Edge/Elegance

In anticipation of the largest annual art happening of the Americas, Long-Sharp Gallery presents “Edge/Elegance” —a group exhibition featuring avant-garde multimedia, sculpture, video, painting and installation works at the prestigious Art Miami fair, November 29 – December 4, 2016.

Unique this year is a spotlight on contemporary and modern artists Gino Miles, Thalen & Thalen, Susan Woods, Chris Bracey, David Spiller, Jason Myers and David Kramer, and the sheer spectrum they represent in scale, medium and perspective. Especially timely, Long-Sharp Gallery will be presenting Andy Warhol’s holiday- inspired works.

“We are honored to exhibit at Art Miami, the premier satellite fair to Art Basel Miami Beach,” said Rhonda Long-Sharp, Long-Sharp Gallery founder. “This year’s exhibition highlights craftsmanship and a singular mastery of materials. From pure fine silver to neon installations, our featured artists range in mediums and occupy a unique voice in the contemporary art space.”

Gino Miles, who sculpts marine-grade stainless steel and bronze into massive, towering structures, has devoted his life to mastering his medium. At Art Miami 2015, Miles achieved a record status for the gallery when all seven of his marine grade stainless steel sculptures sold-out before the fair’s end. Thalen & Thalen is a Belgium-based father-and-son duo, also primarily working with sculpture but with focus on pure fine silver (999/000). Born in 1954, Rob, a trained silversmith, began his arts career in the Netherlands in 1982, joined in 2005 by his son Jaap, who studied architecture. Since August 2016, Thalen & Thalen have exhibited at no less than a dozen European museums, shaping their metal of choice into objects that look simultaneously majestic and sensuous, mirroring the feel of the silver itself.

In a combination of edge and elegance, Susan Woods works at the intersection of art and design with sculpture. Her artistic process is focused on experimental ideas, which, as both an artist and designer, often lead to functional statement pieces that can also viewed as objets d’art.

In contrast to Miles, Thalen & Thalen and Susan Woods, Chris Bracey and David Spiller bring a bold and representational sensibility to the exhibition’s layered Edge/Elegance dynamic. Neon artist Bracey passed away in 2014 at the age of 59, leaving behind his wife, children and grandchildren. His reclaimed neon works have become iconic for their punchy phrases and typography, often bringing pop cultural references and excerpts from songs to bright life in living color. Similarly, 73-year-old Spiller, who still paints on the floor of his studio, incorporates the words of popular catchphrases, lyrics, and poetry in his modern, self-referential works. Juxtaposing type with shapes that alternate between cartoon and highly structured lettering, Spiller utilizes a strong geometric construct and offers a reframed view of a culture with new eyes.

Video artist and painter Jason Myers most recently exhibited at the Cornell Art Museum in Delray Beach, FL and is opening his solo show at The Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland, FL in September 2017. His clever use of repetition, amplified via animation and video, speaks to the routine, politics and absurdities of the human experience. Taking a more personal and direct approach, David Kramer’s work deals with issues of self-exploration tinged with a healthy dose of neurotic musings and self-deprecation. Incorporating his own writings—often diaristic in nature, and juxtaposed against expressively painted and drawn images—his paintings present both a sense of place and a state of mind that can produce the best kind of awkward laughter.