This September, Gallery Henoch is pleased to present The Female Eye, a group exhibition of 11 contemporary female realist painters investigating their present-day truths. The exhibition will open with an invite-only benefit for the Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center on September 19th and will be on view to the public through October 22nd, 2019.
Gallery Henoch, located in Chelsea’s Gallery District, has a history of recognizing and promoting female artists since its founding in the 1960’s. The current exhibition is the gallery’s first attempt to do a group show focused solely on the work of women. The intention is to illustrate the way each individual creates her work, even as all share the experience of being female.
Some of the paintings presented examine reality in its raw, personal minutiae; Alexandra Pacula and Sung Hee Jang focus upon scenes of urban complexity and the sense of self in a fast-paced society, while Patricia Traub’s harmonious menageries call for empathy among all living things.
Other artists direct a lens to a particular facet of everyday existence – lush trees and the seemingly wild landscapes of New Jersey are painted in painstaking detail by Anita Mazzucca, while Alexandra Averbach, Janet Rickus and Olga Antonova apply geometry, design elements and incredible draftsmanship to intricate still lifes: flowers, fruits, and kitchen utensils.
Reflection on identity is pursued by Sharon Sprung, whose sensual realist portraits evoke the nuanced intensity of beholding the gaze of another; In contrast, Renée Foulks explores the spatial and emotional relationship of observed bodies in scenes that are almost surreal. Elizabeth McGhee balances humor and puns through her paintings as she addresses common life themes. And the layered paints and resins of Susan Goldsmith’s works glimmer like gemstones that have been lit from within.
A portion of the proceeds from the exhibition will be donated to breast cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Breast cancer is everyone’s concern, but it’s especially a women’s concern. As women’s issues have come increasingly to the forefront, and women in the arts have begun to achieve greater visibility, The Female Eye calls attention to this important moment in time. In awareness of the countless ways women around the world have had to fight for proper recognition, for humane treatment, and for appropriate medical care, the gallery seeks to highlight the resilience of women through the perspective of these female artists.