The
Thomas Erben Gallery in Chelsea is currently presenting a group show featuring
work by artists, Yevgeniya Baras, Carolin Eidner, and Adelhyd van Bender. Although
each artist works with vastly different media, their works all revolve around
the idea of embarking on a journey of self-discovery while hinting at elements
of mystery.
For instance,
Carolin Eidner presents several installations, sculptures, and watercolor
paintings such as those from her Morning
Glory series. One painting from her Morning
Glory series illustrates a puppy coming out of a multi-colored vase, while
another one illustrates a giant finger with a bright pink nail surround by
bright brushstrokes. One of Eidner’s intriguing installations is titled Somewhere in Between I Have a Name resembles
a hammock with a white sheet with a face painted in the center that’s shaped
like a pomegranate; freckles are spread across with blue eyes above and plump,
red lips below.
 |
| Untitled (2014) by Yevgeniya Baras |
Yevgeniya
Baras combines geology and physiology; she offers several paintings with rough
textures caused by her thick applications of paint upon canvasses, which she
has constructed through carving, embroidering, and collage. Baras’s paintings
have taken several years to complete and she uses numerous abstract symbols.
One of her paintings includes a thin, pink X stretching across it with small
white “U” or “V” shaped designs falling down like raindrops. In another one of
her paintings, she depicts the moon against the dark, night sky with a small
hole below shining its bright light as though trying to pull the moon toward
it.
Adelhyd van
Bender’s works are being presented posthumously. Bender passed away last year
and his relatives discovered binders full of paintings and esoteric drawings
covering the walls of his Berlin apartment. He was born in 1950 as Harald
Bender in Bruchsal, Germany, and throughout his life and career, he drew,
collaged, and hand-colored several Xeroxed pages with bright colors and various
geometric shapes and symbols that seem unfinished creating an enigmatic effect.
At the Thomas Erben Gallery, 526 W. 26th St.
through Jul. 20. The gallery is open Tues.—Sat. from 10 a.m.—6 p.m.
