TW Fine Art is pleased to present Caught Up in a Lockdown Art Affair, a group exhibition of works created by fifteen artists over the last 18 months of the global pandemic. COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdowns shook people from their regular routines, and while many artists took a break from their practices and studios, others embraced this time to lean into their creative work, pushing their output further than ever before. This show celebrates these new works, and the bright spot that came out of an otherwise difficult year. Caught Up in a Lockdown Art Affair will be on view at TW Fine Art’s Brooklyn Summer Outpost (514 Atlantic Ave) from August 24, 2021 through September 30, 2021, with a public opening event on August 24 from 6:30pm to 10pm EST.
COVID-19 can be considered a turning point in canonical contemporary art history, marking seismic changes in political climate, technology, and social conditions both nationally and internationally. This exhibition aims to honor and acknowledge the very real challenges of this moment while celebrating the resilience and creative potential that has arisen from the zeitgeist. As we look towards the future of contemporary art, the pieces created during this time will stand out as part of a watershed moment much in the way that art history today distinguishes between pre- and post- World War II art.
The works in the exhibition span drawing, sculpture, paintings, embroidery, prints, photographs, ceramics and more, showing an impressive range of mediums and styles. In their own way, each artist expresses a unique conceptual and aesthetic perspective, imagining new possibilities for world building that can arise post-lockdown. Included in the show are Erika Keck’s sculptural paintings that construct abstract, tactile scenes with vibrant colors. Stacey Lee Webber embroiders paper money as a way to comment upon and critique currency, society, and politics. Her punk-inspired pieces transform recognizable bills and imbue them with new and unexpected narratives. Preston Douglas explores the relationship between fine art and fashion by painting and drawing directly on chiffon. In his monochromatic works, the stretcher becomes the body, with fabric over the frame representing the clothing. Sienna Berritto exhibits detailed photographs in her high-concept feminist style. Brian Kenny shares one of his signature conceptual sculptures. Carles García O’Dowd’s unique ink drawings and color prints play with imaginary pop cosmogony. And Bill Bernstein’s new photographs explore genderqueer aesthetics in New York City.
This show also marks the first time exhibiting at TW Fine Art for many of the artists, including Roger Allan Cleaves, who will display his vibrantly surreal afrofuturist character drawing, Alberto Pazzi, whose minimalist paintings examine modern culture using a muted pink palette and simple lines; Richard Gabriele’s high-concept woodblock prints, which replicate the style of traditional eastern carpets; Jenny Hata-Blumenfield’s light and movement-inspired ceramics incorporating colorful lucite elements; Tom DeLaney’s dark, hyper-realistic oil paintings which merge fantastical elements with everyday imagery; Jessie Novik’s richly-colored still lifes that recall historical oil painting tropes, featuring imagery of food, flowers, and fabric; and Galen Gibson-Cornell’s woven works of found posters, which are mounted floating off the wall with a custom-made magnet system. This will also be Roxana Halls’s first showing in NYC ahead of a BBC series airing later this year. The exhibition will feature her surreal oil paintings, which depict women’s internalized rules of conduct via maniacal laughter.
During world-changing events, great artists record and reflect on their environment with unique insight and perspective. As we enter new phases of the pandemic, Caught Up in a Lockdown Art Affair turns to artists to show us how the world has changed and envision how it will evolve going forward. This exhibition commemorates the pivotal and complicated period we’re living through, and celebrates the artists who continue to document their worlds and imagine new ones through it all.
Artists Include:
Bill Bernstein, Sienna Berritto, Roger Allan Cleaves, Tom DeLaney, Preston Douglas, Richard Gabriele, Galen Gibson-Cornell, Roxana Halls, Jenny Hata-Blumenfield, Erika Keck, Brian Kenny, Jessie Novik, Carles García O’Dowd, Alberto Pazzi, and Stacey Lee Webber
‘Caught Up in a Lockdown Art Affair’, a group exhibition of artwork created during the COVID-19 Pandemic, will be on view from August 24 to September 30, 2021 at TW Fine Art ~ Brooklyn Outpost located at 514 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.