Sundaram Tagore Gallery is pleased to present works by a global community of artists from countries including Mexico, India, Japan, Korea, Israel, Italy and the United States. The group exhibition Here and Now opens with a cocktail reception on Thursday, March 26, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. and closes June 6.
At a time when financial institutions are tottering, and headlines are increasingly grim, art resonates more powerfully than ever before. The artists selected for this exhibition are engaged in the struggle to create beauty in a transient world. They have forged a universal language that transcends cultural boundaries. In a rich array of mediums, including painting, sculpture, metalwork and paper collage, the works in this exhibition reflect the nature of globalization itself.
Israeli-born Nathan Slate Joseph grapples with the human condition of shantytown dwellers in developing countries. Scavenging for scrap metal, he takes this humble material and transforms it into high art. The artist covers these sheets of found metal with bright pigments and acids. Left outdoors, the metal is exposed to the elements to trigger a transformational process.
Similarly, American artist Lee Waisler draws inspiration from the struggle for survival in third world countries. The enduring power of humanity lies at the heart of his portraits. He paints iconic figures such as Albert Einstein, Aung San Suu Kyi and Franz Kafka. Layering thick pigments, he incorporates organic materials for their innate associative values: sand for time, wood for life, and glass for light. With strips of wood and blocks of color, he creates finely nuanced faces and figures. Each of these portraits is a reminder of how a single individual can change the way society thinks.
Focusing on the natural world, the celebrated Japanese artist Hiroshi Senju creates paintings with a universal sensibility. The first Asian artist to receive an individual award at the Venice Biennale, Senju captures the transcendent quality of waterfalls. His work draws on the thousand-year-old tradition of Nihonga painting. He grinds natural materials such as minerals, seashells and corals and mixes them with animal-hide glue to create pigments. Senju then applies this paint to special hand-screened Japanese rice paper, which is mounted on wood. The result is delicate bursts of saturated color that capture the rushing movement of water.
Curator Sundaram Tagore says, "There is a sea change of attitude toward art. The high-priced, auction-driven pieces have more or less disappeared, making way for work that is actually significant in an art historical context." Seen together, the works in this exhibition weave a dynamic dialogue and reassert the role of art in society.
In an increasingly fragmented world, art provides a much-needed spiritual cohesiveness. The work included in Here and Now is not part of a passing trend but possesses an enduring power. These are artists who have spent their long careers engaged in important intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic explorations. Here and Now is a tribute to the achievement of these internationally renowned artists.
The eighteen artists included in this show are Natvar Bhavsar, Stan Gregory, Ken Heyman, Fré Ilgen, Nathan Slate Joseph, Hosook Kang, Vittorio Matino, Ricardo Mazal, Judith Murray, Bruce Porter, Sohan Qadri, Anil Revri, Hiroshi Senju, Joan Vennum, Merill Wagner, Lee Waisler, Susan Weil, and Robert Masao Yasuda.
For more information, please email: hongkong@sundaramtagore.com or call 2581 9678
