Collective

February 29, 2008 - March 20, 2008

Reception: Thursday, March 06, 2008, 6:00pm - 8:00pm

Gallery Location: 530 West 25th St, Chelsea, New York
Gallery Hours: Tues - Sat, 11am - 6pm

Dariya Afanaseva  Greg Frumen  John Lynch  Piero Manrique  SHALANG  Eileen Berger  Sema Culam
Susana Guardiola  Mustafa Gunen  James Christopher Hill  Marinella  Grace McKee  Yaron Ari  Corinne Boureau
D. Loren Champlin  Karen Jarvis  Liu Ji  Gretchen Reynolds  Sain-Morar

Altered States of Reality

Agora Gallery's spellbinding selection of paintings is by a combination of highly imaginative artists who chose to explore the mysterious awareness residing between the inner and outer worlds. Utilizing a range of styles, with elements of fantasy, surrealism, and abstraction, these painters attempt to comprehend the nature of perception and the interminable possibilities beyond the mundane.

Dariya Afanaseva

Artist Page

What appear to be breaks of color in Dariya Afanaseva’s paintings cultivate curiosity in the works. In some instances, these lapses in color are quite fascinatingly deliberate sections in which the artist purposefully does not add a layer of paint over the foundation of mixed media. These non-painted surfaces take unique shapes like ovals or butterflies. In other instances, the lack of color is actually a switch to a contrasting color. Rusty orange and sea-foam stripes interrupt gregarious planks of black, or violet and sea foam seem to be scraped at until precarious white lines emerge. It’s likely, however, the artist added these colors rather than subtracted other colors from the canvas. Layers therefore become pertinent to Afanaseva’s methodology and style.

Although shapes do unfold, most of her works are expressionistic. The plant and animal life discovered within Dariya Afanaseva’s paintings, though figurative, are more symbolic of growth, change, and beauty. Other works are more ambiguous in their significance, and thus it is color and brushstroke that indicate their mood

click to enlarge

"To Dream Regardless of Everything"

"Vertigo"

Greg Frumen

Artist Page

Greg Frumen´s mysterious acrylic paintings reference the psychology of dreams to express his own emotions toward the condition of the world around him. The Hungarian artist´s paintings of simplified figures in ambiguous settings take the viewer on a visual journey through a mystifying narrative encoded with symbols which are appropriated from the everyday world. Frumen assigns titles to his works, further enhancing their story-telling quality. Each is evocative in its own emotional connotation and particularly poignant, adding another layer to his rich visual metaphors.

Taking inspiration from his eclectic background in psychology, drama, and fine art, Greg Frumen´s work is informed by a multidisciplinary education. In addition to exhibiting his paintings in Budapest, Frumen continues his theatrical pursuits, working on stage and in film. Additionally, he uses his style of bold colors and visual storytelling as an illustrator for children´s books. Whether his works appear on canvas or on the bound pages of a storybook, they are unified by his unique artistic vision. Frumen currently lives and works in Budapest, Hungary.

click to enlarge

"Suzanna and the Engines"

"Fall"

John Lynch

Artist Page

Sometimes a single question can be infinitely more delightful than a tome full of answers. Tapping into the innate questions of existence, John Lynch's works are the epitome of self taught surrealism. Inspired by science, philosophy, and his own pantheistic view of nature, they have found an avid audience which emerged from Charlottesville, Virgina, and is rapidly expanding. John paints in oil on canvas. His images are rich in color, and every strikingly odd note is laid out with crystal clarity. Viewing John Lynch's works is not just a pleasure to the senses, but an exercise for the mind.

Intertwined with the searching spirit of his works, twists of perspective play an essential role in the execution of his pieces. His images are a collection of questions, each boldly stated to the viewer. The answer may lie within, or it may remain unknowable, but what is certain is that lovers of art philosophy will find this charming blend irresistible.

click to enlarge

"Between Past and Future"

"The Mystery Grows"

Piero Manrique

Artist Page

Piero Manrique's unique, otherworldly artwork has been inspired by his past studies in design, dance, the martial arts, architecture and sculpture. His distinctive personal vision goes beyond surrealism to a realm which speaks to us on a level concerned as much with the past as with the future. Part collage, part portraits of futuristic jungles, these are alien dreamscapes, to be sure, but they do not keep us at arm's length. The human body holds a central place in his vision, and he invites us to see not only the splendor of an imagined future, but also challenges us to appreciate the human body in juxtaposition to imagined technology, as an instrument ready to evolve into the next stage of meaning, and beauty.

With his highly original and challenging work, Piero Manrique offers the viewer works in which the very notions of art, beauty, and what it means to be human, are being redefined.

click to enlarge

"See My Hope and Frustration"

"Finding Control"

SHALANG

SHALANG

Artist Page

The Spanish painter Oscar Di Costas, also known as Shalang (a Buddhist word signifying blankness and fluidity), creates colorful abstractions in a hybrid style. Some of Shalang's works draw on the drip painting technique of Jackson Pollock, while others channel the colorful quadrangles of Piet Mondrian and Hans Hofmann. The majority of Shalang's paintings combine these abstract genres, thereby creating an entirely unique fused imagery.

His stated intent is to create works that flow between possible meanings, but are impossible to fix. Shalang's choice of drip painting, then, could not be more appropriate: his treatment of paint on the canvas makes literal the very fluidity he seeks to convey to viewers. He even extends this impermanence to his rectilinear shapes, which suggest movement and instability despite their flatness. With the units of his drips and shapes, Shalang offers viewers small pieces of a puzzle that extends beyond the edges of his canvases and whose pieces form so many different wholes

click to enlarge

"Uragano"

"Waterworld"

Elemental Realms

Cool, forest rivers and soulful, glowing sunsets will breathe life into audiences as they experience Agora Gallery’s Elemental Realms. This selection of gifted artists offers their visions of an untarnished natural world with crystalline clarity and a palpable brilliance. Beyond mere landscape painting, the artworks tap into the timeless spirit that connects all living things.

Eileen Berger

Artist Page

With vivid colors and dramatic compositions, Eileen Berger captures the lush and luscious beauty of the tropics. Berger's color palette is clear and pure—each painting offers an exquisite glimpse of a landscape full of mood and nuance. Her compositions offer a touch of complexity, as she places lines and colors in intriguing positions, offering her viewers an exciting and fresh perspective on a traditional landscape. Berger has traveled extensively throughout the Caribbean and the South Pacific and each locale made an indelible impact on her artwork and on her own artistic journey. She says, "My art is colorful, vibrant and happy and I hope others can feel and share in the joyful spirit in which it has been created."

Indeed, the viewer shares the feeling of serenity and joy gazing at Berger's pieces, which carry the spirit and beauty of each island she has captured on her canvas. Eileen Berger lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia.

click to enlarge

"Fiji Storm"

"Birds of Paradise"

Sema Culam

Artist Page

Raised in Istanbul, Sema Culam cites the rich civilization of the region as a large influence in her work. Though she initially devoted her talent to figurative abstract painting, she has now embraced a new style, utilizing naïve art techniques. While characterized as simplistic, the beauty of her work delivers a strong impact. Culam’s work offers a guided tour through rural life and agrarian customs. Each painting is like an illustration from a storybook, filled with quaintness and charm and rich with meticulous details. Rhythmic patterns and harmonious colors dominate her paintings and depictions of lush gardens, rolling hills, and common folk working the land evoke a sense of tranquility and ideals of purity and kinship.

Sema Culam is an award-winning painter, having been praised for her talent since she was a young child. Her work has been widely exhibited and collected in her own country as well as throughout the world, including Japan, the United States and France.

click to enlarge

"Tea Garden"

"Bride Convoy"

Susana Guardiola

Artist Page

A mark of a talented artist is when their work can call directly to the viewer's soul, but few artists can paint someone's true spirit. One of these rare artists is Susana Guardiola, whose sensitive and perceptive eye is able to look deeply into the soul of another and conjure an image which relates that individual's true self with uncanny clarity. Selecting elements from the natural landscape: trees, flowers and plant life, Guardiola creates a beautiful and colorful image of the spirit. A single bloom, centrally placed in the canvas climbs up the surface to represent a single person, while a field of flowers might symbolize a group of individuals. Guardiola often paints commissioned soul portraits from photographs, but other works, realized from the artist's own mind, find their true owners later; their spiritual, almost supernatural energy calling forth to viewers with an emotional intensity.

Susana Guardiola has exhibited her work throughout Europe and her paintings are included in numerous private collections. The artist lives and works in Zaragoza, Spain.

click to enlarge

"Exuberance"

"Anxious to Live"

Mustafa Gunen

Artist Page

Mustafa Gunen's seascape paintings submerge the viewer in an aquatic euphoria not seen since 19^th Century artist Théodore Géricault painted his historic "Raft of the Medusa". While his paintings range from calm, soothing seas to tumultuous nautical storms, his demonstrative use of light and shadow enrapture the viewer within the mysteries of the sea. Born in Kirsehir, a small mid-Anatolian town of Turkey, Gunen is a self-taught craftsman. He began painting his beloved "picture stories" at a very young age, but subsequently turned to furniture making as an outlet for his skill. His two loves merged after he was initially inspired by Peter Ellenshaw, the 50s-era award-winning seascape/landscape animator. He began by painting his own dreamscapes on his furniture pieces, but soon moved to working with oils on canvas directly. Using a spare palette of black, white, yellow, red and navy blue, Gunen renders picture perfect oceanic dreams.

Gunen's paintings can be found in collections across Europe, as well as among the private holdings of Nevzat Boztas. His hope is to become the Ellenshaw of his generation, the artist who brings the inscrutability of the ocean to life and mystifies every viewer with his maritime fantasies

click to enlarge

"Moonlight and Sand"

"Last Twenty Second"

James Christopher Hill

Artist Page

James Christopher Hill's vibrant visions of the dramatic sky portray natural scenes of such astounding beauty that they simply defy description through words. Hill's breathtaking skyscapes serve as metaphors for emotions and memories of precise moments in his life and are imbued with an underlying spirituality. The artist, who poignantly understands the fragility of life, uses his paintings to capture fleeting moments, preserving them forever with lush oil paints in a resounding spectrum of vivid colors. In fact, color plays a primary role in the artist's perception and memory and therefore it becomes the centerpiece of his dynamic, swirling paintings. Since 2001, many of Hill's skyscapes deal with the topic of global climate change and through their powerful beauty encourage environmental awareness and conservation.

James Christopher Hill has painted traditionally, exploring the realms of portraiture and realism, since age twelve, but began painting skyscapes upon graduating with honors from the Ringling School of Art in Design in Sarasota, Florida. He lives and works in North Charleston, South Carolina.

click to enlarge

"The Cosmic Storm"

"Faith"

Marinella

Artist Page

In her traditionally composed paintings of flowers and Greek icons, Marinella expresses the peace, relaxation, and spirituality she connects with the act of painting. Although she renders oil-on-canvas floral subjects in hues reminiscent of the Renaissance tradition, she masterfully uses negative space and photographic angles to produce graphic images with a decidedly modern sensibility. Marinella’s works appear starkly divided into two categories, but they are intrinsically linked by her personal symbolism influenced by her deep faith and personal story. Rather than painting to express the sorrows of her past, Marinella paints to help the viewer escape the stresses of everyday life and retreat to a simpler time where forgotten values are embraced.

Marinella formally studied Greek Icon painting at a convent on the Isle of Crete and continues to independently develop her techniques, working both in the traditional medium of egg tempera on wood and in oil on canvas. Marinella exhibits her work in New York and lives and works in Zurich.

click to enlarge

"Gandavensis Hybrid"

"Nymphaea Alba"

Grace McKee

Artist Page

Greatly influenced by the variety and palette of her childhood in India, artist Grace McKee emerges as a master of color as transposed through texture. The treatment of her subject matter is alive with an innate vibrance, each brushstroke akin to a metaphoric heartbeat. McKee's paintings are reminiscent of pastoral Renaissance scenes illustrating a romanticized utopia. However, unlike the bawdy and grandiose manner in which Pastoral subjects are typically rendered, McKee chooses to reflect a sensibility rooted in the real, offering a locus of desire which is in fact tangible and soft on the senses.

Collective worldly beauty, an impervious attention to subtle textural nuances, and an eye for color are at the core of Grace McKee's painting. She allows a space for the viewer to reflect, pleasing the eye and the countenance. McKee entices the viewer to touch and ultimately feel her brushstrokes, reflecting a certain warmth and and gentle affability common to each of her works.

click to enlarge

"Contemplation"

"Prickly Pear Cactus"

Figuratively Speaking

The human figure has been the fundamental muse for as long as people have been creating art. Far from the caves and rocks on which we first scrawled, the artists in Figuratively Speaking have developed a sophisticated language to explore the human condition through a variety of figurative studies. Each image is a highly personal, riveting look into the ongoing process of living.

Yaron Ari

Artist Page

click to enlarge

"The Scream"

"The Cow"

Corinne Boureau

Artist Page

Corinne Boureau fancifully pairs her portraits with elements of nature to create works steeped in magical realism. Two people, each having grown antlers, butt heads like rival stags. From the mouths of two other people, sprout branches on which birds perch. When several other individuals open their mouths, birds escape like songs. In other instances, butterflies form clothes for the naked or become hairstyles reminiscent of the exquisite styles found in Sophia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. Beyond just animal life, plant life grows like sinewy veins and clothing adornment throughout Boureau’s work.

Utilizing acrylic and emulsion on wood, Boureau keeps an artful balance of composition. Her works are intricate line drawings atop a blank background. Without any complicated backdrops to contend with, her illustrations really pop off the matte surface. Though the illustrations themselves are whimsical, the color palette is understated and muted. Tawny reds and fluid ceruleans scratch and bleed into the otherwise gray background. As such, her art exudes a zen-like tranquility while still imparting liveliness.

click to enlarge

"Le Souffle"

"Le Cri ou L'Amandier de Van Gogh"

D. Loren Champlin

Artist Page

Painting is the synthesis between artist and subject as they transcend part of themselves to create a perfect union. Painting is a way of thought. There are no words that really describe the process, as thoughts are emotions and hues and shapes. It is calculated chaos resulting in harmony. Painting captures the spirit as if one could take a breath of wind, hold it and give it to another. Painting is the spirit of man captured on canvas. Art will always be interesting as we are innately intrigued about the plight of the human condition. It is a map of our journey - our past and our future. This is my inspiration.

click to enlarge

"Damnation of Faust"

"The Lake"

Karen Jarvis

Artist Page

Karen Jarvis’ commanding collection of portraits, provide glimpses into the lives of ordinary people, with extraordinary skill. Her candid representations, painted with incredible warmth and compassion, facilitate a full immersion experience into the emotional depths of her subjects. Jarvis’ work is made especially poignant by her ability to capture heightened emotions. Whether filled with infectious joy or burdened by intense grief, her subjects’ emotions are wonderfully palpable. The artist bares the souls of her subjects in her work, and perhaps a bit of her own.

Each piece is made more compelling by the careful consideration she gives to the smallest details. From the folds and wrinkles in the fabrics that adorn her subjects, to the furrowing of their brow, her keen attention seems to further exhibit the artist’s genuine empathy for the people she depicts in her work and their personal journeys. Karen Jarvis experiments with many mediums, but primarily works with acrylic on canvas. She was born in Ontario, where she currently resides.

click to enlarge

"Precious Laugh"

"The Waiters"

Liu Ji

Liu Ji

Artist Page

Chinese artist Liu Ji lives, works, and teaches painting in Dalian, China. Although many of Liu’s works seem to draw from Western artists as diverse as Giorgio de Chirico, Rene Magritte, and Edvard Munch, the artist has stated that he has been greatly influenced by such Chinese artists as Bada Hermit and Ren Bonian, as well as Chinese poetry. Many of the artist’s works portray figures who are either alone or in states of loneliness, pitted against the elements or caught by forces beyond their control. Liu paints dystopian environments which nonetheless hint at signs of hope. His saturated color palette tempers the dark overtones of many of his works, giving them a lush, painterly appearance. Liu seeks to depicts feelings and situations that are beyond those of “ordinary life” and to give viewers a sense of situations and circumstances that might be unfamiliar to them. Liu derives much of his inspiration from his daily life in Dalian, but says that it is important for him! to visit Tibet once a year to get a different perspective on his life. It is this change in perspective that he seeks to convey through his art.

click to enlarge

"First Snow"

"Go into Hiding"

Gretchen Reynolds

Artist Page

Bursts of movement catapult across Gretchen Reynolds’ paintings. Roughly sketched people fling themselves over bumpy brushstrokes, toward the peripheral of the canvas, and into the unknown. Small, shadowy blurs of energy hurdling through the moodily colored vastness, their expressions are obscured. It is their body language—a trait the artist knows well from her dabbles in the theatre and modern dance—that indicates their cautious yet deliberate attitude. Their arms are hesitantly yet hopefully stretched forward or resolutely pushed behind them, showing they may not know what lies ahead, but they are full of expectation. They have taken a leap of faith.

Having once been "a one toe in the water kind of gal," Reynolds has taken the plunge with her art. Now she exalts the tenuous sense of duality that is so common to the human condition in her work. In a single painting Reynolds can indicate fear and courage, past and present, shadow and light, abstract and real, tradition and innovation.

click to enlarge

"Leap of Faith 9"

"Leap of Faith 2"

Sain-Morar

Artist Page

Sain-Morar’s paintings are aware of their history. They have a folkloric, storytelling quality that enriches their post-impressionistic, cubist-inspired sensibility. Yet Sain-Morar never lets the past hold her back. She uses paint blithely and elegantly and, even when her figures and subjects remain stationary, her paintings always suggest forward motion. The blues and the earth tones that so often dictate her paintings’ moods are hopeful and the birds that occasionally fly through the background or perch on a figure’s head seem to urge Sain-Morar’s scenes into the future.

As an artist, Sain-Morar cares deeply about freedom. Her childhood in Romania and her experiences living under communism taught her that art has the potential to be a liberating voice during times of oppression. For her, art has always been a journey, a reminder to constantly reexamine the world. Sain-Morar studied fine art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Iasi and Conservation and Restoration in Bucharest. She has exhibited throughout the United States and Europe and currently lives and works in San Diego.

click to enlarge

"Rhapsody"

"Sophistication"