Friday, July 26, 2013

Visions from Beyond: A Foray into Metaphysics and Materiality

A group show of new works by artists Daniel Lergon, Dan Rees and Mindy Shapero takes place at Galerie ISA in Mumbai. Entitled ‘Visions from Beyond: A Foray into Metaphysics & Materiality’, the exhibition highlights the three talented practitioners: Daniel Lergon, Dan Rees and Mindy Shapero.

Curator Jane Neal mentions: “The quest for finding a way of working that is situated at an intersection between the physical and the spiritual is a unifying factor between them. They share a desire to explore a vision that is beyond reality. This leads them in diverse directions and manifests itself in distinctly disparate working methods, yet the need to question and disrupt; to find the rub which challenges expectations is gratifyingly evident in all of their practices and forays into metaphysics and materiality.” Though they share a common interest in the field of abstraction, each artist has his or her own distinct focus.

Lergon has long been fascinated by the dialogue between light and materiality. Since his training at the Universität der Künste (UdK), Berlin, Lergon's work has consistently reflected his interest in color and the results of light's interaction with different surfaces. Unlike most artists who apply color onto a neutral surface, Lergon's surfaces are dynamic and volatile, as are his mediums.

On the other hand, a gentle humor runs through Rees' work, this is evident in his irreverent references to famous conceptual works, but though gently mocking and witty, Rees is cleverly addressing the situation common to all young artists living and working today: the question of what to do with their inheritance?

Mindy Shapero draws from both art historical tradition and from outsider practices and spiritual experiences. Shamanism and symbolism allow the artist to transcend the physical plane yet she retains a connection to modernist notions through formalism. Lest we should become too concerned with the literal, Shapero disrupts our reading of her work with her deliberately long and convoluted titles; jumbles of words that reach out beyond reality for the mystical and supernatural.

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