José Lerma: The Last Upper
Rose Wylie: Yellow Sax
May 31–September 9, 2017
Opening: May 31, 7–9pm
Brand New Gallery
via Carlo Farini 32
20159 Milan
Italy
T +39 02 89 05 30 83
press [at] brandnew-gallery.com
José Lerma: The Last Upper
Brand New Gallery is pleased to present The Last Upper, José Lerma’s first solo exhibition at the gallery.
The show will feature a group of paintings from Lerma’s most recent body of work.
Born in Spain in 1971 and raised in Puerto Rico, José Lerma draws inspiration from his personal history, as well as historical figures and events, claiming that “all art is about other art and about your parents.”
Lerma explores conceptually and materially the medium of painting, recognizing it as a medium that, historically, has often been a vehicle for commemorating status and power.
“Portraiture has traditionally been a way to depicting status… The portraits were idealized, even theatrical…
They were instruments. Images serve that function.”
Power remains a recurrent theme for Lerma, who had a background in social science and he studied law before taking a hard left turn to pursue contemporary high-concept art. Neither critical nor celebratory, Lerma’s approach to his subject matter exposes paradoxes ranging from the site and context to his projects to the medium of painting itself.
Using varying methods and alternative materials, Lerma’s gestures and depictions continue to unfold upon investigation, his compositions are at one abstract and figurative, humorous and dark, chaotic and controlled, encouraging a deeper engagement with the content and narrative embedded in the work.
Rose Wylie: Yellow Sax
Brand New Gallery is pleased to present Yellow Sax Rose Wylie’s first solo exhibition in Italy.
On view three large-scale paintings: Black Stork (2012), as well as two recent works A Musician From Margate, Seagulls”(2017) and A Musician From Margate, Shamrock(2017); that together underscore the artist’s distinctive working process and intuitive approach to image-making.
Wylie creates paintings that on first glance appear aesthetically simplistic, not seeming to align with any recognizable style or movement, but on closer inspection are revealed to be wittily observed and subtly sophisticated mediations on the nature of visual representation itself.
Rose Wylie finds inspiration from a wide range of visual culture: from film to fashion photography, from literature to mythology, from news images to sports, and from individuals she meets in her day-to-day life. The artist paints colorful and exuberant compositions that are uniquely recognizable. Often working from memory, she distills her subjects into succinct observations, using text to give additional emphasis to her recollections.
Rose Wylie’s paintings offer a direct and wry commentary on contemporary culture.
Hours: June/September: Tuesday–Saturday 11am–1pm, 2:30–7pm / July: Monday–Friday 12:30–7:30pm / August: closed