Jason McCoy Gallery

Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to present Promises, which features a group of recent clay sculptures by Keiko Narahashi, Elisa Soliven and Marla Sweitzer. All of these unique works were built and glazed by hand. Conceived of and selected during the pandemic, this exhibition marks the gallery’s first project to be curated virtually. In fact, one of the artists, Marla Sweitzer, was only recently introduced to the gallery through our ongoing weekly Drawing Challenge, which invites all artists to share their work in response to specific poems, lyrics, and literary excerpts. Though this first initial presentation of Promises will occur online only, we are looking forward to showcasing the work in the gallery in the near future. The exhibition’s title and concept were directly inspired by an excerpt from Louise Bourgeois’ Ode à Ma Mère (1995). On page 32 of this exceptional artist book, Bourgeois describes how she imbues her work with meaning and without revealing too much; how she offers the work to the viewer by consciously holding on to some of its secrets. The “promises” she mentions are less an assurance of something particular to occur in the future than a form of playful connection with the viewer. Bourgeois writes: Consequently, I give and then I take back. I make promises And then I change my mind. I drop hints, I imply things, The better to deceive. The works assembled in Promises reflect the sentiment expressed by Bourgeois in that they also establish a flexible bond between viewer and object, which is not so much sparked by specific expectations, but rather by an awakening of curiosity. In that, they remain consciously ambiguous; neither descriptive nor simply gestural, they hover between the concrete and amorphous. As we as a society are adjusting to the realization that certain predictions for the foreseeable future seem almost impossible, we might take strength in the fact that the promises that do hold resolute are those made in earnest - to each other, to our families, and to ourselves.

Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to present both new works on paper and a sculptural installation by Waseem Ahmed. Based in Lahore, Pakistan, Ahmed creates finely rendered miniatures that address various social, political and cultural issues in an attempt "to consistently decry social attitudes that promote suppression, hatred and bloodshed among human beings."

Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to present Venus Imperial, a solo exhibition of paintings by Robert Kelly. Conceived as a cohesive installation, the exhibition brings together a variety of works that date from 2002 to 2019. In this context, single works such as the large-scale Woodstock Nocturne or Mimesis Noir CXXII aim to provide visual anchors, while smaller groupings including El Senor, Venus Imperial and Canary Nocturne manifest rhythmic investigations of an even more intimate focus. Though appearing as rather minimal and perhaps even as hard-edge from afar, the work of Robert Kelly is not. Upon close inspection, one instantly discovers delicate surfaces made of layered information, which bestow a unique sense of mystery upon each painting. This quality is rooted in Kelly’s material of choice: paper that has been printed in times past and heralds from different parts of the world. In fact, Kelly has spent years gathering and traveling, building a collection that ranges from original film posters from 1950s Russia or 1960s Italy, to German school ledgers from 1879 and a 1969 concert announcement for Woodstock, for example. By mounting these rare historic documents backwards onto the canvas, Kelly transforms them into faint yet atmospheric echoes of the past. Only a few phantom images remain, and Kelly draws inspiration from them as small epiphanies and points of orientation in conjuring up his paintings. Furthermore, he employs a language that honors the aesthetics of his source material and embraces a modernist vocabulary akin to the traditions of the Bauhaus, De Stijl, Russian Constructivism and Neo-Plasticism. His paintings can translate as formal puzzles, dynamic interplays between line, form and color sparked by what lies veiled underneath: a palimpsest of things past and present. Kelly himself has remarked: “In a way, this marks my search for a continuity of an aesthetic that is coupled with something organic, sensual, and found.” Born in 1956 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Robert Kelly received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1978. His work has been exhibited extensively in the United States and abroad, including most recently in Brazil and Italy. His work is represented in the permanent collection of The Rose Art Museum, FL; University of New Mexico Art Museum, NM; The Brooklyn Museum, NY; The Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM; Milwaukee Art Museum, WI; Smith College Art Museum, MA; Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutger’s University, NJ; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, AL; The Fogg Museum, Harvard University, MA; The Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; The Margulies Collection, Miami, FL; The McNay Museum of Art, TX, and the New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM. Kelly lives and works in New York City.

Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to present Age of Foolishness, a special exhibition of new drawings, a portfolio of prints and a limited-edition artist book by Brazilian artist Carlos Fragoso.

Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to present a curated selection of works hailing from the last Mid-Century, celebrating the Estates of Bernard Childs, Stephen Greene, Frederick Kiesler, and Charles Pollock, all of which are represented by the gallery. Dating from the early 1940s to the mid 1970s, this group of paintings, sculptures, and works on paper mark a period of unique explorations for each respective artist both in regard to material experimentation and formal investigation.

Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to present COSMIC SENSE, an Online Exclusive Exhibition on Artsy featuring a selection of 1970s paintings by Bernard Childs (1910–1985). To view the exhibition, please visit: www.artsy.net/show/jason-mccoy-gallery-bernard-childs-cosmic-sense

Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to present TEETH MARKS, an exhibition of twenty-five new paintings on paper by Balint Zsako. Known for creating complex figurative compositions that are rich in psychological narratives, Zsako now turns his focus to the notion of absence. In fact, in his latest drawings, each of which measure 9 x 7 inches, one will look for the figure in vain. Instead, the objects that remain begin to take center stage and transform into unusual protagonists. Yet their overall state hints at a human presence nearby: they are well maintained, the balloon is full and floating up, the delicate constructions are standing straight, the plants are watered, and the electricity is connected.

Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of limited edition artist books by Edizioni Canopo, a small publishing house based in Prato, Italy. Conceived and overseen by Salvatore Mazza, the fifty publications to date mark a unique collaboration between internationally acclaimed artists, including Roberto Barni, Alessandro Bazan, Max Gimblett, Paolo Grassino, Katharina Hinsberg, Christiane Löhr, Luigi Mainolfi, Margherita Morgantin, Marco Neri, Nunzio, Mimmo Paladino, Stephanie Peek, Luisa Rabbia, Pat Steir, Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, Tinus Vermeersch, Gilberto Zorio and international writers Nanni Balestrini, Yves Bonnefoy, Alba Donati, Oswald Egger, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Felicitas Hoppe, Mario Luzi, Nico Orengo, Aldo Nove, Edoardo Sanguineti, Barry Schwabsky, Antonio Tabucchi and Andrea Zanzotto, among others. Published in English, Italian or German, each book offers an elegant and intimate rapport between never before published works of poetry or prose, as well as suites of etchings, ink drawings, or collages. In each case, the latter were specifically created by the artists in the printing studio of Edizioni Canopo. Each book is limited to an edition of 35-55. To best present the fine craftsmanship of Edizioni Canopo, the installation at Jason McCoy Gallery will include bound books, as well as single pages mounted on the wall. Edizioni Canopo was founded in 1998 by Salvatore Mazza in Prato, Italy, when restructuring a former textile warehouse from the early 1900s into a publishing house. After a decade of producing finely crafted artist books, Mazza expanded Edizioni Canopo to include exhibition venues, as well as a studio and residency program. Mazza lives and works in Prato, Italy.

ALEXANDRA PENNEY: VANISHING PORTRAITS Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to present an installation of portraits by Alexandra Penney, capturing some of the most influential individuals in today's art world including museum directors, notable patrons of the arts, and collectors and artists alike. These ghostly portraits allude to Penney's history as a painter, and also speak to the disappearing importance of the arts in today’s world at large (illustrated by multiple proposals to decrease funding for the National Endowment for the Arts), while simultaneously noting the subtle power of individuality even as the surrounding world seems diminished.

Jason McCoy Gallery, in collaboration with the Burt Glinn Estate and Magnum Photos, is pleased to present Burt Glinn: Photographs of the New York Beat Scene, an exhibition of photographs from 1957-1960, curated by Samantha McCoy. Photograph © Burt Glinn/Magnum Photos.

Jason McCoy Gallery is pleased to announce its fourth solo exhibition of the German artist Christiane Löhr, featuring a selection of new works on paper and sculptures. Made of either organized plant matter or animal hair that she gathers in nature, Löhr’s sculptures evoke architectural structures and geometric forms of varying complexity. Studying her materials in depth to assess their resistance and elasticity, she assembles them without the aid of anything other than their inherent supporting forces. While the works might appear effortless, light and delicate, they are the results of careful planning. The latter serves to honor each material's unique characteristics while also isolating it from its original context. Here, assemblages made of weeds, seed pods, grass stalks, burrs, horse or dog hair, transform into independent objects, which reflect a larger contemplation of space, structure and light. The same applies to Löhr’s abstract works on paper, which reflect a simultaneous practice. “To me, line and space cannot be divided”, she explains. "On the contrary, they depend on each other. Drawing a line on an empty piece of paper feels like cutting space and dividing it into sections.” Embracing a gestural quality and sense of spontaneity, Löhr’s works on paper manifest as an ongoing investigation of the interplay between translucency and opacity, biomorphic form and geometric rhythm.