Paris Koh Fine Arts proudly presents Messages; Overt-Covert with participating artists Jose Camacho, Renee Magnanti, Bill Pangburn. Curated by Dr. Thalia Vrachopoulos, the show will run from October 30th through November 30th, 2024 and be celebrated with an opening reception on November 4th from 6-8PM.

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Messages brings together Camacho, Magnanti, and Pangburn, who, despite their adherence to non-representational media, communicate indelible messages. Their subliminal signals—of thoughtful examination, responsible action, and ethical solidarity—address ecological, gender, and colonial issues that still permeate the globe. Pangburn, Magnanti, and Camacho are visual artists who maintain an innovative relationship with conceptual and formal abstraction in their works, using formal means and paper to convey their messages while distinctly producing unique results.

 

Pangburn’s opalescent works—a vibrant water surface of metallic and iridescent tones—tackle the often-neglected question of water scarcity in today’s homogenized planet. His calligraphic formal language, which alludes to the elliptical flux of free-flowing water and the downward movement of foaming waterfalls, stresses the need for immediate action against water shortages in impoverished geographical areas that suffer more from climate change. In his new series of delicate, small-sized shimmering works, the leitmotif of water is ever present in flowing lines that curve in an ebbing and waning movement. His blue work entitled Waterwars is composed of stenciled eponymous text in recurrent and consecutive lines, seemingly like torrential water flowing out of the blue-hued paper.

 

Magnanti’s woven works pay a daring tribute to unknown women artists who contributed to textile arts, as well as acknowledging the accomplishments of underrepresented women scientists. Her conceptual, abstract patterns of entwined geometric and linguistic ornamentation combine traditional and modern motifs that appear to blossom out of the colored paper weaves. Magnanti reminds us, in a true feminist way, of all the anonymous women who have labored (and still labor) in the fiber industry without human rights.

 

Finally, Jose Camacho’s text-based works, with their gritty and industrial texture, reflect the oppression of the institutionalized violation of human rights by colonial regimes through their compressed stamped words and leftover ink traces. Camacho’s work speaks to the indelibility of the dark stain of colonialism imprinted on the souls of populations whose countries were forcibly occupied.

 

 

 

For More Information:

Paris Koh Fine Arts, 201 Bridge Plaza North, Suite 1, Fort Lee, NJ 07024

Pariskohfinearts.com   201 724 7077   pariskohfinearts@gmail.com

Gallery Hours: Wed - Sat 11-6    Sun - Tue; by appointment only