Where: Salvatore Ferragamo Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street
When: May 11th – June 22nd
Contact: Blair Voltz Clarke, info@voltzclarke.com
Salvatore Ferragamo & Voltz Clarke Contemporary Inc. are proud to present Sweet & Sour, a contemporary exhibit featuring the works of six international young artists this May in the Gallery at the Ferragamo store on Fifth Avenue in New York. “Sweet and Sour refers to the spirit of complimentary opposites, merging the conventional with the edgy, resulting in a beautiful mix.” says Blair Clarke, president and founder of Voltz Clarke LLC. “Each of the talented artists has used the Sweet & Sour spirit as their inspiration for creating new and original works that will be shown for the first time. I am thrilled to be able to present them.”
Among this young group of artists is the talented Natasha Law. Law’s work appears regularly in the UK Sunday Times Style Section and is now receiving international acclaim for her formal paintings of semi-nudes, with sellout exhibitions in London and New York. Her last group show Kaleidoscope was an unprecedented success, her work selling to different collectors, including Sex and the City star, Kim Cattrell. The lines in her figures are effortless and comfortable yet powerful and evocative. Natasha Law’s Sweet and Sour paintings exudes a particular attitude with a strong erotic undercurrent. The medium, everyday gloss household paint on aluminum underlines the immediacy and relevance of her work, the high gloss adding a unique frisson.
Christina Burch’s paintings have been exhibited in New York, Venice, Italy, and Nice, France and are held in private collections as well as the Museo della Commune di Brescia in Italy. Her paintings combine propaganda, cartoons, printed and digital media, landscape and figurative imagery. She is particularly inspired by Japanese prints, as is reflected in her work.
Sandra Nydegger, a self-taught photographer, from Switzerland moved to New York in 1991. A documentarian for years, she focused on rodeos, car racing and other male-dominated sports. Her new work captures an entirely different landscape: color photographs of women’s legs. Her work has been exhibited in shows in New York and Europe and published in a book by Eyestorm.
Shane Bradford, a British painter is enamored with Pollock-like paint drips and transforms this passion for drips into dips. Lollypops, baby’s pacifiers, toothbrushes, toy cars, spoons have all been dipped into Technicolor emulsions. The creation invokes an almost edible object, swathed in juicy colors. Shane begins touring a major solo show in London later this year, traveling to museums in Norway and Europe.
Amy Jenkins’s mixed-media video installations explore relationships between people, places and objects, revealing the emotional connection with our everyday lives. Her work includes diverse mediums of video, sculpture, writing, performance and audio.
In Alessandra Exposito’s recent paintings, she explores power as it relates to culture, gender and the body. Her cupcake iconography taps into both childhood and adult desires, and symbolic associations of class and taste. In the body of work for Sweet & Sour, she appropriates trendy and clich accoutrements of femininity, exploiting the color pink and using rhinestones as accents. She has received numorous fellowships and grants through Skowhegan, The MacDowell Colony and The Marie Walsh Sharpe Space Program. Her work is currently on view at the Brooklyn Museum, and the Jersey City Museum.
From film festivals to museum installations, cultural events to seminars and publications, Salvatore Ferragamo has always paired fashion with art. In 1999 Ferragamo won the Guggenheim Enterprise and Culture Prize, an annual award for most significant contributions to culture. The “Sweet and Sour” exhibit continues this tradition by supporting new artists and offering global exposure to their work. After showing in New York this exhibit will continue onto Japan, Italy and Seoul.
Voltz Clarke’s mission is focused on garnering exposure for contemporary artists through private consultation and public exhibitions as well as introducing international artists to the US market. Maintaining a roster of 10 – 12 artists, the company’s founder Blair Clarke, works directly with all of her artists. Her goal is to exhibit their works to the largest possible audience, including on line, in private and in galleries for the greater public. In this case one of the featured artists which has proven to create a real stir was Natasha Law’s Sweet and Sour picks for this exhibit.
