“I would like the viewer to experience the errors in the process that reveal my hand and a very human experience of imperfection.”
Wyatt Kahn

Wyatt Kahn’s Pair, 2013, is comprised of a jigsaw of linen extended over impossibly curved and cropped canvas stretchers. Once combined, the puzzle pieces unite to create a kaleidoscopic surface, at once painterly and sculptural. The marriage of these disparate pieces forms a union imbued with an alabaster glow, as the various bleached surfaces interlace in chaotic splendor. Unlike other examples from this series, Kahn exhibits even further control of his wild fragments, taming them to unite in an almost perfect rectangular picture plane. The push between the jagged edges and the controlled boundaries marks Pair, 2013 as one of the most powerful examples from this celebrated series.

The intentional gap left between each section allows Kahn “to push painting into the realm of sculpture and sculpture into the realm of painting” (D. Solway, "Wyatt Kahn: Sculpting Canvas," W Magazine, April 4, 2014). Similarly to Lucio Fontana, who would perforate his monochromatic canvases with slash marks to accentuate the apparent depth of a flat surface, Kahn’s minimalistic paintings seek to explore “the role shape plays in pushing against the picture plane” and “the underlying sense that ‘something’s wrong with this picture.’ Or if not wrong, then unresolved, and on the verge of falling apart at the seams—that moment at which the subtle perceptions of everyday life can begin to emerge.” (Rachel Uffner Gallery, Bob Zoell / Wyatt Kahn (Press Release), 2013)