|
ART OF SOCIAL COMMENTARY FEATURED IN HISTORIC EXHIBITION
National Arts Club show celebrates 40-year career of pioneering figurative artist Renee Radell.
On View: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 - Thursday March 8, 2007
Opening Reception: Thursday February 22, from 6-9 pm
Location: The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York City (212-475-3424)
NEW YORK. KB Contemporary is pleased to present "1966 ECHOES 2006", an exhibition of paintings by Renee Radell at The National Arts Club.
"For me, the union of a fresh working surface with provocative, choice media, and a few elusive and malleable ideas is one of the most thrilling moments of creativity, setting the stage for my ongoing encounter with being."
— Renee Radell
"How exciting is the chance to see a survey of works by a classic figurative painter like Renee Radell! Her pictures are powerful expressions, whether theological, political or pastoral...rich allegories of life and death from an artist who is a master of her craft."
— Walter Robinson, Artnet Magazine 2007
Now that the unconventional has become the new conventional, the paintings of Renee Radell reignite one's faith in the resilience of contemporary art and confirm the observation by Time magazine critic Robert Hughes that "Serious figure painting never went away." Displayed in the historic Tilden Mansion on Gramercy Park, these 15 canvases evoke timeless human themes of love, death, war, hope and religion - themes that echo through her work and are more germane today. Radell demonstrates a rare mastery of portraying the figure in seamless harmony with color.
Shown publicly for the first time in 30 years, The Tide, painted in 1966, portrays the impartial grip of time on human existence. The Political Fertility Rite (1966) could be CNN footage from today's presidential race. The Commitment Committee (1973) suggests the risky decision-making process during the final years of the Vietnam War. Radell' heightened form of Social Realism drew critical praise when displayed in a series of New York exhibitions.
"These are powerful paintings in the Expressionist tradition of Jack Levine and Ben Shahn. However, Radell expresses a humanism and pathos that is more universal and more moving than the older forms of social commentary."
— Cindy Nemser, Artsmagazine 1967
The later works on view reveal the freedom and joy of metaphor and unleash Radell's tireless imagination into a new arena of surrealism. The Carousel (1997) with its unbridled spirit is a celebration of life's infinite and individual possibilities. The Standard Bearers Crossing The North Sea (2000) is the center piece from a 5 x 18 foot triptych depicting the imaginary timeless parade of Everyman. Return to Eden II (2003) suggests both the vacuity inherent in a society without direction as well as a search for redemption.
Please contact KB Contemporary for further information.
|
return to artnet.com
