Just Opened:
Birgit Brenner (Germany) & Zlatan Vehabovic (Croatia)
The first US solo exhibition for both artists, in the new permanent location for Marc Straus Gallery on NYC’s Lower East Side.
Marc Straus Gallery, 299 Grand St., NYC (bt Allen & Eldridge)
Wednesday - Sunday: 10:00-6:00
Monday and Tuesday by appointment
Birgit Brenner is a fearless excavator of the psyche, ultimately no doubt her own, but still her works have humor and irony. Living Life means there is always something wonderful and hopeful and it is worth taking risks. For this, her first solo show in the U.S., Brenner has expanded her visual language with works not easily classified as painting, sculpture, or drawing. While structurally mining some Beuysian territory, Brenner’s work is highly personal, concerned with social issues as loneliness, isolation, and aging. Some works evolve almost cinematically based on stories written by the artist.
Vehabovic is likely the most highly regarded young artist in Croatia having won First Prize for Zagreb Salon 2010, The International Association of Art Critics (AICA) Award 2010, as well as an Essl Award in 2007, (Emerging Artists in Southeast Europe) 2010, and with a solo exhibit in 2011 at Lauba Museum in Zagreb, and inclusion in many important group shows. His new work has turned to figuration - here of younger adults at a moment of a highly charged interpersonal issue. It has a filmic and almost surreal quality and is basked in grey and dark hues. We have no other entry point and no further data but there is a sense that for these young people struggling with love and separation the emotional impact is largely new and raw.
