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Jan 1 – March 14, 2020  

CLASSICAL REMIX
Classical Remix

 

presents four international artists whose respective work repurposes classic art historical themes with a thoroughly contemporary perspective and process.
The recent work of the French collaborative duo Clement Kamena is a series of elaborate paintings rendered in classical style, which juxtapose traditional and historical figures with contemporary superheroes - Wonder Woman and Banksy coexist with figures from Poussin’s 1650 tableau ‘Coriolanus Supplicated by His Mother’; and caped crusader Batman, perched at the edge of a Chrylser Building gargoyle, curiously contemplates Icarus and his failed wings in freefall.
Spanish painter Lino Lago’s ‘Fake Abstract’ series reproduces portraits of 18th century female aristocracy by Boucher, Bougerau and Knapton, and then obscures them by overpainting in a swath of solid color, except for a thin sliver or squiggle, reminiscent of a finger dragged across a foggy window, to reveal a portion of the figure beneath. A product of the late Soviet epoch of perestroika, Ukrainian Arsen Savadov re-examines the postmodernist tool of appropriation. Savadov’s play with borrowed material aims to create a zone of relaxation and delight. The hand of Titian’s Mary Magdalene’s hand rests on Damien Hirst’s notorious paint-smeared skull; an angel from Nicolas Poussin’s Annunciation ponders a vinyl LP record—figments of the artist’s imagination grounded in his knowledge of art history transport the Old Masters to a contemporary dimension. Made from thousands of spools of thread, American Devorah Sperber’s barely recognizable, pixelated reproductions of Old Master paintings such as Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Van Eyck’s self-portrait, transform into exacting versions of the originals when viewed through an optical device. By deconstructing familiar images, Sperber prompts viewers to reflect on the discrepancy between what we see and how our brains process it.

 July 16 – September 21, 2019  

SUMMER ReFRESH
Works From The Collection

 

Gilles Clement Gallery presents a gathering of our latest collection of cuttingedge Contemporary, Pop, Op and Street Art. An array of artwork delights and inspires the viewer with iconic imagery, vivid colors, and culturally significant themes. Rotating throughout the season, the exhibition will showcase an eclectic mix from the gallery’s stable of artists, and a range of mediums and techniques including photography, painting, mixed media, collage and neon. Fresh additions to the gallery are the vibrant abstract works of Philadelphia-based modernist painter Michael Gallagher; Spanish artist Lino Lago’s clever oil paintings that juxtapose classical and contemporary art; and the exploded pop sculptures of French artist Francois Bel. Other featured artists include: Curtis Cutshaw (oil enamel on birch), David Datuna (mixed media), Robert Mars (vintage collage and neon), Clement Kamena (acrylic on canvas), MARCK (videosculpture) and TRAN$PARENT (money art).

 May 9 – June 6, 2019  

THESE IMPORTANT YEARS
 ROBERT MARS

 

Has produced a body of artwork from his studio in Connecticut that celebrates the commonplace objects and brands and icons of an America long past in a thoroughly modern and exquisitely constructed manner. His work highlights the importance that 1950’s and 60’s icons bear in the context of American and global history. “The images evoke a feeling of nostalgia, but I am not looking back to the past. I present them in a modern and current way to speak to their continued relevance decades later. The images remain alive and fresh through modern techniques and applications.” – Robert Mars. Through the application of a rich and layered color palette and tongue in cheek attitude, Mars’ paintings evoke a vintage quality of design and pay homage to the idealized age of growth and hopefulness that was prevalent in the USA at the end of World War II – a time before the internet and mobile technology, when there was no such thing as instant digital celebrities, but rather the myth of unique, untouchable and iconic personalities such as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren. Combining vintage wallpapers and quilt patterns, Mars delves further into the essence of American culture, incorporating a folk art sensibility into a pop art aesthetic, while capturing the timeless relevance and enduring influence of past and contemporary icons on society, technology, politics and fashion.

 October 12 – November 30, 2018 

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
 MARCK + SPERBER: 

 

Going full throttle with their creative license to manipulate reality and perception, the two artists featured in the upcoming exhibit at GILLES CLEMENT GALLERY utilize their respective mediums to draw the viewer into a wonderland of optical illusion, playful visual layering and unexpected use of space and scale. The human visage and form take the thematic center stage, presented in the gargantuan pixilated enlargements of Devorah Sperber’s thread spool installations, and the miniaturized women of MARCK’s video sculptures, dancing in an elegant decorative case, trapped in a spinning tank, or posing as the power source of a light box. Invited to experience the effect of the proverbial ‘rabbit hole’, the viewer will discover a gallery presentation at once foreign, yet familiar; strange, yet enchanting. The walls come alive with multiple moving picture screens, constructed in wood or metal, brightly painted or distressed; wind blowing, water running, colors draping. In contrast, Sperber’s flat inverted pointillist constructions seem oddly remote and static; yet, upon closer inspection - literally through a crystal orb - the images flip upright and appear in realistic 3-D form. Expect no ordinary art browse – the eyes are engaged as never before, the brain challenged and teased, and the spirits uplifted by this delightful pairing of conceptual and technical artistry. 

June 1st - September 20th 2018

SUMMER GROUP EXHIBITION
Group Exhibition 

 

Gilles Clement Gallery is pleased to present our latest collection of cutting-edge Contemporary, Pop, and Street Art  that delights and inspires the viewer with iconic imagery, vivid colors,  and culturally significant messages. 

This rotating summer exhibition showcases an eclectic mix of artists working in a range of mediums and techniques including photography, painting, mixed media, collage, neon light and spools of thread. Featured artists include Curtis Cutshaw (oil enamel on birch), David Datuna (mixed media with optical lenses), Robert Mars (vintage collage and neon) and Kathleen Wilke (underwater photography).  Introducing our new additions: Javier Martin, Spanish multidisciplinary artist whose "Blindness" series combines glamorous black and white portraits with colored strokes of neon light; and American installation artist Devorah Sperber, who utilizes thousands of spools of thread to create pixilated versions of iconic works of art which, when viewed through an optical device, convey a faithful image of the original painting. 

April 19th - May 26th 2018

CLEMENT KAMENA 
Solo Exhibition - ILLUSIONS

 

Parisians now based in Westport, CT, Serge Clement and Marina Kamena have been making collaborative art in the contemporized spirit of Renaissance ateliers for over twenty years - a prolific body of work that reflects the couple’s relentlessly dynamic, creative and visionary approach. First joining their talents to recreate ten masterpieces for the French film Rembrandt (1999), they have worked in tandem ever since, represented by and exhibited at the Allan Stone Gallery in NYC, and co-authored a book “The Joy of Art” (Abrams 2001). Featured in the current show are a diverse range of paintings, sculpture and mixed media constructions that share the theme of illusion and perspective. The results are offbeat, clever works of enormous craftsmanship that outguess the viewer. As Kamena puts it, “Illusion is a means of testifying to life, of restoring what the artists have seen, and finally making something that intensely captures reality”.

March 9th - April 9th 2017

DAVID DATUNA
Solo Exhibition

 

Opening Reception: March 9, 2017

 

David Datuna is a New York-based artist focused on the convergence of art and social consciousness. He is most widely known for his Viewpoint of Millions series that explores the sources and meaning of cultural identity from each unique point of view. He has been critically acclaimed by museum curators and art critics worldwide as a precursor of his time.

 

Winner of the 2015 Raindance film Festival, and numerous other prestigious awards, presented by  Gilles Clement gallery for the very first time to the public in a private showing in Greenwich on the night of the opening reception "Datuna:  Portrait of America" (www.datunamovie.com) is the event not to be missed.
 

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