Shimon Okshteyn "Dangerous Pleasures"
57 STUX + HALLER Gallery
This event has ended.
The aesthetics of pleasure and pain are at the heart of this exhibit, which features hyper-realistic paintings, sculpture and mixed media installations.
Painted directly onto the surfaces of mirrors, Okshteyn's signature mimetic representations insert viewers into dialogues with Cocaine (2008), Extasy (2008), and Pills (2008), where they are encouraged to question the popular belief that pleasure and happiness are just one pill away. Focusing his sites on the vices of contemporary culture, Okshteyn assumes the role of snake charmer, hawking his liniments and "snake oil" concoctions, all the while deftly directing our attention to the collective shortcomings of society. The profoundly confessional nature of Okshteyn's painting is further emphasized here by the inclusion of life-sized cast marble renditions of the artist's nude body measured, despairingly, against the now mythologized achievements of art history giants.
Media
Schedule
from October 23, 2008 to December 06, 2008
Opening Reception on 2008-10-23 from 18:00 to 20:00