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9/9/2005

Lucy McKenzie

Metro Pictures, New York

Smersh

Metro Pictures Gallery is pleased to present the first New York solo exhibition for acclaimed Glasgow-based artist Lucy McKenzie. McKenzie's paintings, drawings, murals, photographs, and performances have been featured at numerous museums and galleries throughout Europe and the U.S. She has had solo shows in the ICA Boston's Momentum series for emerging artists (2004), and in the Tate Britain's Art Now exhibition program for new British art (2003). Lucy McKenzie: SMERSH will be on view from September 10–October 8, 2005.

The exhibition will consist of four discrete groups of works on paper, each focusing on different imagery and source material: a group of large-scale charcoal abstractions with the texture of concrete; large cartoon-style gouaches depicting actual people and situations; a selection of commercial illustrations made by the artist over the past year for a Glasgow magazine; and a series of small portrait drawings. The imagery in the exhibition is influenced by European cartoon illustration (most notably that of the Belgian Hergé, creator of Tintin, known for his slapstick humor offset by satire as well as political and cultural commentary). McKenzie is particularly interested in how urban life and sexuality are dealt with in this genre. Together, her works explore the full range of artistic representation from realism to caricature to abstraction. According to McKenzie, "The amalgam of unconnected ideas produces an atmosphere rather than a direct narrative or theme."

The title of the exhibition, SMERSH, an acronym for counter-intelligence within the Soviet Union's secret police, is a contraction of Smyert Shpionm ('death to spies'). The term epitomizes the West's fear of Russia during the Cold War era. The department was responsible for, among other things, killing deserters from the Red Army.

Lucy McKenzie was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1977. She received her BA in 1999 from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, and was short-listed for Britain's prestigious Beck's Futures prize in 2000. In addition to exhibiting her own work, McKenzie has become known for her extensive curatorial and collaborative projects, including a group show titled The Best Book About Pessimism I Ever Read at the Kunstverein Braunschweig in 2002, and Nova Popularna, a temporary salon and performance space in Warsaw, Poland, 2003. McKenzie currently lives and works in Glasgow.

Press Information: Stacy Bolton Communications T: 212 721 5350 E: Mamie@StacyBolton.com

An opening reception for the artist will be held on Saturday, September 10, from 5 pm - 7 pm.

Metro Pictures Gallery
519 West 24th Street
New York.
Gallery Hours: 10 am- 6 pm, Tuesday – Saturday.

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