Featuring work by:
David Ryan and Jean Shin
Timothy Nolan and Cordy Ryman
Amy Rathbone and Louise Belcourt
Zachary Keeting and Samantha Bittman
Elizabeth Gilfilen and Laurie Reid
Morgan Lehman Gallery is pleased to present Conversations, a group show curated by Sharon Louden that consists of five pairings of visual conversations by ten contemporary artists.
Sharon Louden has selected five pairings of artists in whose work she sees a unique visual dialogue. Each selected artist was asked to choose an artwork by his or her conversation partner with which he or she wanted to engage. They were challenged to speak and collaborate to create a conversation specific to their aesthetics and the priorities and challenges of their individual processes and motivations. In essence, a collaboration and/or curating process was established between each pairing. All five groups were given no creative restrictions other than prescribed space limitations.
Five of the selected artists are from New York City and the others from across the country. Two live in San Francisco and one artist each lives in Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas. Although some of the pairings were between artists who knew each other before the development of the exhibition, most were fresh introductions to each other and each other’s work.
The end result is a dynamic group of five pairs of works that speak to each other in new ways, not unlike when two people meet for the first time. Volume, color, character, and content are just a few of the components explored in these dialogues. In addition to the visual conversations begun here, it is Louden’s hope that these connections between the artists will flourish in other ways, be they professional or personal, well into the future.
In addition to the opening reception on July 9, from 6-8pm, there will be a gallery talk on Monday, July 28 from 6-8pm between Sharon Louden and several of the exhibited artists. The discussion will explore Louden’s curatorial choices as well as particulars of each piece and a discovery of each of the artist’s interactions.
Sharon Louden is an artist and editor of Living and Sustaining a Creative Life: Essays by 40 Working Artists. She is represented by Morgan Lehman Gallery.