Opening Reception: Harley Valentine "Orpheus in the Underworld" and introducing Mirana Zuger "The Tough Guy and the Texan"
In Harley Valentines latest exhibition, he explores sculpture as organic architectural voids. Valentines sculptures are not only artistic creations in of themselves, but serve as backdrops to performances choreographed by the artist himself.
Harley Valentine is an award-winning contemporary Canadian artist and a pioneer in the field of sculpture based 3D printing. His works have been commissioned by numerous corporations and public institutions, including the Government of Canada. In the Spring of 2015, Valentines international awarded commission, The Dream Ballet will be installed in the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts Plaza at Daniel Liebeskinds L Tower in Toronto.
http://neubachershor.com/events/mirana-zuger-harley-valentine-tbd/
Mirana Zugers paintings are fresh, alive, and original in an area of painting that is difficult to stand out. They are ambitious in terms of their size, but more important is the rigor with which they are organized and found. Solutions are not repeated, and one gets the sense that each work seeks to find its own existence and particular condition. The means in all of the paintings is decidedly abstract, in that they are consistently involved with the language of painting itself rather than depiction, volume, light or other forms of overt recognition. The work is not about narrative, although one could invent a story quite easily. They are unusual, somewhat irrational, yet believable and sound structurally. Marks, strokes and colors vary, but this variety is not merely meant to keep us interested or entertained, but is employed to articulate things like movement, weather, image, sky and family-like relationships. One might find themselves thinking they are looking at a landscape, but the landscape is a poetic one rather than an actual one. Improvisation and adventure dominate over logic and reference. Creature-like shapes might fly through the air, snow banks may seem present, clusters may seem like they are boiling over and animated forms might appear to be falling, akin to gravity. Just when we think we are understanding the language, a new form enters with a brand new body and way of being made. We are asked to pay attention and enjoy a combination of fantasy and pragmatism, the combination rooted in instinct and a healthy respect for the painted language.
Glenn Goldberg, Fall 2014
Glenn Goldberg received a M.F.A. from CUNY, Queens College, and shows with Jason McCoy Gallery and Betty Cuningham Gallery. Goldbergs works are in numerous international collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
About the Artist
Mirana Zuger is the newest Neubacher Shor Contemporary gallery artist. Born in Canada in 1982, Mirana Zuger lives and works in New York. A graduate of Concordia University 2005, Zuger has completed artist residencies in Croatia and France. Zuger has exhibited in Canada, Paris, New York and Zagreb. Her works are held in public and private collections nationally and internationally.
Mirana Zuger is considered one of the heirs to Qubecs Refus Global and Automatistes movements, but her novel approach propels us into rarely explored avenues in the field of abstraction. Concerned with the inherent forces that lurk behind painting, Mirana Zuger is currently working in her New York studio, exploring the concepts of object, image and action through various mediums and explorations.
