Detail from Joe Biel’s graphite on paper work, Pistol, which forms part of a new group
show at Nettie Horn in London

The Nettie Horn gallery in London has just launched a group show entitled The Clearing. Featuring the work of four different artists, the exhibition includes the bleak graphite offerings of LA-based artist Joe Biel. Clearly a master with a pencil, Biel’s work doesn’t simply exude technical ability but, rather, hints at deeper, more sinister themes: skulls, guns and, er, rabbits with their backs turned (spooky!) all feature in his intruiging drawings, on show at the gallery.

Aria by Joe Biel

The Clearing by Joe Biel

Culled from the website of the Greg Kucera Gallery, here Biel explains what drives his work:

“I am most interested in charged human situations,” he says. “This interest is reflected through various means in particular works; sometimes by portraying a particular moment or event, but more often by showing the moment before or after an action which is not named or specified. I’m more interested in the suggestion of narrative possibilities than in clearly resolved linear narratives, though it seems important that certain details (i.e. gestures, expressions, clothing, object types) remain quite specific. For me it is in the possibility of the more general metaphor meeting the peculiarly specific that images start to realize a greater, more layered potential.”

The Viewer by Joe Biel

Pistol by Joe Biel

The Clearing also features work by artists Rebecca Stevenson, Alex Ball and Stephanie Quayle and is on show at the Nettie Horn gallery until 10 February.

Nettie Horn
25b Vyner Street
London E2 9DG