Soreff and Zacharias
dal 20/3/2002 al 9/4/2002
Segnalato da
20/3/2002
Soreff and Zacharias
Russian - American Cultural Center, New York
Stephan Soreff and Athos Zacharias are New York art insiders who came to the scene when art was evolving from Abstract Expressionism into the movement of Pop Art. Through their work both artists were able to find a space in the breach and develop their own styles.
Stephan Soreff and Athos Zacharias are New York art insiders who came to the
scene when art was evolving from Abstract Expressionism into the movement of
Pop Art. Through their work both artists were able to find a space in
the
breach and develop their own styles. They have been friends for more t
han
thirty years, participating at the "Artists Club" and as members of
the
artists cooperative movement on Tenth Street in the late fifties and early
sixties. Zacharias is a painter and Soreff a sculptor of conceptual objects,
sharing a common set of artistic values and beliefs. Both artists were
fortunate to know, to work and to have conversation with artists such as
Rothko, Esteban Vincente, Phillip Pavia,Nick Carone, and others who later
became known as members of the New YorkSchool. Soreff has held two
exhibitions at the Betty Parsons Gallery, the first gallery to show the New
York School. Athos Zacharias stepped into the art world in the mid fifties a
s
Elaine and Willem de Kooning's very first assistant. In a letter of
recommendation of 1965, Willem de Kooning referred to Zacharias as
'one of
us'. Zacharias use of the physicality of paint as a buildin
g material of
expression, combined with ready-made objects and a fascination for the
emergence of pop art led to the development of expressionist pop art.
Shifting between generations, Zacharias found a new inspiration with the
development of electronic art. His recent works, influenced by experim
ents
with computer graphics, are preoccupied with architectural motifs and
multi-reproduced images. On display will be aseries of paintings and
computer generated prints, each image is painted in a different gamma,
reminiscent of Andy Warhol's bright candy color multi-productions.
Stephan
Soreff displays a sense of irony and playfulness that unites him with
Zacharias. They share a fascination with provocative speculations about art
and the future. Soreff was ahead of his time when he began distributing his
visionary art schemes as AGAR (Avant Guard ArtReview) in the 1970s,
blending
words and drawings in a compelling way. He works with found objects
transforming real into imaginative, such as creating a conceptual
installation of radio-sets mocking the age of information. His concepts
include haired shoes or an illuminating face, work that evolves the mental
element. Critics have called his works engagingly hermetic.
This exhibition made possible with public funds from the NewYork State
Council on the arts, a state agency, and Dynamo Development Co.
Curator: Regina Khidekel
The exhibition is open to the public from March 21 through April 9,
Tuesday - Friday during the hours of 12-5 p.m.
March 21 - April 9
Opening Reception
THURSDAY, March 21, 2002, 5 - 8 PM
Russian-American Cultural Center,
55 John Street,
14th Floor.