YANCEY RICHARDSON GALLERY
535 West 22nd Street 3rd floor
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Hellen van Meene, Untitled #366, 2010. Chromogenic print 11.5 x 11.5 inches, edition of 10
September 8 – October 22, 2011 Opening Reception Thursday, September 8, 6-8pm
The Yancey Richardson Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new work by Hellen van Meene, continuing the artist ʼ s decades-long exploration into photographic portraiture. The exhibition includes several new portraits of adolescent girls, each one characterized by the artist ʼ s extraordinary use of light and elicitation of her subject ʼ s psychological state. Notably, the selection also includes a series of formal portraits of dogs, a distinctly new direction within the artist ʼs oeuvre. This is van Meeneʼ s third solo exhibition at the gallery.
The intimately scaled female portraits in the exhibition were all shot in Russia and in the artist ʼs hometown of Heiloo, The Netherlands. Characteristic of van Meeneʼ s style, the portraits reflect an introspective mood, unveiling a moment of acute psychological poignancy. In Untitled, St. Petersburg (above), van Meene has returned to a model she previously photographed, whom the artist met in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2007. Formerly a girl in the midst of awkward adolescence, she appears now both physically and psychologically exposed as a nude young woman, bright red lipstick and black wig her only staged adornment. Directly engaging the viewer, the model ʼ s coolly blank expression and brilliant blue eyes offer an intriguing glimpse into her psyche.
Van Meene has elsewhere sought to expand her study of photographic portraiture by turning to dogs as subjects. As with her earliest portraits of teenagers, the artist has created an outdoor studio with a simple background in order to focus on the character of each dog and to highlight their idiosyncrasies. Using a navy or crimson backdrop and an antique Persian carpet, van Meene imbues the dogs with a measure of rank and respect, while drawing out of them the same psychological potential as her human portraits.
Born in Alkmaar, The Netherlands in 1972, Hellen van Meene lives and works in Heiloo, The Netherlands. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in the collections of major museums worldwide including the Stedelijk Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Brooklyn Museum, MoCA Los Angeles, Museum of Photography, The Hague, Guggenheim Museum, New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Previous publications include Hellen van Meene: Portraits (Aperture, 2004) and Hellen van Meene: Japan Series (The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago and De Hallen, Haarlem, the Netherlands, 2002)
PROJECT GALLERY:
AMY ELKINS Elegant Violence September 8 – October 22, 2011 Opening Reception Thursday, September 8, 6-8pm
The Yancey Richardson Gallery is pleased to present Elegant Violence , an exhibition of portraits by Amy Elkins that continue the artist ʼ s ongoing exploration into masculine identity. In this particular project, Elkins focuses on Rugby, a brutal contact sport rich in tradition with origins dating to the 18 th century.
Inspired by vintage studio portraits of rugby players from the 1870s to 1930s, Elkins set up daylight studios on the field in order to make portraits of collegiate rugby players immediately following their match. In doing so, the artist sought to capture signs of an 80-minute match that often involves intense physicality and aggressive contact without the use of pads or helmets, focusing on the subtly in their expression and body language, the dirt on their uniforms, and the wounds they come away with. As Elkins explains:
“I ʼ m interested in the balance between athleticism, modes of violence or aggression and varying degrees of vulnerability within a sport where brutal body contact is fundamental to the game. I am also interested in the history of the game and how it has long been described as both traditional and barbaric, elegant and violent.”
In her previous major body of work, Wallflowers, the artistʼ s portraiture offered a reversal of the traditional male gaze. Set against mostly pastel floral backdrops and focused on the beauty, sensitivity and heightened vulnerabilities of her male subjects, the Wallflower portraits represented an effort to confront some of the cultural grounds underlying gender identity. Conversely, Elegant Violence presents athletes from Princeton, Columbia and Yale proudly emblazoned with their school colors and the fresh wounds of physical battle. Masculinity is at the fore in these works, though beneath the valorous postures a softness and sensitivity is retained by Elkins ʼ attentive eye.
Amy Elkins received her BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her work has been exhibited internationally at the Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna, Austria, PIP International Photo Festival in Pingyao, China, Gallery Gagopa in Masan, South Korea, and in the U.S. at the National Arts Club and Carnegie Art Museum, among others. This is her second solo exhibition at Yancey Richardson Gallery.
KUNST HALLE SANKT GALLEN presents David Renggli - Scaramouche
17 August - 27 October 2013
David Renggli - in some respects a prodigy of the Swiss art scene - has repeatedly aroused the curiosity of the public for more than ten years thanks to a unique mixture of themes and forms, of spectacle, humour and poetry.
The Showroom, London presents Ricardo Basbaum: re-projecting (london)
12 July - 17 August 2013
The Showroom is delighted to present re-projecting (london), a major new commission by Brazilian artist Ricardo Basbaum, and the first significant presentation of his internationally renowned artwork in the UK.
