(before image)
“Tesselescence” is a series which combines the concepts of “tessellation” (a two-dimensional pattern with a three-dimensional effect) and “obsolescence,” be it unintentional or planned. "Tesselescence (The Franklin Outdoor)" was a painted installation The Franklin Outdoor: an outdoor gallery in Chicago’s Garfield Park founded in 2012 by artist Edra Soto, and Dan Sullivan. For the installation, Haftner used mistinted latex from the local hardware store to create a sporadically-coloured tumbling blocks tessellation pattern on the gallery’s exterior walls. The painted pattern is intersected by the iconic geometry of The Franklin, which in turn is transposed by the geometry of the cubed tessellation, producing a continuous visual oscillation between decorative and structural pattern.
In this way, the Haftner’s intervention on the Franklin becomes a framing device for the other exhibited works: a show titled “Still Life”, with works by Marzena Abrahamik, Regina Agu, Alberto Aguilar, Kyle Bellucci Johanson, Lionel Cruet, Devin T Mays, Else Munoz, Caroline Robe, Kellie Romany, Onajide Shabaka, Marcela Torres, Rodrigo Valenzuela, Norma Vila Rivero, and Amy Vogel, curated by Edra Soto.
Mistinted latex paint, The Franklin Outdoor_305 x 305 x 244cm_2021-2022
At the evening of the opening, “Tesselescence (The Franklin Outdoor)” became a stage for live music performed by Dan Sullivan and his Folk Rock band, Nad Navillus. The gallery is open to the public year round, regardless of the weather, by appointment.