CIRQUE NOIR
CIRQUE NOIR O C T O B E R 7 TH - 2 8 TH, 2 0 1 7
AFA GALLERY IS PROUD TO PRESENT: Cirque Noir, an exhibition of new work by artists Kelly Denato, Kathie Olivas, and Stickymonger. In an exploration of the dichotomies present in our everyday lives, Cirque Noir features a series of paintings and sculptures that challenge our perception of good and bad, beautiful and ugly, real and superficial. Artists Kelly Denato, Kathie Olivas, and Stickymonger, each working in diverse media, address these dichotomies through figurative work that is at first blush visually engaging and beautiful, and which, under closer examination reveals its complex symbolism. Cirque Noir will be on view from October 7th - 28th, with an opening reception on October 7th from 6-8pm.
AFA G A LLE R Y
54 GREENE ST. NEW YORK, NY 10013 P: 212.226.7374 E: INFO@AFANYC.COM WWW.AFANYC.COM
@AFANYC
K E L LY D E N A T O Brooklyn-based artist Kelly Denato works in a variety of industries and mediums. She works professionally in animation, illustration, and design with clients such as Nickelodeon, American Eagle Outfitters, Clinique, InStyle Magazine, and Timex. Denato also regularly exhibits her paintings, drawings, sculptures, and soft sculptures in galleries across the US. “What inspires Denato is the beauty of optimism, and its inherent tragedy, just before disappointment. Her paintings, which are marked by darkness as well as gleeful exuberance, are emotional expressions of this elusive pursuit for meaning and the simultaneity of ill-fated happiness. Denato’s painting technique is characterized by meticulous and tiny strokes layered on a textured background. Her colors are glistening and candy-like, often lifting her characters out of darkness as if they have been carved by lacerating colors. Her genius is her ability richly layer paint while still employing economy in the use of her line, maintaining an empathetic sense of gesture. Her characters are often floating and tangled, drawn with a masterfully delicate illustrator’s hand and an eye for the whimsically sardonic. Denato’s process speaks to the surreal and fluctuating world that her subjects inhabit. In the Artist’s words “Everything starts with drawing. I will draw as often as possible in a kind of “stream of consciousness.”As patterns, imagery, and symbols begin to emerge, a theme presents itself. Like a Rorschach test of my own doodles, I interpret meaning from those symbols. Then I develop from there, symbols feeding into meaning and meaning into symbols in an infinite a loop.” – Liz Artinian, Bunnycutlet Gallery, NY
Kelly Denato “Stargazer” Acrylic on Wood Panel 60 x 60 Inches
Kelly Denato “I’ll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours” Acrylic on Wood Panel 60 x 60 Inches
Kelly Denato “I Am More Than What You See” Acrylic on Wood Panel 30 x 40 Inches
Kelly Denato “The Death of the Dancing Bear” Acrylic on Wood Panel 36 x 48 Inches
Kelly Denato “Just Sitting Here Playing the Blooms” Acrylic on Wood Panel 24 x 30 Inches
Kelly Denato “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” Acrylic on Wood Panel 48 x 60 Inches
Kelly Denato “Then, Now, Forever” Acrylic on Wood Panel 24 x 30 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 1” Cast Resin, Acrylic Paint, Swarovski Crystal, Imitation Gold Leaf 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 2” Cast Resin, Imitation Gold Leaf 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 3” Cast Resin, Sculpting Resin, Imitation Gold Leaf 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 4” Cast Resin, Sculpting Resin, Imitation Gold Leaf 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 5” Cast Resin, Swarovski Crystals, Gold Enamel 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 6” Cast Resin & Imitation Gold Leaf 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 7” Cast Resin, Sculpting Resin, Imitation Gold Leaf, Swarovski Crystals 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 8” Cast Resin, Acrylic Paint, Imitation Gold Leaf 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 9” Cast Resin & Acrylic Paint 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 10” Cast Resin & Acrylic Paint 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 11” Cast Resin & Acrylic Paint 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 12” Cast Resin & Acrylic Paint 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 13” Cast Resin & Acrylic Paint 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 14” Cast Resin, Sculpting Resin, Imitation Gold Leaf 3 x 5 Inches
Kelly Denato “Mask 15” Cast Resin, Chrome Powder, Swarovski Crystals 3 x 5 Inches
K AT H I E O L I VA S Kathie Olivas is an internationally exhibited multi-media artist from New Mexico. Through her current body of work, the Misery Children, she explores society’s insatiable desire to assign ‘cuteness’ and our discomfort with the unknown. A dark blend of early American portraiture set in post apocalyptic times, Kathie’s paintings and custom toys are a satirical look at how fear affects our sense of reality. One of the central questions raised in Kathie’s work is that of ‘what if’: what if these ‘cute’ creatures had their own agenda? Are they attune to something beyond our understanding, or are we simply too cowardly to acknowledge it? Are their misshapen limbs and plated mouths a deformation from living in a desolate wasteland, or perhaps an adaptation for protection? The Misery Children are meant to evoke a nostalgic reaction that reflects isolation, fear and an uncertainty, yet they also act as empowered alter egos. While these characters explore their new lonely worlds, they double as our narrators. They guide us through their reality as they experience it and yet, even in their company, we are granted no reassurance.
Kathie Olivas “No. 3 Alive” Oil, Acrylic, & Glass Gems on Wood Panels 68 x 12 Inches
Kathie Olivas “Create and Destroy” Oil, Acrylic, & Found Objects on Antiqued Wood Panels 24 x 12 Inches
Kathie Olivas “Flood” Oil, Acrylic, Glass Gems, & Found Objects on Wood Panel with Art Resin and Antiqued Finish 24 x 12 Inches
Kathie Olivas “Witching Hour” Oil, Acrylic, & Found Objects on Wood Panels with Art Resin & Antiqued Finish 61 x 30 Inches
Kathie Olivas “Black Armor Lizzie” Mixed Media 17 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Buttercup” Mixed Media 12.5 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Girl with Cat” Mixed Media 18 Inches Tall (Cat on Cart is 9 Inches Tall)
Kathie Olivas “Hypno Jester” Mixed Media 25 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Mermaid” Mixed Media 11.5 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Pink Apocalypse Elizabeth” Mixed Media 18.5 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Pure” Mixed Media 24 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Rosebud” Mixed Media 22 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Seated Esther” Mixed Media 9.5 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Two Faced Girl Series: Black Rabbit Apothecary” Mixed Media 25 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Two Faced Girl Series: Channeler” Mixed Media 23 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Two Faced Girl Series: Eleanor” Oil, Acrylic & Epoxy Resin on Cast Resin 16.5 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Two Faced Girl Series: Encrusted Snowdrop Rabbit” Mixed Media 18 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Two Faced Girl Series: Harley” Mixed Media 17.5 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Two Faced Girl Series: Ivy May” Mixed Media 11 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Two Faced Girl Series: Octopus Girl” Mixed Media 19.5 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Valentine Clover� Mixed Media 11 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas and Lana Crooks “Violet Bat Girl” Mixed Media Sculpture with Articulated Velvet Wings 21 Inches Tall
Kathie Olivas “Zinnia” Mixed Media 14.5 Inches Tall
STICKYMONGER Stickymonger is a New York-based artist who has an obsession with converting spaces into imaginary worlds that emerge as giant mural installations. Stickymonger’s murals are composed of black “stickers,” meticulously cut from giant sheets of vinyl and installed piece-by-piece by the artist, creating images that melt and flow together like rivers of ink cascading down the gallery’s walls. Her tactile and visual obsession with fluid and sticky blackness is directly related to her childhood experiences. Growing up in Korea, in a home adjacent to her family’s gas station, Stickymonger’s backyard housed six fuel-storage garages. There, the future artist would hide among the oil cans, often stepping in, and playing with, the dense black petroleum puddles that were ubiquitous in her world. Her subjects are visceral — darkness, prejudice, and anxiety are represented as holes, eyes, and little girls, allowing the viewer to vicariously experience Stickymonger’s sardonic signification viewpoint of human nature.
Stickymonger “An Ordinary Day” Acrylic on Canvas 24 Inch Diameter
Stickymonger “Dotting and Dotted” Acrylic on Canvas 36 Inch Diameter
Stickymonger “The Complicated” Acrylic on Canvas 36 Inch Diameter
Stickymonger “The Last Swimming on Earth” Acrylic on Canvas 24 Inch Diameter
Stickymonger “Relax in Anxiety” Acrylic on Canvas 24 Inch Diameter
Stickymonger “Sick Girls Club” Acrylic on Canvas 24 Inch Diameter
Stickymonger “Teacups Have Eyes” Acrylic on Canvas 24 Inch Diameter
Stickymonger “No Matter How Mummy I Am” Cut Vinyl, Hand Embellished & Gloss Coated on Wood Skate Board Deck 8.5 x 32 Inches
AFA G A LLE R Y
54 GREENE ST. NEW YORK, NY 10013 P: 212.226.7374 E: INFO@AFANYC.COM WWW.AFANYC.COM @AFANYC