Sarit Chalamish Gallery is pleased to present “Drama. Queens.Drama.”, a solo art show featuring Michael Harris’ unique paintings and collages.Taking a close look at high-brow celebrity figures, Harris finds iconic women on the edge. His work presents moments of modern tragedy by exploring the rise and fall of our modern day female celebrities, thus taking us on an unsettling journey through celebrity culture. He also illuminates culture’s obsessions with celebrities, the individual Godlike beings, particularly in today’s digital, mediadriven
era.
From Marilyn Monroe, Princess Dianna and Anna Nicole Smith, through Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, to Rihanna, the story unfolds over and over again, part tragic, part humorous. Our culture has mastered the trick: first, idolizing and enhancing these icons, then, in a reverse process, reducing them to being all human again.
It is through those celebrity figures, their star quality and luminosity that we satisfy our craving for a perfect goddess we can admire. Then, in an already-written script, we, as well as the Gods and the media, experience boredom, watch them go on trials, or purely enjoy their crucifixion.
Australian-born Harris, who has been referred to by some as the young Alex Katz, is fascinated by this cyclical phenomenon and uses magazines’ paper clips to recreate bold images of said celebrities on his canvases. He captures these women icons either as individuals or in a dynamic setting, mirroring into our own vulnerability, and our desire for perfection and destruction. Thus, in mortalizing the immortal the artist unmasks his viewers.
September 10-October 4, 2009
Opening reception: Thursday, September 10, 6-8 pm
Sarit Chalamish Gallery, 547 West 27th St. (5th floor)
www.chalamishgallery.com
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