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Tilton Gallery is pleased to present For Life: The Language of Communication, a group show of abstract works by Wallace Berman, Richard Tuttle, Avinash Veeraraghavan, Sudarshan Shetty, Sheela Gowda, and Ruth Vollmer. This exhibition promotes a dialogue among several generations of artists from around the world. For Life: The Language of Communication will be on view at Tilton Gallery [8 East 76th Street] beginning Inauguration Day January 20 through March 28, 2009. For more information please visit www.jacktiltongallery.com.
January 20, 2009 will most likely be remembered for the inauguration of our first African-American president. President Obama, often referred to as “The Next Great Communicator,” embodies the energy of now. At this turning point in history, President Obama’s ability to inspire and enlighten through abstract ideas is what really sets him apart from his predecessor. In keeping with the current political paradigm shift, the artworks in For Life: The Language of Communication also employ varying degrees of abstraction to communicate with each other, albeit in unexpected ways.
Art can be seen as an action of communication with its multiplicity of languages for life. This dialogue of positive thought is what this show hopes to address.
Artists in Exhibition:
Wallace Berman (American 1926-1976), a Beat
Generation artist, is best known for his Verifax collages; repeated images of a hand held transistor radio collaged with pop and symbolist images.
Richard Tuttle (American, b. 1941), is most notably
renowned for his post-minimal collages made from delicate, ephemeral materials, Tuttle explores the very nature of drawing and its sculptural relationship to the space around it.
Avinash Veeraraghavan (Indian, b. 1975) explores the
nature of consciousness through digital collage and video. Veeraraghavan describes his work as “’psychic shimmers’ devoid of narrative, but derived from images of the flotsam and jetsam of everyday lives.”
Sudarshan Shetty (Indian, b. 1961) utilizes sculpture,
and installation to examine the absence of the human body as a ubiquitous fact of contemporary life. Shetty asserts, “I try to define this absence with familiar objects, to create a dialogue between them and a new kind of poetry.”
Sheela Gowda (Indian, 1957) incorporates natural
materials like hair, dung, wire and rope, occupying the space between sculpture and installation. By abstracting form, Gowda investigates feminist concerns as well as political and subjective views of globalization.
Ruth Vollmer (American, 1903-1982) utilized
mathematical principles as the basis for her geometric sculptures. Vollmer’s studies on paper and vellum, showcased alongside her most pivotal sculptures, beckon the viewer to survey the mathematical principles Vollmer has employed to create her works. Tilton Gallery is pleased to represent the Estate of Ruth Vollmer.
