Our Common Humanity
33 Contemporary presents a new exhibition about humanity and the concept of liberation.
Anew exhibition with 33 Contemporary, curated by Didi Menendez and Sergio Gomez, showcases artwork of the human form across a variety of genres and styles. Liberating the Flesh is an exhibition of figurative-focused paintings, drawings and sculptures exploring various interpretations of the figure from realism to abstraction,” says Gomez, artist and director of 33 Contemporary. “Artists were invited to think about the idea of liberation and to respond to the theme from any particular point of view. Therefore, presenting the viewer with a wide gamut of ways of seeing our common humanity.”
Liberating the Flesh will be held from July 15 to September 2. Among the artists’ whose works will be featured in the exhibition are Brianna Lee, Victor Gadino, Hilary Swingle and Kelly Birkenruth, among others.
A woman faces a tempestuous ocean, her back to the viewers, in Lee’s Tempest. As she lifts her arms and slightly tilts her torso, the muscular forms of her back are accentuated. “What pulled me to create Tempest was the idea of facing overwhelming circumstances and how isolated we feel when we endure these moments in our lives…She stands isolated yet unwavering facing the unforgiving elements that surround her. Civilization seems a distant harbor in this storm, but it too is under threat,” says Lee. “A break in the storm illuminates her figure against the tempestuous sea because she is a beacon of hope and strength amidst chaos and uncertainty.”
Junyi Liu | Chinese, b. 1995 | No One Else Will Love You, 2022 | Oil on linen | 30 × 40 in | PURCHASE @ARTSY
Killing Me Softly
33 Contemporary hosts a new series of work by figurative painter Junyi Liu.
For the month of August, 33 Contemporary Gallery, located on the fourth floor of the Zhou B Art Center in Chicago, will feature the new, emotionally driven series by Junyi Liu titled Killing Me Softly. The artist presents a unique look at what it’s like to exist in a toxic relationship, a theme that hits close to home for Liu, as it does for many others. In approximately 14 oil paintings, Liu projects her own image into scenes involving candy and food, and each piece is paired with a title that reflects words often stated in toxic relationships.
Vicki Sullivan | Australian, b. 1961 | Young Love, 2022 | Oil on linen | 22 × 17 7/10 in | PURCHASE @ARTSY
Enduring Techniques
Vicki Sullivan was the Third Prize Winner in International Artist magazine’s Challenge No. 128, Favorite Subjects.
On the Mornington Peninsula of Victoria, Australia, contemporary realist Vicki Sullivan is surrounded by the inspiration of the Southern Ocean on one side and Port Phillip Bay on the other. A life changing experience, she studied art in Italy at the Angel Academy of Art, where she learned the skills the Old Masters employed hundreds of years ago. “It was incredibly fulfilling and absorbing,” says the artist.
Alessandro Tomassetti | Canadian, b. 1970 | Spellbound, 2022 | Oil on linen | 14 × 18 in | PURCHASE @ARTSY
In Perpetuity
Artwork in the annual Painting the Figure Now exhibition captures and preserves the human experience.
By Alyssa M. Tidwell
Every year Painting the Figure Now presents a new body of figurative art created by some of the most esteemed artists working today. These pieces capture sentiments, themes and emotions as vast and complex as the human experience itself. But that singular concept of personhood is what each work of art has in common—portraying that ephemeral glimpse into what it means to be a person.