The Woodward Gallery on the Lower East Side is currently presenting a collection of paintings by Cristina Vergano for an exhibition titled The Laws of Attraction. Wildlife creatures in their natural environment trying to reproduce to keep the life cycle moving are the subject of Vergano’s latest series of works. She depicts these animals as being aggressive toward one and other, which the artist has said is a metaphor illustrating the struggle many people face in life to attract someone and eventually produce new offspring.
One notable image, titled The Laws of Attraction I, features a tiger and an alligator who appear excited in the heat of the moment. The tiger has its paws positioned on the alligators tail as the alligator swerves his body around, and the two creatures exchange looks with their jaws wide open.
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| "The Laws of Attraction" (2014) by Cristina Vergano |
In another painting titled The Laws of Attraction XXIII, three zebras appear to be vehemently engaged in a sexual act, while Laws of Attraction XC portrays an eager monkey in a tree, holding a hummingbird that he captured while being surrounded by two other hummingbirds and butterflies.
Similarly, Laws of Attraction XXI depicts a parrot on a tree branch, flamboyantly flapping its wings and lifting his chest to stave off a horde of hummingbirds. Though Vergano’s wild animals are in confrontation, the winner of these struggles is not revealed. The works in this show also touch on the idea that all humans have an inner warrior that rises to confront life’s challenges, and Vergano has said that, “The fight is a vital expression of passion, the essence of life itself.”
At the Woodward Gallery, 133 Eldridge St., through Dec. 21. The gallery is open Tues.—Sat. from 11 a.m.—6 p.m., and Sundays from 12p.m.—5 p.m.
