Leo Kesting Gallery Presents:
Ray Sell : Ya Gotta Be Tough - Silk Screen Event
Friday August 28, 2009 from 7:00 - 10:00pm
812 Washington St (at Gansevoort) NY NY 10014
8th Ave A, C, E and L train Stop or 1,2,3 to 14th St
Tue - Sat from 11:00 am until 7:00 pm Sun & Mon 1– 6pm
Admission is free to the public
phone: 917-650-3760 / 917-292-8865
http://www.leokesting.com

CATALOG OF WORKS FROM THE 2009 Ray Sell Collection

Leo Kesting Gallery, most known for its approach to showing cutting edge contemporary artwork with a figurative slant, launches a new venture into artists clothing late this summer. Offering a different slant not in competition with but as a counterweight to the polished retail surrounding them, the gallery uses fabric as an extension of their gallery walls. A select group of artists will begin producing a line of clothing designed exclusively for Leo Kesting’s Meatpacking outlet.

To further add to the wearer’s experience, buyers will have the opportunity to be a guest at the launch silkscreen party scheduled for Friday August 28th in their Meatpacking location. The angle of the launch is to place the clothing within the context of Leo Kesting’s world – among the gallery’s hanging art - whilst the artist’s themselves create your item in front of you. A piece directly from the artist’s hands, to yours, through the gallery door, to the Meatpacking streets…

The missing link from art to the art of fashion is formed by the connection of the gallery itself in arm with the artist, to final production of the piece. The limited edition clothing is not a mass-produced design devoid of its creative roots. Leo Kesting as a creative institution aims to get the most out of each medium; of canvas, and of fabric there’s an essence of the artist’s spirit and of the Meatpacking’s gritty charm.

The first in their string of artists to transition from canvas to fabric will be Ray Sell. Fittingly, Sell is currently exhibiting ‘Ya Gotta Be Tough’, his second successful solo show with Leo Kesting. His work focuses in particular on the development of the male archetype tied in with sexual and brutish symbolism. Taking images and magazine clippings from a vast swath of media over the last 60 years, Sell is determined to create a forum for self-reflection and debate, and question the very ethos by which our culture rears its male brood.

Sell’s poignant images will transform as statement pieces in this new collection; the rough and tumble characteristics of man in parallel to the crude edges of the cobbled Meatpacking streets.

From its origins as Capla Kesting Fine Art in Brooklyn, the Leo Kesting Gallery launched in 2003 and developed an aggressive campaign to introduce new figurative artists to collectors and art supporters. Leo Kesting offers the art viewing public an opportunity to see forthcoming talents in an intimate setting where undiscovered, cutting-edge artists are presented to the contemporary art scene.

Leo Kesting welcomes its collectors with an off-the-beaten-path approach to acquiring artwork that is intensely personal. The gallery’s varied selection of hand picked artists ensures a contrasting scene to the mainstream by way of owners’ John Leo and David Kesting’s keen eye for out-of-the-ordinary blossoming talents.

The gallery itself also becomes a base for those of the arts and wider community who seek out what remaining character the local area has to offer. Located on the corner of Washington and Gansevoort St bordering Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, Leo Kesting is quite literally bringing the ‘edge’ to the neighborhood.

Leo Kesting Gallery is located at 812 Washington Street at the corner of Gansevoort in Manhattan's Meat Packing District. A, C, E or L train to 8th Ave and 14th Street or 1, 2, 3 train to 14th Street. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Sunday from 11am until 7pm.