Amos Eno Gallery is pleased to present Redwood Ripples, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Grant Whipple. The exhibition explores not only how climate change can be represented, but how it directly reshapes the act of making itself. Created in the aftermath of intense winter storms, these works emerged from a studio transformed by rising floodwaters, shifting debris, and persistent uncertainty, prompting the artist to adapt his process in response to rapidly changing conditions.

Across the exhibition, torrents of watery pigment pool, disperse, and stain the canvas, allowing each surface to twist, warp, and respond to its own evolving conditions. Rust, sediment, and accumulated residue evoke the movement of mud and detritus across the forest floor, collapsing the boundary between image and material. Freed from traditional stretcher frames, the paintings hang directly from strips of local redwood, remaining physically responsive as they flex, curl, and breathe within the gallery space.

The exhibition is also rooted in Whipple's longstanding practice of growing plants in glass jars of water, carefully tending them by adding water each day and observing the intricate growth of their exposed roots. That sustained act of care gradually seeped into his painting practice. Rather than simply applying pigment, Whipple began "watering" his paintings — repeatedly reintroducing moisture as a gesture of preservation, resilience, and endurance.

The paintings themselves echo this cycle of continual adaptation. Raised from the ground and suspended from redwood supports, they evoke the physical sensation of rising, awakening, and struggling to remain upright. They become metaphors for persistence through environmental instability — for holding on through atmospheric rivers, tornado sirens, growth, and decay. As surfaces erode and pigments shift, deeper layers of carbon black and iron red emerge, revealing material histories that were present all along.

Embracing ephemerality, instability, and transformation, Whipple invites environmental forces to become active collaborators in the work. Here, surrender is not an act of defeat, but a willingness to accept the evolving aesthetics of a planet in transition.

The gallery will celebrate the exhibition with an opening reception on Friday, July 24, from 6 to 8 p.m. Works and installation images will also be available on Artsy.

The gallery will be open for its usual hours (Thursdays through Sundays, noon to 6 p.m.) through July 26. In August, the gallery will be open on Saturdays and Sundays only from noon to 6 p.m. through August 23.

About the Artist

Grant Whipple is an artist and educator whose studio practice focuses on twenty-first century ecological emergencies, technological innovations, and porous borders through drawing, painting, and process-based experimentation. Born in Chicago, Whipple received his BA from DePauw University and an MFA from Michigan State University. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Art Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. 

About Amos Eno Gallery

Founded in 1974 in SoHo, Amos Eno Gallery has been a fixture of New York City's nonprofit arts community for more than fifty years. Now located on the Lower East Side, the gallery is operated by a community of professional artists from New York City and across the country, together with a part-time director.

Amos Eno Gallery's programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Amos Eno Gallery is also funded in part thanks to the generosity of the Joseph Roberts Foundation.

For more information, please contact Gallery Director Ellen Sturm Niz at info@amoseno.org.

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