Dawn Arrowsmith, Meris Barreto, Lisa Cahill, Laura De Santillana, Merion Estes, Gregory Frank Harris, Maxwell Hendler, Otis Jones, Matsumi Kanemitsu, Minoru Kawabata, Masatoyo Kishi, Scott Malbaurn, Robert Motherwell, Sumiye Eugenia Okoshi, Harue Shimomoto, Jack Zajac, Eric Zammitt
Opening reception: Friday, March 4, 5:00-7:00 PM
David Richard Contemporary is pleased to present a.k.a. ZEN, a group exhibition of paintings, drawings and sculptures featuring contemporary and historic artwork from the 1960s through1990s that were either inspired by Zen philosophies or evoke a Zen sensibility. The exhibition is divided into four sections, each focused on an aspect of Zen and in separate gallery spaces. The first, at the core of Zen philosophy, is gestural abstraction with an element of chance, evocative of the spontaneity in nature. Non-illusionistic and capturing just the essence of an object, includes works by Meris Barreto, Matsumi Kanemitsu, Minoru Kawabata, Masatoyo Kishi, Scott Malbaurn and Robert Motherwell.
The second gallery is focused on meditation, which is a loose translation of the word Zen and a key aspect of Zen practice to attain enlightenment. Typically seated in a lotus or half lotus position during meditation, the practitioner regulates their mind by focusing on breathing, posture or some other object. These are referred to as anchors, such as the meditation centers exhibited in the artwork by Dawn Arrowsmith, Merion Estes, Sumiye Eugenia Okoshi and Eric Zammitt, along with the Bodhi sculptures of Laura De Santillana.
The work of Lisa Cahill, Gregory Frank Harris, Harue Shimomoto and Jack Zajac in the third section shifts the emphasis away from the material world and towards nature, becoming one with the universe where there is no difference between the infinite and finite, just a continuum. The fourth gallery features the art of Maxwell Hendler and Otis Jones, which focuses on minimal and reductive forms that cause discovery, contemplation and introspection.
David Richard Contemporary is located in downtown Santa Fe north of the historic plaza. The gallery offers a range of important contemporary art with an emphasis on abstraction in a variety of media by established and emerging American and international contemporary artists, as well as historically significant works from the 1960s through the 1980s.