Jerry Hirshberg: Recent Paintings    Nov 20 - Dec 23, 2009

November 20 – December 23, 2009
Opening Reception: November 19, 2009

Danese is pleased to announce the inaugural exhibition of paintings by Jerry Hirshberg. The opening reception will be held Thursday, November 19 from 6 to 8pm.

For years Jerry Hirshberg has observed and painted with precision, technical virtuosity and conceptual rigor the bountiful presence of bamboo in various parts of the world. Inspired by his imagination and the intriguing metaphoric history of bamboo – in China it is a symbol for longevity, in India a symbol of friendship, in Japan a sacred barrier against evil – Hirshberg’s work engages nature’s manifest appearance as well as its metaphysical condition. The tectonics of bamboo, its repeated verticality and geometry and its lustrous surface radiating light, serve as a natural scaffold for the mind and hand of a painter. Each cane is defined in relation to its neighbor, reinforcing the implicit uniformity, density and rhythm of the grove. Whether in cascaded shadow or softly patterned light, there is a certain cadence to the layered stalks: as Hirshberg explains, “the meticulous surface detail is meant to draw the viewer in for close observation…\the unyielding density of the shallow implied space denies entry and pushes back, demanding distance again, creating a charged dialectic between the tangibility of what is represented and the formal, painted surface.”

Abstract and without ground or sky, Hirshberg’s vertical forests evoke a profound sense of the sublime in nature, yet also bear the imprint of man. It is in these carved words of considered graffiti that glimpses of personal histories fractured but captured are shared, left for eternity to evolve with the passing of time.

Jerry Hirshberg was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1939 and received his Bachelor of Arts in painting and design from the Cleveland Institute of Art. He was the founding director of Nissan Design International, and in 2001 the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art presented a 20-year retrospective of his work – including designs of furniture, yachts, medical instruments, sports gear and automobiles, most notably the now classic Nissan 350z. He currently lives and works in Del Mar, California.

An online catalogue for this exhibition can be found at www.danese.com. For further information please contact Carol Corey or Alexandra Woodworth at 212/223-2227 or alexandra@danese.com.