Roman Fine Art is pleased to present Manifestations, a solo exhibition by Sag Harbor based painter Elizabeth Karsch. This collection of new works marks Karsch’s debut exhibit at Roman Fine Art. Manifestations features work created during a particularly productive period Karsch experienced while navigating the Covid 19 pandemic with her family. Inspired by the flow of energy between people and around places, Karsch uses mark making to physically depict things that are essentially intangible. The exhibit will remain on view through Monday, April 18th.

Karsch creates vivid mixed-media paintings that swell with bursts of color and tangled lines. Her images are complexly layered, sometimes appearing as gestural landscapes and, at other times, as dancing figures or swirling spirits. A highly personal arrangement of music, podcasts and news stories are embedded in the visual representation of each painting, as her practice is rooted in both the absorption of sound, and transference of energy. Karsch’s work is made in response to the energy around her, which shifts dramatically between the changing seasons here on the East End. The paintings featured in Manifestations fluctuate between airy, monochromatic studies made in the quiet Winter months, to the frenetic and heavily layered explosions of color and form that dominate paintings, representative of the more hectic Summer season. Each painting is touched with the moments and pieces of Karsch’ daily life – the audio media she hears on her drives, the local politics her husband delivers at the dinner table – these among other things, as well as her personal reactions to them, are woven into her work through strokes of charcoal and swaths of paint.

While Karsch’s earliest work was figural, she lost interest in drawing bodies. She eventually turned to abstraction when her mother passed away in 2005. When remembering that moment in time, Karsch states, “I was so immersed in grief, I couldn’t allow myself the pleasures of drawing the human body, since my mom no longer had the pleasure of living in hers.” This shift to abstraction led to a deeper understanding of the non-physical, specifically the energy that surrounds us, and a practice reliant on intuition and feeling. This marked a significant departure for Karsch, who always used the established techniques or the technical training required for figuration in her past work. Instead of planning out each composition, she layers colors and materials over each other until forms begin to present themselves. That is, until the stories within each piece began to emerge, with lives uniquely their own. As each artwork evolves, forms begin to reveal themselves within the compositions, and images emerge and take form without her knowledge.

Roman Fine Art is pleased to present Whimsical Waters, a solo exhibition by Brooklyn based painter Adam Umbach. This exhibition of new works marks Umbach’s second show at Roman Fine Art. Whimsical Waters features new work from Umbach’s ongoing maritime series.  The exhibit will continue through Sunday, March 13th.

In his most recent collection of paintings, Umbach has chosen to refocus on the maritime-centric theme previously explored in his debut exhibition at Roman Fine Art. In his earlier nautical paintings, Umbach revealed his deep connection to boating. Boats moored in the harbors and bays of the Hamptons aroused fond memories of time shared on the water with his late father in New England. In the Whimsical Waters series, Umbach warmly recalls the holiday boat trips of his youth, creating a series deeply nostalgic paintings connected to the sea. For Umbach, images of vessels docked in the calm, shallow waters of Long Island are meant evoke feelings of safety and comfort. Reflecting on the imagery in this series proved a powerful salve to the anxiety felt by the artist, and hopefully to all of us still struggling with the ever-lingering pandemic. Umbach adds bright colors and a sense of humor as a counter sentiment to the isolation and unease many of us have felt over the last two years.

Umbach’s work explores nostalgia and childhood memories by juxtaposing detailed photorealistic representations of everyday objects with expressionistic mark making. By using his non-dominant hand to create the thickly rendered lines and forms, Umbach constructs a dynamic sense of movement and physicality on the canvas that lends a sculptural, almost three-dimensional quality to the picture plane. This formal tension mirrors the balance between his playful, often humorous choice of subjects with the weight of the memories they symbolize—a sense of loneliness pervading a singular teddy bear, toy truck, or boat combined with the comfort and hope that it brings.

A biographical painter, Umbach’s chosen subjects, which often repeat through differing bodies of work, belong to a personal and familial iconography. Though sourced from his life, Umbach’s paintings invite viewers to connect with this imagery by evoking their own experiences and memories.

This series represents an exploration of the modern gaze; of ambiguous figurative paintings that are revealed and transformed within the act of the individuals’ views. These portraits are not an attempt to render physical characteristics, but rather create a language of underlying sexual subtexts. Using ambiguity as a tool demands the viewer’s exploration of their psyches and provokes self-awareness.

To have a painting that can exist as an alluring object and shift into an eroticized figure disarms and naturalizes the modern gaze, decriminalizing sex in art. Whether an individual sexualizes the figure, or becomes embarrassed and nervous by the mere suggestion, this is all a process which occurs independently from the painting. Breaking down barriers of the different modes in which the body can exist in social spheres and contemporary art.

In her newest solo presentation MIDNIGHT SUN Lizzie Gill explores the relationship between memory and place and how perceptual reversal creates new, imagined landscapes. Gill’s paintings are a geotag, geographic or cultural, actual or mythical, that the artist has seen and re imagined, or imagined without having seen. Working with the found material of an art historical language, she translates these elements onto canvas, creating portals to new vistas. Challenging preconceived relationships, her large scale mixed media paintings utilize the landscape as a tool for self reflection and escapism, encompassing ideas about visual memory and spatial flux.

Roman Fine Art is pleased to present Superheavy Nights, an exhibition of new paintings by painter and sculptor Jeff Muhs. Muhs’ first solo show at Roman Fine Art includes a selection of works from his ongoing Slipstream series. Muhs’ abstract paintings are pictorial descriptions or interpretations of events and observations. Through his work, Muhs endeavors to examine, challenge and expand our understanding of beauty and our perception of it. Superheavy Nights will continue through Monday, August 2nd.

Like many of the Action and Gesture painters before him, Muhs uses a variety of painting techniques including, but not limited to, dripping, smearing and pouring paint. The backgrounds are typically black paint that is moved around resembling the whiting out of windows during times of construction or closure. This technique is then over-painted by a dense and colorful mass that calls to mind landscape and Color Field elements. When combined, the push and pull of the eye, causes the viewer to slip between the two disparate yet synthesized elements. The black and white swirling masses are grounded by the opaque denseness of the foreground elements. This oscillation between background and foreground allows the viewer to move in and out and through the matrix of paint. The paintings also afford areas where the eye can rest, areas of deep space to float around in, as well as rich islands of color to float upon the work’s surface.

“Over the last 25 years my work has undergone an evolution from its beginnings as literal depictions of the environment, through a journey of synthesis, simplification, and abstraction roughly paralleling the history of twentieth century art. The inspiration is the same, but the works are now contemplations and actualizations of creative and physical forces at work in our experience.” – Jeff Muhs

Roman Fine Art is pleased to present American Dream, an exhibition by award-winning filmmaker and photographer, Alejandro Áboli.  Áboli’s first solo show at Roman Fine Art includes a collection of images from his extensive photographic series, The RedLine.  American Dream showcases photos of iconic American imagery captured in an unexpected and often playful and colorful way. The exhibit opens Friday, April 23^rd and will continue through Sunday, May 23^rd.  We will be hosting a wine reception for the artist Saturday, April 24^th, 5-7pm.

Prior to creating The RedLine series, Áboli worked as a filmmaker, producer, and photographer for over a decade.  The RedLine series, which represents Áboli’s significant transition from a photographer to a visual artist, was born in 2015 from the artist’s desire to show his unique way of looking at the world.  Áboli continued focusing on The RedLine series while exploring the cities in which he has lived – Madrid, London, and New York – to create unified and related bodies of work.  Áboli finds extensive inspiration in his dreams as well.  Influenced by the paintings of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí, his goal is to incorporate surrealism and abstract expressionism into his photos – weaving together reality and fiction.

Áboli’s body of work in anchored on a palette of bright blue and soft pink inspired by the two places that defined him as an artist: Madrid, with its blue clear skies, and Ibiza, with its unique sunsets full of different shades of pink.  Áboli’s photos remain perched between truth and the imagination, depicting his personal stories. The Photos in American Dream capture the viewer’s eye using a contemporary theme while creating a comfortable ambiguity between reality and fantasy, spiced with a touch of humor.

“The RedLine does not represent life as you know it, but life as you dream it.”

Roman Fine Art is pleased to announce Halcyon Days, our upcoming solo exhibition of new works by polaroid Photographer Alex Moore.  Moore’s first solo exhibition at Roman Fine Art will feature new figurative and landscape works from his most recent travels.  Halcyon Days will include many of Moore’s original polaroid photographs as well as much larger Dye sublimination prints on aluminum and chromogenic prints based on the scanned originals.

Alex Moore first became enamored with polaroid photography while studying abroad in Paris in the spring of 2016.  Moore’s initial focus, while attending the Stamps School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan, was in illustration and painting, but a fateful encounter with a polaroid camera completely changed the direction of his creative output.  Halcyon Days is a collection of photography based entirely on Moore’s polaroid work.  The exhibit is comprised of images taken during Moore’s many travels.  While Moore has taken polaroid photos throughout North America, Asia and Europe, most of the work in his newest exhibit focus on Mexico, New Mexico, Southern France, New York City and the Hamptons.

Moore’s use of the polaroid as his medium of choice heightens the travelogue quality of his images.  In Halcyon Days, photos of landmarks and landscapes are paired with portraits of friends, models and strangers that Moore encounters during his explorations.  While the polaroid format may imply spontaneity, in reality, Moore must lean heavily on his formal Fine Arts training to ensure a successful photo.  Because Moore only utilizes natural lighting, each shot requires a degree of planning.   Locations are scouted and compositions and palette are considered before each shoot.

When most people think of polaroid photography, they think of the impulsive nature of the point and shoot snaps many of us associate with our favorite childhood memories.  Most of us remember having a friend or relative breaking out a polaroid to capture both important milestones as well as casual, intimate moments, such as a barbeque or road trip.  The polaroid, with its iconic white border, has always had connotations of capturing memories in the moment, more so than any other form of photography.  Moore utilizes this to his advantage inherently infusing his imagery with the same sense of nostalgia and whimsy.

“I wanted to play with this notion. Why is the polaroid seen as an amateur form of photography?
What about them is so casual? Is it the small size perhaps? Its spontaneous nature? By reworking
the medium: scanning in the original polaroid, printing it at a large scale on either canvas or alu-
minum, I wanted to highlight the importance of size, process, and presentation. I wanted to keep
the same iconic border format to tie the final product back to its roots as a casual 4-inch polaroid
that could fit in your pocket.”

Roman Fine Art presents ​F#CKBOYS​, a new series of erotically investigative paintings and found objects by Brooklyn-based artist Alexandria Lira.

Using a framework based on traditional portraiture, Lira meets her subjects through Tinder – a platform where speed, vulnerability and sexual stakes are pushed to their extremes – in order to portray a raw and intimate expression of men in their private dwelling spaces. Lira approaches her conquests-cum-subjects much as an anthropologist observes an undiscovered tribe: with care and respect, and added bravery in the face of unchartered first contact. Though her subjects know from the first message that they will be photographed, there still exists an inherently sexy danger posed by venturing into unknown territory, especially for a solo female artist cruising a hookup app in the name of art.

Lira’s portraits reveal young, modern intimacy at its most extreme through a lense of speed and disposability, traits ubiquitous in internet dating culture. Her willing subjects recline in full or partial nudity, unstaged and unguarded in their particular domestic scenes. Having met on Tinder, maintaining the sexual current of the arrangement is critical to the outcome of the portrait – though Lira never actually sleeps with any of her subjects. Her oeuvre is of the voyeur and without agenda, paying special attention to the books and  knick-knacks that make each subject unique as she seeks accuracy in imperfection.

Once the subject has been photographed using the artist’s iPhone and only the available lighting at each location, Lira returns to her studio and selects the most intimate and raw photo from the session, printing it in large-scale directly onto canvas. From there, she embellishes each work with oil paints, starting with the body form and working out from there if inspired to do so. Color palettes for each work are chosen according to the emotional temperature of her subjects during their interaction with close consideration of body language and any other notable personality observations made during the initial session. Blues and purples perhaps connote a cool composure, while oranges and yellows invoke a more hostile, guarded experience. Shades of pinks seem to invite a playful curiosity into the room. Regardless of color, the unmistakable current of connection through sexual vulnerability informs every aspect of Lira’s paintings.

The paintings will be paired with a carefully selected object taken from the scene of the portrait. These artifacts are small, even insignificant; each one of the items is intended to accompany and add to the violation and performative nature of Lira’s sessions. Shaking off the anthropological practice of touching nothing and taking nothing, the artist dives into the irreverence of her investigations even further by memorializing her rendez-vous with these trophies.

Got some Jack Kerouak? (Matt)​ presents a pink and blue-shaded figure in nude repose amidst a crowded corner of the subject’s space. Shelves of uncategorized books frame the figure, illustrating a well-read intellectual who was probably just looking for a good time. On the otherwise neat shelves, electronics and knick-knacks sparsely clutter any open spaces. Well-groomed plants peek through a curtained window and another rests on a shorter-stacked bookshelf.

Though the mood of the subject and his environment is captured in her painting and the thrill of the encounter immortalized in its accompanying found object, Lira wants viewers to draw their own conclusions about her subjects from the work. Somewhere amidst the nudity, performance of the sitter and the artifacts in their space lies the truth between ego and true self. Staunchly conscious of keeping a feminist agenda from informing her work in this series, Lira values above all else the act of taking risks to portray intimacy through an unconventional lens.

A Southampton native, Alexandria Lira studied Fine Art at the Pratt Institute. She lives and works in Brooklyn.

The inaugural Philadelphia Fine Art Fair (PFAF) is a tightly curated, boutique and impeccably designed fair providing attendees a casual and manageable viewing experience. Prices for artworks will range from $3,000 to $1 million+. There are “must have” treasures for every budget. The fair’s highly – regarded galleries hail from 4 countries, 8 states, as well as a strong local representation.

Join us for Scope New York’s 19th edition!

Roman Fine Art returns to SCOPE New York in Chelsea at Metropolitan Pavilion. Known for presenting groundbreaking contemporary work, SCOPE New York will welcome 60 international exhibitors at its centrally-located venue. In addition, SCOPE will continue its legacy of critically-acclaimed VIP Programming with strategic partnerships, a focused schedule of events, and talks.

The first fair to run concurrent with The Armory Show, SCOPE New York’s spirit of innovation has consistently forged the way for emerging artists and galleries. Attuned to nuances in the market and itself an influential force in the cultural sphere, SCOPE continues to usher in a new vision of the contemporary art fair.

Featured Artists for Scope New York:
Ivan Alifan, Ray Caesar, Tim Conlon, Lizzie Gill, The Kaplan Twins, Alexandria Lira, Alex Moore, Taylor Pilote, Leah Schrager, Dean West & Stephen Wilson.

SCOPE New York 2019 opens on Thursday, March 7, 2019, with the Platinum First View and VIP & Press Preview, and will run through Sunday, March 10, 2019.  Metropolitan Pavilion is located at 125 West 18th St.  Visit Roman Fine Art in booth 039.