Kevin Appel Explores Rhythm and Restraint in New York Exhibition 'Intervals'

A new body of work expands Appel’s geometric abstraction through color and material experimentation.

Intervals, a new solo exhibition by Kevin Appel, professor and chair of the Department of Art at the UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts, opens Feb. 19 at Miles McEnery Gallery in New York. On view through March 28, the exhibition marks Appel’s fourth solo presentation with the gallery and is accompanied by a fully illustrated publication featuring an essay by art historian Bridget R. Cooks.

In Intervals, Appel presents a body of work that signals a measured yet decisive shift in his practice. Where earlier paintings were defined by dense patterning and compressed surfaces, these new works unfold into expansive fields of calibrated color and line. Breath, rhythm and pause take on greater significance.

“The work is shifting, and right now it feels crucial that I don’t have an end result in mind,” Appel said. “It’s been more about being present and disciplined in the process.”

Central to this evolution is Appel’s use of liquid pigment dispersions, modified with varying binders to control density, opacity and the way color settles and holds light. The material remains active only briefly, making timing integral to the process. Before the surface dries, Appel disrupts it through wiping, spraying and lifting, often allowing gravity to intervene.

“The material demands a kind of responsiveness,” he said. “It pushes back, it misbehaves. That unpredictability is what gives the surface its life.”

Warm and cool tonalities move in subtle counterpoint, reinforcing the works’ sense of levity and openness. In her accompanying essay, Cooks writes that Appel’s “affective color palette ranges from reserved pastels to jewel tones,” with combinations that create distinct moods and encourage sustained engagement. She adds that the forms appear to move from left to right, as though the viewer is reading them like writing.

Together, the paintings invite sustained looking. Layered surfaces reveal a quiet choreography of time, gesture and perception that underscores Appel’s ongoing inquiry into geometric abstraction.

Born in Los Angeles in 1967, Appel received an M.F.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a B.F.A. from Parsons School of Design in New York. He has served on the faculty at UC Irvine for more than two decades and currently leads the Department of Art at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts.

Appel has presented solo exhibitions at institutions and galleries including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Museo Rufino Tamayo, and galleries in New York, Los Angeles, London and Auckland. His work has been included in group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Walker Art Center, among others.

His paintings are held in major public collections, including the Hammer Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

For more information about Intervals, visit Miles McEnery Gallery.

Image (Top): Kevin Appel, Untitled (3 Bands Golden Hour), detail, 2025, Pigment dispersion, acrylic, and oil on linen over panel