 |
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
S
A R A H G. A U S T I N THEME & VARIATIONS |
|
January
10 – February 9, 2002 KIMBERLY VENARDOS
& COMPANY and
PAVEL ZOUBOK, INC. are pleased to announce THEME
& VARIATIONS, an exhibition of collage constructions by SARAH
G. AUSTIN (1935-1994). Please join us at the opening reception on Thursday,
January 10th from 6pm to 9pm or during the run of the exhibition,
which continues through February 9, 2002. The gallery is located at 1014 Madison
Avenue, between 78th and 79th Streets. In
the collage constructions that make up the essential part of her work, Sarah
Austin drew heavily upon the museum environments into which, from the beginning,
she was fated to grow. As the daughter of A. Everett "Chick" Austin,
Jr., pioneering director of the Wadsworth Atheneum, Sarah Austin had a keen
understanding of the art world and the process by which artists and their
creations enter into the pantheon of history. Using citation and paraphrase, she
turned to portraiture to translate images from art history into the
sensibilities of her own time. THEME &
VARIATIONS
brings together over twenty late works by the artist that reflect upon Old
Master paintings and sculptures. Drawing from a broad range of sources including
works by Hans Holbein, Ingres and Rogier van der Weyden, Sarah Austin produced
formal and thematic variations on celebrated works of art. Her predilection for
rhythmic structures and interest in mechanical reproduction reflect a playful
fascination with the notion of iconic cultural status. During the early 1990s,
Sarah Austin experimented with various methods of reproduction, often working
with a simple Xerox machine in her studio. Manipulating and multiplying, her
works from this period incorporate vibrantly colored images reproduced on
metallic and transparent surfaces. Noted scholar Mary Ann Caws writes, “We are
drawn into Sarah Austin’s private theater by the clever ways in which her
constructions are staged. In each instance the anecdotal reinforces the
satisfaction of the visual. Her use of repetition makes, in its own complicated
way, an implicit reference to Gertrude Stein’s repetitions.” In the spirit
of Stein's literary portraits, Sarah Austin brings her subjects to life through
a sophisticated handling of spatial and structural relationships. In September of 2000,
Sarah G. Austin: Meditations on Modernism
was presented by Pavel Zoubok and Kimberly Venardos, in association with The
Sarah G. Austin Foundation. Following its New York debut, the exhibition traveled to the
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, CT (through January 2001).
An extensive catalogue was published to accompany Meditations on
Modernism, which included essays by Mary Ann Caws, Eugene R. Gaddis and
Thomas M. Messer. In the fall of
2002, the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University, NY
will present an exhibition of Sarah Austin’s work in dialogue with selections
from their permanent collection. Gallery
hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10am - 6pm For
additional information please call 212.879.5858 or visit
www.venardos.com KIMBERLY VENARDOS & COMPANY
/ P
A V E L Z O U B O K,
I N C. 1014 MADISON AVENUE NEW YORK, NY 10021 TEL:
212.879.5858 FAX: 212.879.5552 |
|
|