Contessa Gallery: Showcasing groundbreaking new work by Mr. Brainwash, David Datuna, and David Drebin at Art Miami 2014
December 1, 2014 - Contessa Gallery
PRESS RELEASE
December 1, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contessa Gallery: Showcasing groundbreaking new work by Mr. Brainwash, David Datuna, and David Drebin at Art Miami 2014
Monday, December 1, 2014, Cleveland, OH – Contessa Gallery is thrilled to be participating in Art Miami this year. This is a notable year for Art Miami as they celebrate their 25th anniversary as the leader in presenting international contemporary and modern art fairs. Art Miami works with the most respected and influential galleries to feature important artists and artworks from the 20th and 21st centuries. Contessa Gallery’s booth will be exhibiting new works by notable Contemporary artists Mr. Brainwash, David Datuna, and David Drebin, as well as iconic works by modern masters such as Jasper Johns, Helen Frankenthaler, and Chuck Close. In an exciting new move, Contessa Gallery will be exhibiting in two booths this year in order to showcase the expanse of recent works created by Mr. Brainwash, David Datuna, and David Drebin.
In an unprecedented move, Contessa Gallery will be exclusively dedicating one booth to a special presentation of the work of Mr. Brainwash. Thierry Guetta, internationally known as Mr. Brainwash, followed and documented street artists on film beginning in 1999, ultimately filming the most famous street artist: Banksy. At the encouragement of Banksy, Guetta began creating his own street art and had his first solo show as Mr. Brainwash in 2008. Mr. Brainwash’s artistic evolution is documented in the Banksy-directed and Oscar-nominated film, Exit Through the Gift Shop. Known for his Pop Art feel and street-art style, Guetta will be transforming the booth to reflect his own studio space. The entire booth will be complete with painted walls and materials used to create his dynamic work, pulling viewers into the world of Mr. Brainwash and immersing them amongst his new works made specifically for Art Miami.
This past year has been a landmark year for David Datuna, and continues to be with Contessa Gallery’s presentation of Nostalgia for Warhol. The gallery will exhibit Datuna’s homage to Andy Warhol’s iconic serial celebrity silkscreens, Ten Marilyns, on the main wall of their Art Miami booth. This group of transformative portraits of Marilyn Monroe are part of the artist’s Golden Triangle series. This recurring triumvirate in Datuna's reportage explores past, present and future, thematically linking to our time and culture.
The image of the famed Marilyn Monroe is reinterpreted through tiny colored dots signifying the viewpoint, people, culture and energy of the past. The present is revealed through a veil of optical lenses with varied magnification as the artist skillfully plays with the constructive elements, giving them special meaning from a diverse point of view. The juxtaposition of the celebrated actress’s image of the past and the power of 20th Century iconography in the present, shine through Datuna's clever use of lenses while giving personality, perception, fragmentation and unity new definition. As the audience examines the work from their unique point of observation, the illusion of movement three dimensionally morphs the viewer from the past (the image), through the present (the lenses) into visions of what the future may hold.
2014 started off with Datuna’s exhibition of his Portrait of America, part of his Viewpoint of Billions series, at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery on President’s Day Weekend. This groundbreaking work utilized wearable technology allowing the viewers to interact with images embedded within the artwork. As the viewers explored the works visually, their reactions were recorded, archived, and streamed worldwide through the web. Portrait of America in particular symbolizes the ways in which advancing technologies have helped create a more unified global experience, just as the American experience is a collection of diverse cultures and viewpoints.
Datuna is also well known for his portraits in which he juxtaposes influential historical figures with popular contemporary icons. The artist plays on concepts of identity, particularly through the exploration of perspective and observation heightened by the optical lenses placed across. Datuna is interested in how cultural identity is perceived by nations, social groups, and individuals through the use of symbols, flags, and logos.
David Drebin is one of the most successful and highly collected photographers working today. Contessa Gallery’s 2012 exhibition, David Drebin Photographs, was Drebin’s third one-man show at the gallery and celebrated the exclusive U.S. release of his newest book, Beautiful Disasters. His work was featured alongside photography giants including Penn, Avedon, and Meisel in Fashion!, one of the most comprehensive exhibitions of fashion photography ever mounted (Fotografiska Museet in Stockholm). Contessa Gallery will premiere new works and exhibit Drebin’s most recent works in photography, lightboxes, and Neon light installations, which illuminate the secret thoughts of the Femme Fatales who inhabit the elusive world of his dramatic photographs. Contessa Gallery will also be world premiering and featuring Drebin’s newest artistic exploration: resin sculptures transforming the Femme Fatales portrayed in his works into three dimensions. Contessa Gallery is excited to present Drebin as a continually evolving multi-media artist.
Contessa Gallery will also be exhibiting iconic works of art by Jasper Johns, Chuck Close, and Helen Frankenthaler. Each of these seminal artists has forever changed the landscape of art history through their use of method or iconography; Johns through his use of ubiquitous symbols of the everyday, Close through his use of photography and grids to create his large-scale portraits, and Frankenthaler through her revolutionary soak-stain method of painting.
About Contessa Gallery
Founded in 1999, Contessa Gallery offers artworks of exceedingly high quality as well as art acquisition counsel to collectors, museums, and institutions. Areas of expertise encompass pre-twentieth century, Modern and Contemporary sculpture, paintings, photography, and works on paper. While many galleries focus primarily upon artist representation and promotion, Contessa Gallery is collector oriented. The Gallery’s mission is to assist clients in developing collections that have deep personal meaning. Contessa Gallery encourages its clients to view their collections as a legacy to be passed down through generations of family or on to museums.
The gallery continues to expand its clientele and reputation through its participation in prestigious art fairs such as Art Miami, The American International Fine Art Fair (AIFAF), and The Armory Show – Modern, Art. At the philanthropic level, Contessa Gallery seeks to make a difference in the community through the contribution of time, expertise, sponsorship, and educational programming for museums and arts organizations.
For more detailed information about the gallery, artists, exhibition history, art fair schedule, and philanthropic support, please visit our website: www.contessagallery.com or contact Steve Hartman at 216.956.2825 or via email: art@contessagallery.com.
For high-res images of the above mentioned works please contact Rebecca Roman at 216.382.7800 or via email:rebecca@contessagallery.com.
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