Cob presents a solo booth of new paintings by American artist TJ Rinoski at NADA New York 2024. This marks Rinoski’s international art fair debut and his second collaboration with Cob - following his duo exhibition in 2022 alongside American painter Katelyn Eichwald.
TJ Rinoski’s works encapsulate stories without defined narratives—depicting still life, domestic scenes, and landscape vignettes drawn from personal memories and imagination. Rinoski’s process initiates with applying stained colours on minimally gessoed canvas, establishing a dry foundation. Employing a punch-like brush technique, he blends colour until the works emerge reminiscent of an aged photograph or postcard.
Although rooted in personal anecdotes, Rinoski’s creations aspire to evoke shared human experience. Whether recalling an elementary school trip to the aquarium or the simplicity of watching Sunday evening sports, the absence of intricate details invites viewers to momentarily inhabit his memories and construct their own narratives. Rinoski’s pieces convey the malleability of memory, highlighting how we are all transient storytellers in the realm of imagination.
The exhibited works for NADA predominantly explore depictions of water—a recurring motif for Rinoski. These works are linked by the concept of water as a grounding force, often portraying moments of tranquility amidst life’s chaos. Some portrayals are direct, showcasing coastal scenes, brimming bathtubs, or fish tanks, while others indirectly hint at water’s presence—an idle glass on a nightstand, a vase filled with flowers, a platter of fish, a faucet.
TJ Rinoski (b. 1994) Rinoski's work is an uncanny illusion touching on a humorous edge of his memory. He paints stories without clear narratives, as memories tend to be misleading and not always truthful. Rinoski's images are preconceived and gathered from tattered handwritten notes that only make sense to him. The words inscribed on his pages refer to his own experiences, photographs, and the occasional film scene.
Rinoski's process starts with staining color on minimally gessoed canvas to create a dry foundation. By blotting his brush in a punch-like manner, he blurs color until a textured artifact emerges like a dusty postcard from your grandmother's bookshelf. This matte texture mimics the palpable feeling of its subjects.
While Rinoski's works are derived from personal anecdotes, his paintings evoke shared experiences. Whether it is an elementary school field trip to the aquarium or watching sports on a sunday evening. The absence of details invites the viewer to momentarily live in the interpretation of his memories and build their own story within. Rinoski's pieces convey the flexibility of a memory, that we are all mere visitors in the storytelling of one's imagination.
TJ Rinoski lives and works in Richmond, Virginia. Solo exhibitions include Charmed, Fortnight Institute, New York, US (2023); TJ Rinoski, 68 Home Gallery, Richmond, Virginia, US (2021) and TJ Rinoski, Gallery 5, Richmond, Virginia, US (2021). Duo exhibitions include Cut: Katelyn Eichwald & TJ Rinoski, Cob Gallery, London, UK (2022); Summer Save Me, Cherry Gallery, Richmond, Virginia, US (2019); Group exhibitions include A Room With A View, Vardan Gallery, Los Angeles, California, US (2023); Outdoors, Nowhere, in Nothing, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, New York, US (2023); Charta, Fortnight Institute New York, US (2022); Summer Stage: Act Two, Auxier Kline Gallery, New York, US (2021); Buzzed, Black Iris Gallery Richmond, Virginia, US (2019); Behind The Curtain, Shopkeepers, Washington D.C, US.
