May 4 – 25, 2017

Sight Lines: John Isaac & Elaine Lorenz
The Story Teller: Liz Curtin & Michael Fair
On the Wall: Irmari Nacht

Carter Burden Gallery presents three new exhibitions: Sight Lines in the East Gallery featuring John Isaac and Elaine Lorenz, The Story Teller in the West Gallery featuring Liz Curtin & Michael Fair, and On the Wall featuring Irmari Nacht. The reception will be held May 4, 2017 from 6 - 8 p.m. The exhibition runs from May 4 through 25th at 548 West 28th Street in New York City. The gallery hours are Tuesday - Friday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Liz Curtin

In The Story Teller, Liz Curtin unearths ephemera and found objects in her mixed media works to tell a story and speak to the history of time and place. In an effort to gain control of myriad objects, Curtin utilizes remnants from past lives to give them new meaning. Vintage textiles, old book parts, found wood and wire, as well as artist made objects are combined to create a sacred space in each piece. Curtin states, ”Inspiration and process are most often sparked by the materials and objects used. One object informs another and another as they in turn work to bring the piece to its conclusion.”

Michael Fair

In The Story Teller Michael Fair presents recent paintings inspired by spiritualty, perseverance, and journeys. During his travels to India and South East Asia Fair noted, “The temples are largely decorated with gold leaf on a black background along with a kaleidoscopic palate of color.” His latest works, inspired by this luminous architecture, are three-dimensional sculpture-like paintings consisting of layers of thin tubular strands of acrylic paint applied with unorthodox instruments. 

John Isaac

In Sight Lines photographer John Isaac presents abstracted photographs of wildlife and nature. After working as a photojournalist for the United Nations for 30 years and witnessing some of the worst atrocities around the world, the artist turned his camera to the environment. Isaac describes this evolution as: “Seeing beauty in unexpected places.” The photographs range from a detailed image of a stone’s rust pigmented surface to a distant landscape, distorted by the texture of the surrounding terrain. Abstracted by composition and detail, all of Isaac’s photographs are captured as one single image and not manipulated digitally. 

Elaine Lorenz

Sculptor Elaine Lorenz presents abstract sculptures influenced by the world’s vast variety of seedpods and their expected promise for the future in the exhibition Sight Lines.  Lorenz’s attention has recently turned to the dried and empty shells of once burgeoning, ripe and luscious flora. She became fascinated by their somber beauty and felt they reflected the political climate of our time. “In my mind the empty pods became metaphors for many things: species extinction and declining biodiversity, destruction of habitats, global warming; the remains of what once was, and perhaps the broken promise of continuity of life.”

Irmari Nacht

In Irmari Nacht’s installation for On the Wall 100 book jackets, that once held books that were loved by their owners and eventually were placed in a discarded pile, are given a new life. The artist hopes that this project will create a dialog about recycling and the continuing role of books in today's society; the physical book versus the digital book, discussions of technology versus humanism, and conversations about protecting our environment. In this interactive installation the viewer will be encouraged to think in a conceptual way about books as a repository of thoughts, ideas, and emotions, and also as a visual, tactile experience.

Installation Views