EXHIBITION PRESS RELEASE
GALLERY I

NEW TALENT

            Igor Gorban              Eric Montoya            Helena Rubinstein             Sandra Yagi

                           

February  11 – April  23,  2005

Brad Cooper Gallery is pleased to announce a new exhibition In Gallery I,  titled  “NEW TALENT” introducing four artists to the Tampa Bay region:  Igor Gorban, Eric Montoya, Helena Rubinstein and Sandra Yagi.   An opening reception will be held Friday evening,  February 11, from 7 to 9pm. 

The works of art will be on view from February 11,  through April 23, 2005.  

These four artists, all reveal highly individualistic approaches representing specific points of view reflective of their cultural experience, allowing viewers to explore noteworthy directions in contemporary art.

Igor Gorban – (Odessa, Ukraine)  I was born(1957) in one of oldest cultural centers of the Southern Russian Art School, and attended the Odessa Drawing School and the Odessa Pedagogical Institute.  From a very young age, I studied art, where my foremost inspiration came from; the European Masters of XVI – XVII centuries from Germany & Holland.   I still follow their technical methods of the oil painting on the wood panel.   Most of my paintings are small sized works which produce an intimate experience for the viewer, and this way I feel closer connection to the individual.  The reoccurring themes developed in the work are from a humanistic approach where the subjects and actions familiar to me. When the viewer takes pleasure in these paintings, I have succeeded.

Eric Montoya – (Seattle, WA)  Portraiture represents an ideal of beauty.  I am drawn to images that are highly stylized and convey a lasting emotive influence. The flowers break down the portrait into basic components.  In each portrait, I try to remain true to the form of the flowers allowing their interplay to create an inherent sense of movement.  Perennial flowers offer the viewer an opportunity to reflect on the many entendres within each piece.  Flowers offer a depth of symbolism associated with their image from the Victorian age.  The calla lily holds an association to the funeral; the dahlia is a symbol of death, the rose a symbol of passion.  Thus, the subject adds to the overall meaning of each portrait.   

Helena Rubinstein – (Israel)  Our world is based on rules and borders with plenty of red lines, and since childhood,  I have always had the urge to investigate them.  My images are drawn from memory and imagination.  Each of them describes and records an organic material that instinctively carries the memory of a particular place; as love and loss, doubt and faith, hopefulness and despair.  These images are fragile and tender, free of boundaries of time and space.  I work intuitively and instinctively and experience painting like a dancer experience a dance – I feel it in my body. Mystery and nostalgia meet in the space of the canvas. It leads me to a place that I like, a place I haven’t been in before.  

Sandra Yagi – (San Francisco, CA)  My work uses realism and a figurative approach similar to the old masters, whose work I greatly admire.  Their techniques are used to render an exploration of contemporary issues and their impact. One area that interest me is how traditionally bound religions are at odds with modern society, technology and science.  Newer, sometimes more troubling symbols of the current world culture have replaced old icons. In particular, DNA manipulation holds the potential to allow humankind to become a creator/god of sorts.  Despite all of the new technology and science, the age-old questions regarding the human condition and its ultimate fate still remain.

Concurrent exhibit in Gallery II: William Pachner/ WORKS ON PAPER

*online exhibition coming soon
 

Gallery I Exhibition:

Brad Cooper Gallery
1712 E 7th Ave. YBOR CITY  (between 17th & 18th St)

11am - 5 pm / Wed – Sat  &  by appointment.