On November 3rd, 2011, GUIDED BY INVOICES inaugurated its new gallery with an exhibition of paintings by Charles Andresen, curated by Chris Byrne.

Charles Andresen was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1964 and from an early age was fascinated by the art and ceremonies of the region's still vibrant Native American tribes. The geometric patterns and flat colors of this indigenous art were anything but decorative, according to Andresen. Rather, every design was a symbol for natural forces, tribal mythology and identity.

In a selection of work covering the past ten years, Andresen continues to explore the image-inducing potential of viscous acrylic "throws" embedded in fluctuating allover compositions, a method he began in 1987 while studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Andresen's technique involves the use of a putty knife to scoop and fling wet pigmented polymer onto a tilted canvas to achieve distorted atmospheric effects. Fleeting hints of previous art, the outside world, and inner states emerge from the thick impasto fields of the paintings.

Chris Byrne is an independent curator, former chairman of the board of the American Visionary Art Museum and co-founder of the Dallas Art Fair. In 2010, he organized the exhibition Peter Saul: 50 Years of Painting at Haunch of Venison in New York. This past spring, he and Gary Panter co-curated ZAP: Masters of Psychedelic Art, 1965 – 1974 for the Andrew Edlin Gallery.