Shay Kun
Slack Tide
On view: January, 9th - February 13th, 2010
Opening Reception: January, 9th, 5 - 7 pm
LaMontagne Gallery is proud to present Slack Tide, an exhibition of new work by Shay Kun.
Shay Kun’s work uses rich imagery that combines and unites the clefts of the Himalayas with the shallows of the Hudson River School, a leisurely hot air balloon with the coveralls of industrial unionists, and the Bobbsey twins with G.I. Joe all on single two-dimensional canvases. These are quintessential post modernist works, and Kun, the artist, refuses to supply any narrative, making the subject of his art simply the gaze of the viewer. He builds these daunting allegories from the Hudson River School of the 19th century and, in particular, Thomas Cole’s reverent paeans to nature and Albert Bierstadt’s towering Yosemite cliff faces and awestruck visions of the sublime in the American West. Kun portrays the human invaders not only as innocent gazers at the grandeur of nature, but equally as nature’s occupiers, abusers, and destroyers. However, his ever-ironic and humorous view of the interaction between humans and nature bring optimism to his work.
-Moran Bar-Kochva
Shay Kun (b. 1974, b. Tel-Aviv) currently lives and works in New York City. He received his BFA from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and his MFA from Goldmiths College, London. Recently his work has been exhibited at The Shanghai Contemporary Art Museum, David Castillo Gallery, Miami, BUIA Gallery, New York, and Artfutures at the Bloomberg Space in London.
On the occasion of this exhibition, a catalog with essay by Moran Bar-Kochba will be available.