The
Thomas Erben Gallery in Chelsea will be presenting a series of works by
Schandra Singh for an exhibition titled God
Don’t Like Ugly. For her first solo show at the gallery Singh unveils
several oil paintings of some rather exaggerated and distorted portraits.
The
inspiration behind the works in this show came from some photographs Singh took
while on vacationing in several places, using the subjects in her photos as the
basis for her paintings, and then also incorporating elements from several of
her other sketches. As she does this, she removes the individual further
away from its original context turning them into a projection of Singh’s
psyche, as seen through her eyes. As she studies and everyone else
she encounters, they all become immersed in the same universe as they struggle
with whether or not to go with the flow or fight the turbulent waters they
face.
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| "Jean" (2014) by Schandra Singh |
One image titled Shiva depicts a boy, dressed in ordinary clothes while surrounded by mysterious creatures. Shiva is standing in a puddle and has seven arms--three primary ones and a few coming out from the sides. In two of his main arms he’s carrying a green bucket in either one. He raises another one of his arms to his heart, and holds his disproportionally large head to the sky with his eyes closed, while two smaller blues eyes above him appear wide open. There appear to be two other Gods or spirits on either side of his forehead with embellished heads and miniscule bodies.
Another
painting titled Jean is quite a
colorful and cheerful piece. It illustrates a man and a woman standing beside
each other while carrying stuffed animals. The woman has a big smile on her
face as she’s holding a stuffed fish. She’s wearing a multi-colored shirt and
has four eyes—two of them are where they’re supposed to be while one eye sits
on top of her right eye, and the fourth eye, she’s wearing as an earring. The
man is also displaying a wide, toothy grin and almost looks like a clown with
his multi-colored face as he holds a stuffed turtle.
At The Thomas
Erben Gallery, 526 W. 26th St., through Feb.
14. The gallery is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
There will be an opening reception at the gallery Jan. 8th from 6—8
p.m.
