Faces and Figures

The exhibition “Faces and Figures” (October 17th to November 17th, 2003) opens with a reception on Tuesday, October 21st, from 6 to 8 PM at Elga Wimmer PCC, 526 West 26, #310 (tel.212 206 0006, f 212 459 4352, elgawimmer@aol.com,www.elgawimmer.com). This exhibition is a collaboration with Juschka Fine Art, Brooklyn, New York.

The artists in this show are partly from the original Pop Art movement (Eric Scott, Andy Warhol, Saskia de Boer, Nick Cudworth), partly a contemporary version and interpretation of the aforementioned (Robert Lucander, Dylan Haley, Dean Monegenis), and two South African artists with works from the 60’s (Sydney Kumalo, Ezron Legae).

The energy of “Faces and Figures” lies in representing the face and the body in bold colors and large glossy or muted images, zooming in on body-parts much in the way of billboard or fashion advertising, the signature elements used by Rosenquist and Lichtenstein. Lucander’s paintings (2000) much like Warhol’s (1982) are portraits of people in social situations – glamorous models, musicians, politicians, icons of social elevation. The difference is in the use of Lucander’s media, which is pencil and industrial acrylic paint on standard wooden boards, leaving open areas exposing the wood like human skin. Dean Monogenis “kids” (2000/2001) look like dressing and undressing playfully in front of a camera, somewhat recalling “Rockwell meets Benneton” and pointing to the artist’s background, much like Warhol, as a pattern designer and fashion illustrator. Dylan Haley’s (1999/2000) black and white portraits recall mannequins in the store font windows of Saks or Bergdorf, very stylized and perfect like Manga or airbrushed Billboard heroines. Glamour to the tilt is Saskia de Boer’s sculpture “Marylin” (1978), red sequined bodysuit, black fishnet stockings and all.

Sydney Kumalo and Ezron Legae were famous pioneers in contemporary art in South Africa (1964), totally unaware of any art movement outside of their sphere, but with their reduced, smooth and elegant figurative sculptures reflect what was going on in the other part of the world. African art from Picasso to Warhol was always a source of influence in contemporary art.

Faces and Figures

mit Saskia de Boer, Nick Cudworth, Dylan Haley, Sydney Kumalo, Ezron Legae, Robert Lucander, Dean Monogenis, Eric Scott, Andy Warhol