Ian Davis's third solo exhibition at the gallery will feature twelve paintings created between 2010 and 2012. Depicting dramatic scenes in which groups of uniformly attired men engage in enigmatic situations, he addresses the dominant socio-political issues of our time with imagination, humor, and horror.

The title of the exhibition refers to a strategy used by preachers to examine different aspects of complex ideas. Just as one might inspect the facets of a diamond by turning it over in the light, Davis offers his viewers multiple possibilities for understanding his narrative intentions. While contemplating subjects such as wealth, collapse, futility and hubris, he creates a diverse population of oligarchs, imposters, subversives, scientists, African soldiers, TV journalists, insurance adjusters, and “various types of frauds and charlatans.”

In a formal departure from the flat patterning and ordered geometry of his earlier work, many of the recent paintings are newly energized by circular compositions and spiraling vortex-like structures. In Curriculum Vitae (2011) Davis stages a vainglorious celebration around concentric banquet tables. In Subversives (2012), a secret is shared among throngs of black-suited men who emerge from a seemingly endless tunnel. Gigantic turbines obscure the machinations of white-coated scientists in Hubris (2010). What conspiracies might be hatching in an icy cave deep below the earth in Resource (2011)?

Born in Indianapolis in 1972, Ian Davis lives and works in upstate New York. A solo exhibition of his paintings took place in 2010 at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City. Works by Ian Davis are in the collections of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, the Saatchi Gallery, and many distinguished private collections in the U.S. and Europe.

Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects is located on the sixth floor of 535 West 22nd Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. Gallery hours are 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.