The exhibition gathers a portfolio of artists who produce contemporary artworks in a wide array of approaches and styles, brought together by SARAHCROWN in a cohesive collection of artistic views. Italian artist Elisa Bertaglia follows a philosophical approach and an oneiric and symbolic language to portray a rich vocabulary of plants, animals and children, fully immersed into imaginary, but possible, landscapes. Expressed through similarities, with brushstrokes that narrate truths from the natural world, Gabriele Grones adopts the language of figuration to give form to everyday elements. He tells of his own personal experience, and through his own sensitivity, elaborates the traditional genres of pictorial composition: portraits, still lifes and nature. Leslie Kerby works in a variety of media to thematically interlinked bodies of work. She focuses on issues related to how we lead our lives as individuals and how our personal lives are variably connected to, and changed by, the broader networks and communities within which we live and interact. Gina Occhiogrosso’s work is composed not only through the application of wet color on a surface, but through processes of disassembly and realignment, and the incorporation of common, everyday materials like thread and yarn. In parallel to these elements, collage becomes an important method for revealing new, unexpected interpretations of form. As an intuitive and spiritual artist, David Syre developed and mastered a unique voice cultivated with experimentation, spontaneity, and an innate flexibility. Syre is most inspired by travel, his subconscious, and nature; archetypal symbols and numbers often appear as images alongside words, referencing the moment of creation. Dov Talpaz’s figurative series, inspired by mostly film, literature, and significant life relationships, combines extreme opposition of vivid colors and distorted figures. Tackling feelings difficult to define with words, he turns back to views from his past, or engages classical movie characters or biblical stories to process them. Utilizing his art to open up a space for existential interrogation, Osaretin Ugiagbe’s “Bounty” series combines the concepts of self, memory, and the artist’s lifelong interest in portrait painting, using interiors from past experiences. “Metal Summer” is another way of dealing with similar subjects, yet has a more symbolic, abstract visual language as sculptural works. Sasha Vinci’s artistic practice feeds on ideas of ecological sustainability, “Utopia,” and the Anthropocene. Vinci starts from the intimate memories of the self and evolves into a multiplicity of visions to unveil the pain and social contradictions of our contemporary times.

Visits are available during visiting hours and by appointment.

A new book of drawings by David Syre, “The Black Book of Drawings,” published by SARAHCROWN, will accompany the exhibition. Please contact us to purchase. 

All works of art are for sale, and the proceeds will benefit the artists. For more information, please contact: info@sarahcrown.com / +1 (347) 393–4911 / www.sarahcrown.com

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Elisa Bertaglia is an Italian painter living and working in Rovigo, Milan, and New York, NY. She received her MFA in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. Most recently, Bertaglia was selected for the artist residency at Kunstraum LLC in Brooklyn, NY for 2021. Her works are in permanent collections worldwide, including the Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation and Museum of Contemporary Art, Penne, Italy. Bertaglia was awarded the Arte Laguna Prize, Arsenale, Venice. Her work has been exhibited in galleries, museums and institutions internationally, including the Guggenheim Museum, Venice, Italy; Borges Cultural Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina; and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Saitama, Japan. 

Gabriele Grones is a painter and visual artist born in Arabba, Italy. He currently lives and works in Rovigo, Italy and Brooklyn, NY. He received his MFA in painting and visual arts from the Academy of Fine Arts, Venice, Italy in 2009. Grones has exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions, in venues including The National Portrait Gallery, London, UK; Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy; Mall Galleries, London, UK; MEAM Museum, Barcelona, Spain; MART Museum, Italy; Undercurrent Projects Gallery, New York, US; National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta; Galerie MZ, Augsburg, Germany; Fort Wayne Museum of Arts, Indiana, US; National Museum of Fine Arts, Cluj, Romania; and Bernarducci Meisel Gallery, New York, US. His paintings have been selected for numerous prizes and his works are included in several public and private collections.

Leslie Kerby is an interdisciplinary artist based in New York City. Her work is in the permanent collections at Columbia University, New York, Arkansas State University, Arkansas, and Copelouzos Family Art Museum, Athens, Greece. Kerby has received commissions from Norte Maar for Collaborative Projects in the Arts, BRIC Arts | Media and Visual Arts Center of New Jersey and awarded residencies at the American Academy in Rome, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA), Virginia and Auvillar, France, and the School of Visual Arts. Her work has also appeared at art fairs including Verge, Spring Break and AQUA Miami. She is a member of the Contemporary Art Advisory Council at BRIC Arts | Media, and a member of the Executive Board at Norte Maar for Collaborative Projects in the Arts.

Gina Occhiogrosso is a painter based in Troy, NY. She produces through a repeated process of cutting and then sewing painted surfaces together to develop new forms, dynamic connections and illusions of depth. She is interested in developing a surface that’s full of the suggestive qualities that abstraction can create. Occhiogrosso has exhibited internationally, including at The Painting Center, The Tang Teaching Museum, Curator Gallery, and The High Line in New York City, Pierogi Gallery in Brooklyn, and ZINC contemporary, Seattle, WA. She was selected for residency programs in institutions such as the Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency, the MacDowell Colony, and The Vermont Studio Center. Her work has been mentioned in the Brooklyn Rail and The New York Times.

David Syre is an American contemporary artist based in Washington, producing large-scale acrylic paintings, watercolors, drawings, sculptures, and monumental art installations. A self-taught artist, Syre has been active for over three decades. In his paintings and drawings, Syre creates at an accelerated pace and embraces bold lines and brave colors. His meditative inspirations are translated to an ever-evolving, sophisticated, and prolific body of work. Syre has exhibited internationally, including Agora Gallery, New York, NY; Copenhagen Design House and Art Gallery,  Copenhagen, Denmark; Werkkunst Gallery, Hamburg, Germany; Fundación Mundo Nuevo, Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Marmot Art Space, Spokane, WA. Syre took part in art fairs including PINTA Miami, The Other Art Fair, and Art Vancouver.

Dov Talpaz is an American–Israeli artist born in Bryan, Texas and based in New York, NY. Talpaz studied at the New York Studio School with artists Mercedes Matter and Rosemarie Beck, who were of great influence to Talpaz and his evolution as a painter. His art offers a delicate, profound view of his inner world through an artistically diverse range of technique and subject matter. Talpaz has exhibited locally and internationally, including solo shows at Slag Gallery, New York, NY, EGMS Studio, Austria, and Spring/Break Art Fair, New York, NY, as well as in group shows at Fire Barn Gallery and Muskegon Museum of Art, Michigan, among many others. His work is included in many private and public collections worldwide, including the Bank Leumi Collection, Israel, Rema Hort Foundation, New York, the Javor Collection, Vienna,  AU, and the Gary & Tracy Stein Collection, Houston.

Osaretin Ugiagbe, born in Lagos, Nigeria, is a painter and photographer who lives and works in the Bronx and Baltimore, MD. Ugiagbe earned his MA degree in painting from the Royal College of Art, London, in 2019. He has worked extensively on social documentary projects in the United States, the Caribbean, Europe, China and Nigeria. Much of his work focuses on themes of displacement and longing. Ugiagbe has exhibited his work at the Bronx Documentary Center and the Bronx Museum in New York, NY, the De Cacaofabriek in Helmond, Netherlands, amongst other contemporary galleries. His work is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and in private collections both nationally and internationally, and he has been featured in various publications such as the New York Times and Columbia Journal Review. 

Sasha Vinci lives and works in Sicily, Italy. His art focuses on continuous experimentations with different creative languages (from performance to sculpture, from sound design to writing and painting) and investigates the most problematic aspects of being in the world. Sasha Vinci is the founder of the independent association SITE SPECIFIC, promoting its artistic research and experimentation through what they consider cultural performance. In January of 2013, he participated in the foundation of, and became artistic director for SEM (Spazi Espressivi Monumentali), a sustainable model for the cultural-economic re-qualification and valorisation of historical landmarks. The work of Sasha Vinci has been shown in many national and international exhibitions, and has been published in journals and magazines such as Hi-Fructose, Flash Art, and Artribune. 

SARAHCROWN is an international art consulting and management firm offering professional services in art advisory, art project management, creative placemaking, and business development. The firm aims to spread knowledge of art and culture throughout society, to sustain artistic production, and to emphasize the importance of art for cross-cultural understanding. Clients represent public and private art institutions, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, corporations, private collections, and galleries both in New York and Europe.

For more info:   info@sarahcrown.com