On July 17, Hollis Taggart gallery in Southport will open “Reunion, A Group Exhibition,” featuring recent paintings and sculptures by 10 contemporary artists.
The exhibition will open with a reception from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Saturday, July 17, in the gallery at 330 Pequot Ave., Southport, then will be on view through Sept. 4.
— an announcement from Hollis Taggart
Reuniting many of our artists to celebrate the first anniversary of Hollis Taggart’s opening in Southport, “Reunion” highlights each artist’s particular style, technique, medium, themes, and intentions while showcasing works that represent the latest developments in contemporary art.
the exhibition includes works by gallery artists William Buchina, Leah Guadagnoli, André Hemer, Dana James, Tim Kent, John Knuth, Suchitra Mattai, and Alexandros Vasmoulakis as well as Elise Ansel and Anna Pietrzak.
“Reunion includes paintings and sculptures that are outstanding examples of varied contemporary styles, techniques and themes and together create a sensational grouping,” said Paul Efstathiou, Hollis Taggart’s director of contemporary art, who curated the exhibit.
The Artists
Many of the artists in the exhition are formally associated with the gallery and are based in Athens, Brooklyn, Denver, Los Angeles, Vienna and upstate New York.
Several of them use their personal history or historical source material to express broader themes of identity and/or to examine current social and political struggles.
Contributed image
Suchitra Mattai (b. 1973), Inner strength (spheres of influence), 2020; embroidery floss on toile; 40 x 32 inches (101.6 x 81.3 cm)
Driven by her Guyanese and Indian heritage and working in various processes such as embroidery, sewing and painting, Suchitra Mattai investigates how colonialism has disrupted and shaped the lives of people, particularly woman.
William Buchina, adhering to a Surrealist formula, juxtaposes unexpected images and symbols from various source materials and deconstructs human rituals to deliver curious and utopian worlds that astutely examine social and/or political discord.
Tim Kent creates multi-planed interior spaces with nebulous figures and dissolving structures. His paintings are glimpses into the influence of the past, how histories construct our present and leave traces amidst the new.
Contributed image
Leah Guadagnoli (b. 1989); Full Moon Rising, 2020l Acrylic, pumice stone, canvas, insulation board, and aluminium panel; 51 x 41 1/2 x 2 3/4 inches (129.5 x 105.4 x 7 cm)
Other artists explore noteworthy techniques and materials to create unique abstractions. John Knuth employs an army of household flies that ingest and regurgitate paint to create pointillistic compositions that are metaphors for the dense urban landscapes of Los Angeles.
André Hemer, uses a multi-step process utilizing a digital scanner resulting in sculptural and gestural canvases that masterfully include both physicals objects and their digital representation.
Leah Guadagnoli’s sculptural paintings are constructed from various geometric shapes made of textile-wrapped foam insulation, plexiglass, painted pumice stone, and acrylic painted canvas resulting in meticulously engineered works that feel organic and free-form.
By repetitively applying, scraping, and dissolving layers of homemade crayons, oils and acrylic on canvases, Alexandros Vasmoulakis creates explosive and probing colorful forms and shapes that reference cubism, abstract expressionism, and street art.
Parallels can be made with the works by Dana James, Anna Pietrzak and Elise Ansel as they each subscribe to the vocabulary and concepts driving abstract art.
Contributed image
Elise Ansel (b. 1961), “Flowers in a Glass Vase VI,” 2021, Oil on linen, 60 x 48 inches (152.4 x 101.6 cm)
Dana James applies desaturated oils, gestural markings, and thinly applied wax to multi-paneled and raw canvases to create works that deliberately juxtapose contrasting themes of imagined suburbias versus natural elements, peace versus abandonment, and fear versus confidence.
In addition, James’ works represent the hazy sensations of faraway and dreamlike memories.
Similarly, Anna Pietrzak’s paintings evoke a sense of tension. Working with delicate foils of gold leaf applied to stark white acrylic canvases, Pietrzak builds defined and organic shapes that lean into each other and gracefully touch yet are teetering on the edge of collapse.
Decoding Old Masters paintings into a contemporary and feminine vernacular, Elise Ansel spontaneously and instinctively paints small and gestural works that inform her larger more cerebral and constrained compositions.
About Hollis Taggart
Hollis Taggart was founded in 1979, with a mission to present museum-quality works of art, maintain a program motivated by scholarship, and offer personalized support in all aspects of art collecting.
The gallery presents significant works of American art, showcasing the trajectory of American art movements from the Hudson River School to American Modernism and the Post-War and Contemporary eras.
Its program is characterized by a deep commitment to scholarship and bringing to the fore the work of under-recognized artists. The gallery has sponsored several catalogue raisonné projects, most recently for the American Surrealist artist Kay Sage, and has worked to advance knowledge of artists including Alfred Maurer, Arthur B. Carles and, more recently, Theodoros Stamos, Marjorie Strider and Michael (Corinne) West.
In the summer of 2019, the gallery announced the formal expansion of its primary market business and focus on the presentation of contemporary work. It continues to expand its roster of contemporary artists, focusing on emerging and mid-career talents.
For more information, please info@hollistaggart.com, or call 212-628-4000.