CREATURES Exhibition Reception: June 19, 6–8pm Exhibition: June 19, 2019 – July 20, 2019
Olsen Gruin is pleased to present Creatures, a vibrant summer group exhibition comprising artworks by 19 distinct artists. The works in the exhibition, ranging from painting, to sculpture, installation, drawing and photography, conjure the lush and colorful spirit of summer. Nature and colorful beings are brought to life. As the viewer traverses the display, a fresh embodiment of vitality is revealed. Exhibiting artists include Noa Ain, Alberto Borea, C.J. Chueca, Ben Dos Remedios, Caio Fonseca, Juan Fontanive, Dale Frank, Leila Jeffreys, Ken Sisters’ Collaborative, Norma Markley, Joseph McGlennon, Mitakiki Women’s Collaborative, Keelin Montzingo, Barbara Moore, Stephen Ormandy, Marisa Purcell, Tariku Shiferaw, Peter Vandermark, and Yaritji Young. Creatures will be on view from June 19 - July 20, 2019.
Crafted as an effervescent spectacle, Creatures, cultivates organic beauty through the artificial. Several artists featured in Creatures express an interest in the role of the beholder and their experience of the natural world. Joseph McGlennon’s series Florilegium is the culmination of a practice conjuring the sublime. McGlennon’s photographs feature collage-style and digitally enhanced layers to produce remarkably detailed imagery that is representative of rich landscapes. Creatures also features work by Aboriginal artist, Yaritji Young, of Australia’s central desert region. Her paintings tell the dreaming story of the honey ant; an internal landscape of the fruitful riches underground, “My paintings are of my country: my father’s country, my grandmother’s country, the Tjala country. Everything that my grandmother taught me, I’m teaching to my grandchildren now. They dance because I have shared what I got from my grandmother with my granddaughters, so they can know their culture.” C.J. Chueca’s River installation draws viewers into a mystical terrain where ethereal visions of flowing water are born of handmade ceramic rocks and potatoes of the artist’s native Peru. Through skillful interpretations of manipulating the biotic, Creatures contemplates the synchronicity of living and being in Earth’s dynamic environment. Ben Dos Remedios’ work mirrors the juxtaposition of light and dark through a combination of painting, drawing, and abstraction to create highly contrasted images of flowers and plants. Juan Fontanive’s piece, Ornithology M, chronicles the flight of a hummingbird conjured from antique ecological books. This intimate and hypnotizing sculpture inspired by the artist’s experiments with antique clock gears removes viewers, for a moment, from the ordinary rhythm of daily life. In a similar beat, Leila Jeffreys captures the quintessential harmony of a bird’s gaze through her photography. Each image showcases the distinct character and relationship of the muse, the bird, with its artist, Jeffreys. Renowned experimental artist Dale Frank is consistently interested in personification and identity. The large, colorful wall pieces, are composed of Epoxyglass on Perspex with additional nontraditional materials. Their reflective surface, as well as their narrative titles, set a biomorphic stage for an empathetic relationship between artist and artwork. Marisa Purcell introduces abstraction as a conduit for the unknown when language is silenced. Her works lure in viewers to question their notion of perception through a rich array of colors. Each of her creations is its own universe reflecting a rendering of the experience of the spiritual realm. Rounding out the exhibition are paintings by additional Aboriginal artists including the Mitakiki Women’s Collaborative. Showcased in the exhibit is the Seven Sisters Story. This is a Tjukurpa Story (Creation Story) about the constellations of Pleiades and Orion. The seven sisters, Pleiades, travel again and again from the sky to the earth to escape Nyiru’s, Orion, unwanted attentions. They turn into their human form to escape from the persistent Nyiru, but he always finds them and they flee back to the sky. Every now and again, though, one of the women falls victim to his ways. Eventually the sisters fly back into the sky to escape Nyiru, reforming the constellation. The painting blends the mystic and the natural to express human interpretation with the unknown. In this illuminating display of artistry with nature and the metaphysical, numerous infinities are created to illustrate the essence of a single, living being.
For further information please contact the gallery at info@olsengruin.com or at +1.646.525.6213. All images are subject to copyright. Gallery approval must be granted prior to reproduction.
CREATURES Summer Group Exhibition, 2019
Ken Sisters' Collaborative Seven Sisters, 2018 Acrylic on linen 78 x 77 1/2 " (198 x 197 cm) 56037 $14,000
Juan Fontanive Ornithology M, 2018 Edition 15 of 20 + 2 AP 4-color screen print on Bristol paper, stainless steel, motor and electronics 56062 $6,700
Norma Markley The Purple Monster Strikes, 2019 Neon 5 x 5 x 3 " (12.7 x 12.7 x 7.6 cm) 56052 $1,300
Noa Ain Untitled, 2018 Mixed media on paper 39 1/2 x 28 3/4 " (100.3 x 73 cm) 54560 $3,000
Yaritji Young Tjala Tjukurpa - Honey Ant Story, 2019 48 x 78 " (122 x 198 cm) 56030 $17,500
Mitakiki Women's Collaborative Seven Sisters, 2018 Acrylic on linen 78 x 60 " (198.1 x 152.4 cm) 55341 $6,500
Ben Dos Remedios Orchid Skins #2, 2018 Acrylic & guache on canvas 58 x 46 " (147.3 x 116.8 cm) 55865 $9,000
Dale Frank He bought most of his extensive succulent collection from his dope dealer , 2018 Epoxyglass on Perspex 59 x 39 3/8 x 1 " (150 x 100 x 2.5 cm) 54729 $29,000
Marisa Purcell Interface, 2018 Realm Mixed media on linen 78 x 66 1/8 " (198 x 168 cm) 54110 $10,000
CJ Chueca I am the River Behind the Wall, 2018 Acrylic on canvas 68 x 40 " (172.7 x 101.6 cm) 56060 $6,000
Ken Sisters' Collaborative Seven Sisters, 2018 Acrylic on linen 78 x 78 " (198.1 x 198.1 cm) 55342 $13,500
CJ Chueca River, 2018 Hand built ceramics Dimensions variable 56049 $15,000
Marisa Purcell Disperse, 2016 mixed media on linen 40 x 33 " (101.6 x 83.8 cm) MP 18336 $4,500
Dale Frank Gavin blamed his really disappointing career as an artist on the fact that every one of his dealers had been Gemini, 2018 Epoxyglass on Perspex 3 78 /4 x 59 x 1 " (200 x 150 x 2.5 cm) 54734 $44,000
Leila Jeffreys Skye Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, 2017 Edition 4 of 6 Final price includes framing Archival pigment print 55 x 44 " (139.7 x 111.8 cm) 50544 $6,000 OP3 framing: $1,500 OPTIMUM framing: $2,000
Joseph McGlennon Florilegium Number 5 Edition 1 of 8 Photograph 47 1/4 x 62 1/4 " (120 x 158 cm) 55439 $5,500 OP3 Framing: $2,000
Peter Vandermark Shoegazer Fracture, 2019 Timber, acrylic paint and mirrored acrylic 15.7 x 13.4 x 7.1 " (40 x 34 x 18 cm) 55970 $3,600
Alberto Borea Colonial, 2019 Unique piece Cut Peruvian public bus and mixed media 27 1/2 x 23 1/4 " (69.9 x 59.1 cm) 55961 $6,000
Tariku Shiferaw “Web (The Roots)”, 2019 Spray paint, iridescent film, mylar, vinyl 60 x 48 " (152.4 x 121.9 cm) 56063 $10,000
Caio Fonseca Pietrasanta P11.29, 2011 Gouache on Paper 12 x 16 " (30.5 x 40.6 cm) 55848 $12,000
Keelin Montzingo Saturday, 2019 Acrylic on canvas 72 x 60 " (182.9 x 152.4 cm) 56061 $15,000
Barbara Moore Ngayuku Ngura (My Country), 2018 Oil on linen 1 78 x 77 /2 " (198 x 197 cm) 56042 $10,500
Stephen Ormandy Seeker, 2018 Only Dancing Resin 1 3 31 /2 x 11 /4 x 5 7/8 " (80 x 30 x 15 cm) 54102 $5,000
Stephen Ormandy Arch 2, 2018 Only Dancing Resin 5 1 19 /8 x 13 x 6 /4 " (50 x 33 x 16 cm) 54104 $5,000
Stephen Ormandy Candy Leg, 2018 Only Dancing Resin 1 1 1 36 /4 x 6 /4 x 6 /4 " (92 x 16 x 16 cm) 54100 $7,200