For Untitled Art Houston’s inaugural fair, Michael Kohn Gallery is delighted to propose a curated exhibition of new work by Lita Albuquerque, Nir Hod, and Gonzalo Lebrija. The presentation examines the materiality of contemporary Light and Space works as seen through Albuquerque’s iconic Auric Field series, Hod’s tactile reflective canvases, and Lebrija’s elegant geometric abstractions.
Inspired by nature and Earth’s place in the grander universe, Lita Albuquerque’s body of work interweaves photography, film, performance, painting, and sculpture into a vibrant synthesis of personal and cosmic mythologies. In this presentation, Albuquerque revisits her distinguishable Auric Field series– golden orbs set against a minimal aura of rich ultramarine. “I started using blue as a way of uniting earth and sky,” says Albuquerque. The work’s luminescence is generated from the sunken relief of the sphere that takes center and presents as a source of energy. Nir Hod’s artistic practice draws upon personal memory and traumatic historical events to elicit subtle tensions between the viewer’s expectations and the material reality of the canvas. In his series, The Life We Left Behind, Hod presents a masterful play between the profoundly illusionistic depth of the chromed, mirror-like surface and the physical substance of the painting, evidenced by the thick impastoed brushstrokes. The effect has an extraordinary impact precisely because of the two competing, yet completely compatible, major shifts in painterly perspective. Gonzalo Lebrija’s almost humorous nihilism explores the passage and futility of life and often focuses on the vertiginous possibilities of frozen moments. His Veladuras (Veils) paintings depict triangular overlays of thinly applied oil paint, becoming darker and more complex as each layer interacts with the other. Lebrija’s complex compositions, based upon the folds of a paper airplane, allude to the lightness, ingenuity and ephemerality of this invention. By extension, the viewer can sense an existential philosophy in Lebrija’s subtle and immensely beautiful abstract paintings.
