FERNBERGER

Fernberger is proud to present Les Animaux, the first solo exhibition at the gallery by Anne Wehrley Björk. Les Animaux, French for "The Animals," refers to the animal forms that emerge from the abstract canvases, turning the exhibition into a vibrant visual menagerie. While the work continues to reflect Björk’s long standing connection to Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico, it represents a departure from more representational landscapes, embracing a dynamic, expressive approach. Drawing on her childhood experiences near this UNESCO World Heritage Site, Björk’s paintings explore the spiritual energy of the ancient Anasazi ruins and the transformative desert light, shifting toward a more expressionistic interpretation of the landscape. Animal spirits, once subtly referenced, now take center stage in pictographic forms set against parchment-colored backgrounds that evoke the expansive skies and rugged sandstone of Björk’s childhood environment.

Born in 1948, Anne Wehrley Björk splits her time between Charleston, SC and Lexington, KY, but her artistic identity is rooted in New Mexico. Growing up near Chaco Canyon, Björk absorbed the petroglyphs etched into canyon walls and the sacred, unpolluted night sky. Björk’s focus on light and form has defined her career since the 1970s, when she studied at the University of New Mexico with influential women artists including Agnes Martin, Joan Brown, Susan Rothenberg, and Deborah Butterfield, who were all drawn to the distinct terrain there. The connection to New Mexico's vast landscapes and natural beauty profoundly shaped Björk’s approach to abstraction and her rich use of color.

While earlier works focused on more traditional abstract landscapes, Les Animaux represents a shift to a more expressive and visceral depiction of the region that has shaped Björk’s artistic voice. The title also reflects the blend of influences in her life, from her childhood in Chaco Canyon to her time in the South of France, where she adopted a Fauvist palette, to her current life in Charleston, surrounded by lush flora and fauna. This fusion of environments creates a unique landscape where the energy of the New Mexican desert is infused with the vibrancy of her present surroundings.

In Les Animaux, Björk begins each painting with what she calls "the bones" — glyphic marks in Prussian Blue and deep purples — before layering vibrant colors to form dynamic compositions filled with thick impasto. Drawing inspiration from Joan Mitchell’s work, the "negative space" in Björk’s paintings is as active and layered as the colorful elements, capturing the spiritual essence of the desert landscape and creating a powerful visual tension. Like Mitchell, Björk’s paintings are not merely about representation but an expression of the emotional essence of her surroundings.

Les Animaux invites viewers into a dynamic visual world, where color, shape, and spirit merge to animate the canvas. This new body of work highlights Björk’s ongoing evolution as an artist, continuing to draw from the landscapes that have shaped her, while embracing a bold, expressive approach.

The exhibition will be on view from March 7 to April 19, 2025. For images, press requests or more information, please contact Fernberger Gallery at info@fernbergergallery.com or call 917-831-6931.

Anne Wehrley Björk (b. 1948), lives and works between Lexington, KY and Charleston, SC, and originally hails from New Mexico, which has deeply inflected her work. Chaco Canyon, near where she grew up in Northwest New Mexico, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the ancestral home of the prehistoric Anasazi Indians. It is one of only 130 international sites designated as a “Dark Sky Park'', where the night sky is devoid of any light pollution. Bjork’s current body of work is an investigation into this landscape of her youth, as well as its very particular light quality. The pathways, sandstone walls, and the petroglyphs of the Anasazi ruins there etched in her mind. Despite an affinity towards abstraction, in Björk’s own words, “There is a subtle narrative that takes place to be discerned by the viewer. Boulders appear poised to fall while a demi-lune floats in others. The light of turbulent skies adds dynamism in some of the paintings, while an Impressionist use of juxtaposed warm and cool colors create a softness in others, and crepuscule [dusk], overtakes the forms in others.”

The arc of Björk’s career resembles that of many female painters of her generation--despite beginning her career in the 1970s, her work is finally gaining broader recognition now, later in her career. During her graduate studies at the University of New Mexico, she trained with Agnes Martin, Joan Brown, Susan Rothenberg, and Deborah Butterfield, fellow women artists similarly drawn to the atmospheric quality specific to New Mexico, who encouraged her practice. Her commitment to the subject of Chaco Canyon has been consistent throughout, a constant in a career underpinned by a thorough investigation of light, color, and form.