Doubles, At Least

12 Nov 2022 - 06 Jan 2023

Opening Reception:
Saturday, November 12, 6-9pm


︎ FJORD (1720 N 5th St G7)


Everything in DOUBLES, AT LEAST has a double, reflection, echo or copy of itself.

Even this show is a double and was recently exhibited in the RSM Gallery at Bentley University.

DOUBLES, AT LEAST is expressed as three forms: wooden and ceramic birds, sculptural mirrored images, and ceramic iterations of a symbol that are a shorthand for the image-work. The ceramic birds are imitations of their wooden predecessors. The paintings in the room are mirrored by ceramic tiles and slabs that are reminiscent of their antecedent but unique. In the very same way, the symbols: composed of mirrored twins– each maintain sovereign and distinct personalities within their entangled forms.

While these "copies" are "imitations"-- they are their own thing. They have autonomy and agency.  I’m reminded of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s essay, “Cezanne’s Doubt,” in which the phrase, “a picture is not a trompe-l’oeil” is repeated several times. A picture is not a trompe-l’oeil, it is something else entirely; it is a record of its author’s consciousness and the material’s consciousness that breathes and multiplies as many times as it is looked upon.

In acknowledging that this show is something different from what was shown in Waltham, MA, I have made adjustments to aspects of the work that respond to the distinct architecture of FJORD’s new [and third] space.
-AJ ROMBACH 2022

About the Artist:


AJ Rombach is an artist, educator and curator based in Massachusetts. AJ has an MFA from Boston University (2022) and a BFA from Boston University (2010.)  AJ is a 2022 Walter Feldman Fellow. AJ is a founding member and former co-director of FJORD, an artist-run space in Philadelphia and has been included in solo and group exhibitions at SPACEUS, Boston; University City Arts League, Philadelphia; Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia; Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia; Satellite Art Fair, Miami; CSA Gallery, Philadelphia; and Rodger LaPelle Gallery, Philadelphia.  AJ has helped curate exhibitions in Philadelphia, New York, Miami + Boston and has painted murals in Costa Rica, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Santa Fe, and Minneapolis. AJ taught as a lead teacher at Acorn Gallery School of Art in Marblehead, MA. AJ now lives in Leeds, MA.

1720 N 5th Street G2
Philadelphia, PA 19122