Sasha Meret: Selected Works opens at Rafael Gallery on East 59th Street, Monday, December 12th - 6 - 8 pm

Sasha Meret: Select Works

Rafael Gallery, 235 East 59th Street, NYC

December 12 – 22, 2016; January 5 – 23, 2017

Opening on Monday, December 12th, 6 - 8 PM

Rafael Gallery is pleased to present Sasha Meret: Selected Works, which complements this internationally-acclaimed artist’s participation in the exhibition Bedazzled, concurrently on view at Lehman College Gallery through January 14^th.  Our show begins on December 12^nd  with an opening reception from 6 – 8 PM.  Curated by Beth S. Gersh-Nešić, the director of the New York Arts Exchange, this particular exhibition contextualizes Sasha Meret’s extraordinarily complex installation, Agendada: Books of Hours, 2010-16, at Lehman College, through its grouping of informative sculptures, photographs and paintings. Meret’s entire body of work draws from the influence of Dada, Surrealism, Conceptual Art and Quantum Mechanics – among many other sources.  It is a heady mix that infuses Meret’s visual language with a phantasmagorical expression, evident in his elaborate sculptures, assemblages, installations, paintings, photographs, drawings, prints and videos – on view in the exhibition space and also in photographs. “The main ingredients in art are mystery, surprise and spontaneity,” Meret explained. “You have to create the environment for the accidents to breathe . . . to invite happy accidents.  This is part of my process.”

Queztelcoatl, 2007-8

The son of Romanian and Russian parents, Sasha Meret was born in Transylvania in 1955.  He completed an MA in economics in 1977 and then moved to New York in 1987 to pursue his true passion, art, at Columbia University. There, he studied printmaking with Tony Harrison.  In 1994, he joined the International Art Group “Gaia” in France.  Over the last 26 years, Meret has exhibited all over the world, most notably in China, Japan, Italy, France, Switzerland, and the US.  Recently, he orchestrated an exhibition and performance piece at AmyD Arte Spazio in Milan.  He has been honored with an exhibition at the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York.  His wearable fashion was featured in XEX Magazine (October 5, 2012). 

The Divine Thirst Quencher, 2010

Founded in 1948 by Rafael Aryeh, Rafael Gallery specializes in Old Master, Nineteenth Century, Modern and Contemporary art and antiques from all over the world and Native American art of various media.  In 1978, the gallery established its main exhibition space at 1020 Madison Avenue.  Now under the leadership of Benjamin Aryeh, the gallery has expanded to three locations.  The East 59^th Street galleries, situated in the heart of the Decorators and Design District, are dedicated to Modern and Contemporary masters.

Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 11:30 AM to 6:30 PM.  For more information, contact Associate Director Wade Bonds at wade.gallery59@gmail.com or (212) 755-4888.