I am making a distinction between making a mark in painting, and making a mark in drawing. I think that mark making in drawing is about marking space, and marking time. The clarity of the structure itself and the rhythm it creates are important in relation to the resulting experiential quality.”

Though the work possesses a seemingly manufactured quality that recalls the streamlined forms of Judd or Flavin, it has an inherent painterliness to it that separates itself from the ranks of the industrial-cast forms. “I want to make something that does not look like it’s been made,” the artist explains.  Furthering the distance from industrial form, Chandra created a series of vertical works for this exhibition that reflect on the human figure in size and scale. Freddy Chandra studied Architecture and Art Practice at the University of California at Berkeley, and obtained his M.F.A in Studio Art from Mills College in Oakland where he is currently an adjunct faculty member. He is a recipient of a 2009 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant, and has been awarded various residencies and fellowships throughout the United States. He regularly exhibits work in the US, Canada, Germany and Italy.

_____

Born in Jakarta, Indonesia
Lives and works in San Francisco, CA

Education

2004
M.F.A., Studio Art, Mills College, Oakland, CA

2002
B.A., Architecture & Art Practice, University of California, Berkeley 

Solo Exhibitions

2016
Spectral Flux, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Slipstream, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

2015
Interstices, Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2014
Tuning In, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA

2012
Drift Expanse, Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2011
Synthetic Resonance, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY
Coalesce, Fabbri Contemporary Art, Milan, Italy

2010
In Place of Equivalence, Galerie Bernd A. Lausberg, Duesseldorf, Germany
Freddy Chandra & Dean Monogenis, NEXT Art Fair with Walter Maciel Gallery, Chicago, IL 
Verge, Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2009
Listening Sequence, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA 

2007
Fugitive Horizons, Project Space, Headlands Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Residency Projects I: Three Minutes from Now, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA  

Selected Group Exhibitions

2017
Translucent, McKenzie Fine Art, New York, NY
Hybrid Forms, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2015
Seeing Time, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
Fields of Abstraction, Galerie Du Monde, Hong Kong, China

2013
New Year 2013, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2012
Surface Tension, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2011
White-Hot, Margaret Thatcher Projects, New York, NY

2010
Beyond Painting, Lausberg Contemporary, Toronto, Canada
Identity Based Vertigo, Walter Maciel Gallery, Pacific Design Center, West Hollywood, CA
Inspiration Unlimited, Walter Maciel Gallery, Pacific Design Center, West Hollywood, CA  

2009
Ri|Generazione Astratta, Fabbri Contemporary Art, Milan, Italy
Metaphysical Abstraction, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA  

2008
Pattern reDefined, Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
The Space Between, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA 

2004
Thesis Exhibition, Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA

Honors and Awards

2016
Nominee, SECA Award, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA 

2009
Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant, New York, NY 
Artist in Residence, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Woodside, CA 

2007
Artist in Residence, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA 

2006
Kala Art Institute Fellowship, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA 

2004
Herringer Prize for Excellence in Studio Art 

2003
Catherine Morgan Trefethen Fellowship, Mills College 

2002
Eisner Prize in Art, University of California, Berkeley 

1997
Regents’ Scholarship, University of California, Berkeley 

Lectures

2007
Lecture:  Expressive Textures, Headlands Center for the Arts, with composer Hubert Ho
Lecture:  Freddy Chandra & Su-Chen Hung, Kala Art Institute

Selected Public and Corporate Collections

Art in Embassies Collection, Surabaya, Indonesia
Neiman Marcus
Alameda County Art Collection
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Capital Group Art Collection

Selected Bibliography
Hoover, Justin. "Fields of Abstraction", exhibition catalog, Galerie du Monde, September 2015.
Cheng, DeWitt.  “Tuning In.” East Bay Express.  February 2014.
Baker, Kenneth. “Tuning In.” Sfgate.com  January 2014
Hallard, Brent.“A Reflection of the Synthetic.” Visual Discrepancies. August 2011
Kluth, Mary Anne. "Listening Sequence." Shotgun Review. October 2009.
Selz, Peter. "Metaphysical Abstraction." East Bay Express. October 2009.
Levy, Mark. “Metaphysical Abstraction.” Exhibition Catalague. October 2009.
Cebulski, Frank. "The Space Between." Artweek. June 2008, vol.39, Issue 5.
Selz, Peter. “Compositions of Space and Light.” Berkeley Daily Planet. 22 June 2007.
Van Proyen, Mark. “Close Calls: 2007 at the Headlands Center for the Arts.” Artweek. March 2007.
Baker, Kenneth. "Nice surprises at this year's Emerge." SF Chronicle. 15 November 2005.
Helfand, Glen. “Introduction to the Master of Fine Arts Exhibition at Mills College.” May 2004.