Just back from Miami 2012

I have just returned from several days at Art Basel Miami 2012 looking, meeting, seeing and connecting with all things art!  While so many come together from so many different places, there is a shared passion for art - whether it's creating it or collecting it, representing it or just seeing a new vision. 

This year, I found myself particularly drawn to white, muted or monochromatic work.  As is my passion, I lean toward work which uses a range of different materials or textures - often using the shadows and light to add yet another dimension to the piece.

As a gallerist, curator and art consultant I'm always looking for compelling artwork.   

Here are just a few of my favorites from the 2012 Art Basel Miami Satellite Art Fairs:

 


Here's a look at Michael Buscemi new series at  K. Imperial Fine Arts at Aqua.  It is made from layered, cut paper. 

 Brooklyn Gallery, Robert Henry Contemporary is at Aqua showing the work of Liz Jaff.  This framed artwork, Fidget 2, is cut paper on board.

And on the subject of works of paper...I loved this piece!  

It is layers of cut and torn paper by Angela Glajcar.  Each sheet of paper is separated by metal dowels and plastic pieces.  The composed artwork sits anywhere from 7 to 10 inches from the wall and just pulls you into it!

Margaret Thatcher Projects is showing these wonderful marble sculptures of  Vensek & Spanle at Pulse.  They are serious works, yet organic and whimsical at the same time!










The string and pin artwork by Alyson Shotz at NY gallery Derek Eller at NADA entangles you in a web of intrigue and intricacy.  On the left you can see a full image and to the right a detail shot.

The richly textured oil on canvas surfaces of James Hayward.   

The artwork of SVA graduate, Rebecca Ward can be seen at the SVA booth at Miami Project.  This painting, October Surprise, is bleach and acid dye on canvas.












The clean lines and shapes in the pigment prints of Miriam Bohm at Untitled.

Whether it's going into Winter or just a purity of a lack of color, White caught my eye at the recent 2012 shows!

Summer Art Fair Season in the Hamptons

This Summer, the Hamptons played host to three art fairs -- all in the month of July!

As an art dealer and art consultant, I love to go to the fairs to see the range of artwork - some surprising, fresh and engaging...others less so.

In particular, I love to see work created from unusual materials.

Here are a few of my top picks:

Zac Freeman's work at the UK's Woolf Gallery was fascinating.

From a distance, he creates strong portraits and up close, you start to see the work is made from found objects...many of them plastic.

From buttons, to forks and all objects in between, the depth, layering and tones are captivating

Tim Bergstrom's new work at Halsey McKay gallery was also intriguing.

While the layered work looks like metal threads or wiring, the top layer is created with glue!  Lines of melted and hardened glue that are layered over a wire foundation and then painted.

Very innovative, dimensional and engaging.

David Adey's work at Scott White Contemporary brought me in like a snake charmer's notes, but what charmed me the most is this piece is comprised of cut-out lips from magazines and then pinned to board.

Creative, unusual and powerful.

Strength and Grace, our 2012 Summer Olympic Tribute

The 2012 Summer Olympics are kicking off today in London and across the pond we've got it covered in our latest art exhibit from Elisa Contemporary Art, Strength and Grace. 


Our Riverdale Gallery is ready for action and all about the Summer games - focusing on the highly competitive areas of Swimming and Equestrian events. 


The Olympics play a starring part in this exhibit.

Scottish-born artist, Sheona Hamilton-Grant started her artistic career when she worked for 1988 and 1992 Olympic Gold medalist, Nicole Uphoff, the German Dressage rider. During this time, she first started drawing equine Superstar, Rembrandt Borbet and forever considers “Remmi” her first muse. 


The exhibit includes her graphite portrait of the German warmblood sire, Florestant I. Many horses performing in the London 2012 Summer Olympics will be of Florestan I decent. 


And it wouldn’t be the Summer Olympics without the highly anticipated and captivating swimming events.  This year's competition between Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte promises to be thrilling! 

Kaua'i artist, Carol Bennett, started painting her competitive swimmers when she was living in Los Angeles and swimming at the LA Athletic Club. According to Carol, “The floor beneath the pool, with its ethereal skylight was an underwater observation room...used by Olympic coaches in the 1920's. I would feel like a voyeur, watching the swimmer's private time and drawing in their beauty.” It was here she learned to capture their movement, reflections and grace. 


We held our kick-off reception on Sunday, July 22nd and we were joined by the parents of Olympic Silver medalist ('08 Beijing) in Fencing, Tim Morehouse.  Tim will be competing again in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.  His parents will be flying to London to cheer him on.  And we all wish him much success!

We're thrilled to be celebrating the 2012 Summer Olympics in our own artist way.  The exhibit will be up through mid-August at Elisa Contemporary Art, 5622 Mosholu Avenue, Riverdale NY and features:

• Arizona Mixed Media Realist, Ken Peloke 
• European Graphite Artist, Sheona Hamilton-Grant 
• Expressionistic Idaho Artist, Donna Bernstein 
• Hawaii Artist, Carol Bennett S
• San Francisco Minimalist, Jeffrey Palladini. 

It's a gold medal performance by all!  To see more and our walkaround video, visit: www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com

I am delighted with all the buzz and excitement for our current exhibit, My Hero, featuring Superheroes in Contemporary Art.

One of our featured artists is Houston artist, Mitch McGee.   Mitch McGee’s artwork lives between painting and sculpture.   I wanted to share the process he goes through to create his current series of Birch (wood) artwork.



The first step is creating the illustration, digitizing it, parsing it out layer by layer and printing it out to size.

Each layer of birch is then hand cut

 




Then layer by layer the artwork is sanded, stained, glued and brought together to create the final dimensional artwork.

On average, it takes Mitch about 30-40 hours to create each piece.

However, the piece we have in our current exhibit, The Avengers, took 50!


Mitch and I recently appeared on cable TV's "Open with Rhina Valentin" on January 27th.  You can see and hear Mitch talk about his work. 
And I talk about the show, My Hero, on exhibit through March 31st , 2012.






After the show, we were photographed with Open Host, Rhina Valentin:

And the group behind the scenes who brings it all together including Shirley Arrieta, Dalia Gonzalez, Angel Ramos are captured here with Rhina and I

 I loved that they all wore their favorite Superheroes shirts in honor of our exhibit!

Superheroes in Contemporary Art

The inspiration for the current exhibit at my gallery, Elisa Contemporary Art, began about 2 years ago when I first viewed the artwork of Don Morris.  

Don's brightly colored and undulating canvases caught my attention.  I loved the color and movement of each canvas.

Then, as I started to move closer, I saw figures and words and learned that the interplay of colors and textures were created with comic books!

Upon closer examination...

each canvas comes to life with comic book superheroes who fly, struggle, and climb before us in small fragments and vignettes. 

Words bubble from the comic book text and are clearly visible throughout the pieces, so the viewer can read the stories of our action heroes.  

Don's series, “Our Heroes” was inspired by the Pop Art of the 60’s.  Don recently had a solo exhibit at the Michael Lord Gallery in Palm Springs.  

We are thrilled to have him part of My Hero, on exhibit at Elisa Contemporary Art, 5622 Mosholu Avenue, Riverdale NY through March 31, 2012.