Ellen Berkenblit
dal 29/2/2012 al 30/3/2012
Segnalato da
29/2/2012
Ellen Berkenblit
Anton Kern Gallery, New York
A new body of intensely colored, energetic, figurative paintings. Layers of rawness and vulnerability are uncovered from densely built-up images of light, figure and a tangible sense of atmosphere and emotional depth.
February 15, 2012—In her fifth solo show at Anton Kern
Gallery, New York-based painter Ellen Berkenblit
presents a new body of intensely colored, energetic,
figurative paintings. Layers of rawness and vulnerability
are uncovered from densely built-up images of light,
figure and a tangible sense of atmosphere and emotional
depth.
Berkenblit applies a distinctive palette of vigorously mixed
colors with assertive broad brushstrokes and some
scraping of the palette knife. Her shapes are rough yet
well-defined fields of color; occasional black outlines can
define an object, an animal, or the features of a face.
Out
of the paintingsʼ visceral physicality emerge certain themes, motifs and ideas: a head in profile featuring
intense black lashes and long shimmering hair, lacey ribbons (painted as angular and deliciously
awkward bands of paint that vigorously pull together the paintingsʼ fore- and middle-grounds). Even purely
atmospheric sensations such as clouds, bolts of sun light, rainbows and starry night skies find expression.
These images simultaneously emerge out of the subjectsʼ relevance and the visibly exuberant act of
painting.
The paintingsʼ spirit is bold, boisterous and forceful, sometimes mysterious, always deeply emotional. The
interplay between figurative elements, the intense atmosphere created by color contrast and tonal palette,
as well as the compositional devices create figurative paintings of great fluidity and openness without
being narrowed by narrative.
With numerous solo shows to her credit at galleries in Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam, Brussels, Rome and
throughout the United States, Ellen Berkenblitʼs work has been included in exhibitions at the Farnsworth
Art Museum (2011), Artist Space, New York (2009), the New York Academy of Art (2008), the
Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati (2007), the Tucson Museum of Art (2005), and the New Museum of
Contemporary Art, NY (2004). Berkenblit lives and works in New York.
Upcoming exhibitions: Anne Collier (April 5 - May 12, 2012)
Opening thursday, march 1 from 6-8pm
Anton Kern Gallery
532 West 20th Street New York USA
Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am - 6 pm.
Admission free