The Carmichael Gallery in Culver City Presents Works by 5 New York Artists

Written by Jonas Trusscot Sunday, 16 October 2011 22:27

Culver City, CA.- The Carmichael Gallery is pleased to present "Breach of Privacy" a group exhibition featuring works by Yasmine Chatila, Hilo Chen, Adam Krueger, Alyssa Monks and Jaclyn Santos, five New York-based artists whose creative practices span a disparate range of media, yet coalesce to represent compelling explorations of voyeurism in its shifting states of ecstasy, release and isolation. Via exhilarating photorealistic oils, hauntingly subtractive mixed media works and raw black and white photography, each artist fashions his or her own unique voyeuristic allegory, some oblique, others candid, but all bound by a bittersweet philosophical thread that delves far deeper than that which is externally revealed in each of "Privacy", on view from May 21st through June 11th.

Life is filled with glimpses of private moments and the artists in Breach of Privacy capture these experiences of curiosity, attraction and idleness by employing various forms of visual realism to depict a fleeting instance in their subjects’ lives and create a non-linear narrative in which the viewer is encouraged to be complicit. In their fluctuation between delicacy and darkness, the works of art both reference the poignant beauty implicit in the nature of voyeurism and brazenly confront the societal mores that condemn the shameful exhilaration such an act can provoke in the human being’s mind and body. Chatila, Chen, Krueger, Monks and Santos portray these revelations of illusion or disillusion in a manner that is equally sophisticated, skillful and considerate, offering viewers a more informed critique of contemporary life and relationships, whether real, imagined or simply viewed ambiguously from afar.

The photographs and videos that comprise Yasmine Chatila’s captivating 'Stolen Moment' series seize fleeting flashes of human behavior viewed through the windows of New York City’s architecturally stunning apartment buildings and transform them into timeless, edifying expositions of the world around us. Select galleries and institutions that have recently exhibited her work include Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, KunstWerke, Berlin (2009) and Edelman Arts, New York, John Kohler Arts Center, Wisconsin (2008).


Hilo Chen’s hyper-realistic renderings of the nude or semi-nude female form are breathtaking both in their beauty and craftsmanship. Whether lounging on a beach or emerging from a bathtub, the individual depicted in Chen’s oils on canvas often appears with her face either turned away or not depicted at all. Chen graduated with a B.S. in Architectural Engineering from Chung Yien College in Taiwan in 1966. Select galleries and institutions that have recently exhibited his work include Bernaducci.Meisel.Gallery, New York (2006, 2008) and The Benton Museum of Art, Connecticut (2008). His work is represented in major international public collections, including The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, San Jose Museum of Art, California, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei and Taiwan Museum of Arts, Taichung, as well as in numerous private collections.

Adam Krueger’s elimination of key parts of a female’s body in an individual piece, whilst simultaneously emphasizing enigmatic shapes and colors via hand-cut stencils and atypical mixed media, seductively draws viewers in and invites them to complete the image in the privacy of their own mind. At once symbolic and surreal, the concept of voyeurism takes on a new meaning when interpreted by Krueger. Krueger attended Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence in 2003 and graduated with a B.F.A. from Rhode Island School of Design in Rhode Island in 2004 and an M.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts in New York in 2006. He is the recipient of several scholarships, including the School of Visual Arts Fine Arts Award (2005, 2006), RISD’s Trent Burleson Painting Prize (1st Place) and Award for Pictorial Excellence (2004) and winner of the Congressional Art Competition (1999, 2000). Select galleries that have recently exhibited his work include Coleman Burke Gallery, New York (2010), Deitch Studios, New York (2009), Marlborough Gallery – Chelsea, New York, StolenSpace Gallery, London (2008), Art Gotham, New York (2007) and David Zwirner (2006).

Sultry condensation, distorted bubbles and disheveled wet locks offer a tense, but thrilling contrast to the otherwise still waters that envelope the breathless faces at the heart of Alyssa Monks’ larger-than-life oils on linen. Monks studied at The New School in New York, Montclair State University in New Jersey and Lorenzo de’Medici in Florence and graduated with a B.A. from Boston College in 1999 and an M.F.A from the New York Academy of Art, Graduate School of Figurative Art in 2001. Select galleries and institutions that have recently exhibited her work include Sloan Fine Art, Forbes Galleries, New York (2011), Eden Rock Gallery, St. Barth’s, David Klein Gallery, Michigan, DFN Gallery, New York, Scott White Contemporary Art, California, The Center for Contemporary Art, New Jersey, The Noyes Museum, New Jersey, Kunstmuseum, Ahlen (2010). Art fairs she has recently participated in include The Armory Show – Modern, New York (with David Klein Gallery) (2011), Art Miami (with David Klein Gallery), San Francisco Fine Art Fair (with Hespe Gallery) (2010) and Art Hamptons (with DFN Gallery) (2009). In addition to representation in national public collections such as the Savannah College of Arts, Fullerton College and the Somerset Art Association, Monks’ work is featured in numerous private collections, including the Seavest Collection and those of Howard Tullman, Danielle Steele and Eric Fischl.

Jaclyn Santos crafts tender but unabashed oils on canvas that flout the clichéd notions of femininity to produce an unexpectedly multi-faceted array of intelligent opinions on this theme. “As an artist and individual, I have always been concerned with themes of sexuality and spirituality, and through my narrative paintings of women I embrace and question this supposed dichotomy,” Santos explains. Santos graduated Cum Laude with a B.F.A. in Painting from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in 2007 and is the recipient of numerous artistic scholarships and academic awards, including the Maryland Institute College of Art Painting Departmental Recognition Award (2006-2007), Francis Burns Harvey Merit Scholarship (2006-2007), Dominico Pelicano Award and Winifred M. Gordon International Programs Award, both scholarships for study abroad in Italy (2006), C. Louis Mullin Flannigan Scholarship (2005), Maryland Institute College of Art Achievement Award (2004), Maryland Institute College of Art Transfer Scholarship, Maryland Institute College of Art Talent Grant (2004-2007) and The Fund for American Studies Scholarship, Georgetown University (2003). Following exhibitions in New York, Sorrento and Miami and a two-year period as a studio assistant to Jeff Koons, Santos rose to international prominence as a semi-finalist on Bravo’s television series, Work of Art: The Next Great Artist.

Founded in 2007 by husband and wife team Seth and Elisa Carmichael, Carmichael Gallery focuses on a select group of artists breaking ground in painting, mixed media, photography and sculpture. Their annual program consists of a series of solo and group exhibitions that document the progress of these artists. Visit the gallery's website at ... www.carmichaelgallery.com

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