| This February, a group of 11 artists who hail from four different countries, explored the idea of "descent." From moral to physical to mental, the idea of tumbling, floating and sliding downwards was probed through a wonderful array of paintings. |  |
Continue to Descend – Kate Hickey
This February, a group of 11 artists who hail from four different countries, explored the idea of "descent." From moral to physical to mental, the idea of tumbling, floating and sliding downwards was probed through a wonderful array of paintings. Through planes going into descent, trees entering the autumnal season, the hand of god dropping toward a human eye and wonderful examples of abstract expressionism. The 11 contributors were Victor Hugo, Umberto Torricelli, Bata Musicki, Dylan Farrell, Kai Lintumaa, Duriye Yuksel, Trey Reed, Gencay Kasapci, Lucy DeLange, Jeff Koons and Andrea Serrano.
Among Victor Hugo’s works was the painting The Three Soldiers. This dark and sullen image filled with black and reds brings forth a feeling of impending doom. Of his own work, Hugo says: "It aims to induce feelings in the viewer which lead to self-examination. I paint what I see around me."
Umberto Torricelli’s contribution was a series of paintings of planes. These old-fashioned images painted in monochrome bring the viewers mind back to the beginning of the last century. These Wright planes bring to mind their iconic soundtrack of bumbling tuneful engines as they swoop through the sky. Quite correctly, Torricelli says that his paintings "must have their own voice and acquire their own life." The often-controversial Andres Serrano’s contribution was an excellent representational painting of a man’s face almost totally covered by a dark sheet. Whether he is asleep or deceased is unclear and the mystery hangs.
Duriye Yuksel says that she divides her work into two categories. "One is the representation of figures, both human and object; and number two is the representation of clothes." Through these two studies, her works have become a collection of sometime abstract and sometime representative, haunting images. This is certainly true of the untitled piece present at this exhibition. Also present was the internationally renowned Jeff Koons. His piece, a detailed painting of animals stacked up on top of each other, was quite understated for this Neo-pop artist.
Dylan Farrell’s works were also present in the show. Balance shows two eagle heads encircling what looks to be a melting bank bill. It is Farrell’s mission to examine the minutest aspects of life that he feels should be honored as they cause us all to be interconnected. While his paintings omit a rather bleak mood, he says that they are "spiritually sacred, the display of good within evil and the marvel of our modern world."
The large piece by Kai Lintumaa seems to examine the cycle of life. Through the mind of a filmmaker, Lintumaa tells us the story of the development and decline of life. From childhood to service of your country to death and then decay, he looks at each snapshot of our lives. He says the aim is to tell "a story in as few a frames as possible, allowing viewers to fill in the blanks with their imagination." His motive is to explain to the viewer the hidden story behind groups of otherwise disconnected images.
Lucy DeLange’s, who made her New York debut, exhibited paintings with obvious messages. Her beautiful large oil painting of woods, changing colour during autumn, reminds us of the death and rebirth cyclical motion of life. DeLange believes that each branch, leaf, flower and petal have a story to tell us. She declares that she has become captivated by the simplicity and complexity of nature.
A little more along the line of abstract expressionism was Trey Reed’s work. An artist with a great passion for music he uses brushstrokes and textures to create a dance of colours and movement which strongly express his feelings, memories and struggles. Through reworking his medium he explores new fields of colour and abstraction. Bata Musicki’s pieces rest at the other end of the colour spectrum. Her pieces are a dizzying swirl of lines and strips of colour exploding in an inextricable labyrinth of expression.
Gencay Kasapci, known worldwide for her works as a painter and sculptor, displayed a large abstract piece entitled Spring. Kasapci’s career in art began in the 50s, which had a great impact on her work. Since then her style has changed greatly, however her works seem to centre on nature and, specifically, trees. This piece also brings to mind blossom trees and the fresh green growth of Spring. Perhaps this piece holds strongly to the idea that from the day we are born we are dying and therefore in decline. Kasapci has been invited to the 10th Bratislava Mareria and Scultura Exhibition in Slovakia. She is also preparing for a solo show in Istanbul.
Both Trey Reeds and Gencay Kasapci have already announced that they will launch solo shows of their own this winter at the Broadway Gallery. Kasapci’s will run from November until December, which will be closely followed by Reed’s. Curator Basak Malone commented upon the variation within the exhibition: "The artist’s interpretation of ‘Continue to Descend’ is sometimes sharp, sometimes gentle, of our own humanity and no less urgent for the uncertainty…For us, the fall can be devastating and harsh and yet it continues."
