Space776 New York is pleased to present Flat Theater, a two-person exhibition featuring artists Alex W. Rader and Jeffrey Morabito. Showcasing 20 paintings, this exhibition explores time- and space-based approaches to viewing and engaging with flat, canvas-based artwork. Curated by Bowie Bo Gyung Kim, this project highlights emerging New York-based painters and their unique perspectives.

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Paintings are often described as scenes within a narrative. Interestingly, whether or not the artist intends it, a painting’s narrative heavily depends on each viewer’s individual experiences. When viewers bring their own perspectives to the storyline suggested by the artist, a unique connection happens between the artist, the artwork, and the viewer. This dynamic relationship adds an intriguing layer of context to flat artwork. With the exhibition Flat Theater, curated by Bowie Bo Gyung Kim, Space776 invites viewers to experience painting as a form of theater, taking on each viewer’s personal interpretation. This two-person exhibition features works by Alex W Rader and Jeffrey Morabito, showcasing their distinctive approaches to form dialogues.

The title Flat Theater draws inspiration from the "experimental theater" movement that emerged in the 1950s and 60s. Unlike conventional theater, experimental theater sought to create avant-garde productions, often incorporating elements of performance art and time-based moving images without a detailed narrative. This approach invited audiences to interpret the plot or storyline based on their own perspectives and experiences, observing each moment as it unfolded. Similarly, the works in Flat Theater merely suggest scenes with a sense of intrigue. Through the imagined contexts of each piece, Rader and Morabito’s paintings encourage viewers to construct their own narratives, drawing actively from each artwork or series to interpret the stories within.

In this way, their artworks in this exhibition can be viewed as spaces through the lens of linguistic tenses. Rader’s paintings capture moments at their conclusion, representing an unfolding future and prompting questions about causation rooted in the past. In contrast, Morabito’s Lost series portrays moments in the midst of the story, embodying the already-unfolded present and sparking curiosity about what might happen next. Yet both artists bring these moments from the physical present, grounding their works in the “now,” where the viewer engages with them. Through this time-space based approach, Rader and Morabito offer a new perspective on “watching” paintings, inviting viewers to interact with their works as they would a theatrical performance—not merely as static images, but as dynamic scenes unfolding over time, where the viewer becomes an active participant in interpreting the narrative.

Both artists, Rader and Morabito, primarily invite viewers into the space within the canvas. They not only depict space as a background for the physical painting but also transform the canvas into an arena where events unfold. These events—whether drawn from real narratives in their lives or shaped by the artists' imaginations—feature objects arranged to tell their unique stories. Rather than capturing hyper-realistic moments like a photograph, they create moments re-envisioned through the artists' narrative lens. Just as viewers experience a sense of reality when immersed in a carefully crafted TV show, Rader and Morabito's paintings bring us to a point where the narratives we uncover resonate with a powerful sense of reality.