Eleven Rivington (Rivington Street)

Eleven Rivington is pleased to present a summer group exhibition of emerging international artists whose work continues – and subverts – the traditional portrait genre.  The exhibition, titled STORIES: PORTRAITS, is curated by Augusto Arbizo and includes recent works specifically painted for the exhibition (all works 2007-08) by a group of artists who have emerged into the international scene within the past few years.  Half of the artists are being seen in a New York gallery for the first time.  Included in the exhibition are new portraits by:

TM Davy (American, lives and works in New York, NY)
Jeronimo Elespe (Spanish, lives in Madrid, Spain)
Kay Harwood (English, lives and works in London)
Raffi Kalenderian (American, lives and works in LA, CA)
Ylva Ogland (Swedish, lives and works in Copenhagen and NY)
Adria Sartore (Italian, lives and works in Genoa)
Aya Uekawa (Japanese, lives and works in Tokyo and NY)

The artists in STORIES: PORTRAITS paint single figures, pairs, and groups, primarily from life, while some choose to construct portraits from found images and or family photographs.  They propose the human face and form as their primary focus and the gaze as a basic and elemental impulse.  The artists’ subjects range from friends (Raffi Kalenderian), to lovers and partners (TM Davy), and also to the familial, such as Ylva Oglands continued look back at her young self, this time in an intimate moment with her father.  Jeronimo Elespe’s Mamin, 2007, is a touching image of the artist’s grandmother.  Adria Sartore paints young women she meets in her native Genoa, their youth framed by classical Italian references as in the jewel sized Isabelle, 2008.  Both Aya Uekawa and Kay Harwood mine disparate art histories and popular culture to make composite portraits to disquieting effect.