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April 1, 2008 - April 26, 2008
Reception: April 3, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Suzi Evalenko
First Street Gallery
526 W 26th StClassical, Latin & Jazz Musicians
New Oil Portraits
First Street Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of new oil portraits by New York artist Suzi Evalenko. The exhibition takes its title from Euterpe, the Muse of Music in Greek mythology. The inspiration for this show is the artist's indelible experiences of musicians she knew well and heard often as a child and young adult in her family's small living room (dominated by a grand piano), where musicians regularly gathered to preview new pieces, rehearse before a concert, or simply entertain each other and their friends.
As a portrait painter, Evalenko's paintings explore her subjects' interior lives as well as their physical selves, mining the vein of individual experiences and emotional forces. For the past five years, her work has focused on intimate relationships that have shaped her subjects' view of themselves and what is important to them. (Her last show, "Paternal Instinct", in 2006, illuminated the powerful bond between fathers and their small children.)
The relationship at the heart of the present show is that of the musician with his or her instrument. Studies in concentration and energy, the paintings in this show might be called double portraits, in which the musician is absorbed in the act of playing and his instrument is a living extension of his body and his sensibility. (One and One make One). The settings for these paintings are varied and mostly informal: at home practicing, in a downtown jazz club, in a restaurant in Spanish Harlem, in an empty theater warming up before a recording session, at a rehearsal before a performance.
An impressionistic painter who uses color to take the temperature of her subjects, Evalenko's portraits of classical, Latin and jazz musicians reflect the mood of the musical moment – cool and contemplative, warm and energetic, with subtle harmonies and vivid complements.
Funding for this show has been provided to the artist by the Puffin Foundation.
Books and DVDs related to artists in this show
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