Press Release:
"Strange, I've seen that face before,
Seen him hanging 'round my door,
Like a hawk stealing for the prey,
Like the night waiting for the day,
Strange, he shadows me back home,
Footsteps echo on the stones,
Rainy nights, on Hausmann Boulevard,
Parisian music, drifting from the bars,
Tu cherches quoi, rencontrer la mort,
Tu te prends pour qui, toi aussi tu detestes la vie,
Dance in bars and restaurants,
Home with anyone who wants,
Strange he's standing there alone,
Staring eyes chill me to the bone."
-Excerpt from Grace Jones's "Libertango", 1972
Concurrent with John Jurayj, a solo show of new work by Maria E. Piñeres will be on view in Gallery 2. The show is entitled Libertango and takes on a sexually charged theme paying homage to the lyrics of the song with the same name by Grace Jones. The lyrics describe the adventures of a mysterious man who lurks around the Parisian nightlife scene of the 1970's.
Continuing her traditional use of needlepoint as her medium, Piñeres explores color, pattern and disposition of a single subject, a typical gay pin-up boy from the 1970's. The nude portrait is presented in contrasting colors within complex backdrops perhaps as a metaphor for the different experiences by the urban dweller in the song.
Inspired by color field paintings by Frank Stella and Gene Davis, vibrant colors are used in a formulated format to compare and contrast the different poses of the subject. The work draws reference to the commercial aspects of repeated imagery as introduced by Andy Warhol and Pop Art with the positioning of the model shown at different perspectives from the viewer. Furthermore, the intricate and intertwined patterns of the backdrops are influenced by the concepts and ideas of the Op Art movement similar to works by Victor Vasarely and Josef Albers. Piņeres reclaims the traditional use of needlepoint as an endearing craft and presents a new format that allows for a dialogue within the context of contemporary art.
Piñeres has recently been included in several important group shows including Pricked: Extreme Embroidery at the Museum of Arts & Design in New York, Celebrity at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Arizona and Wild Girls at Exit Art in New York. Her work is in many important private collections in the US and she is represented by DCKT Contemporary in New York.
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