NYAB Event - Hedy Klineman “Ancestral Spirits, African-American Portraits”

Hedy Klineman “Ancestral Spirits, African-American Portraits”

Smart Clothes Gallery

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Hedy Klineman’s “Ancestral Spirits, African-American Portraits,” is a solo exhibition of more than twenty paintings from two series on view at Smart Clothes Gallery from November 20 through December 20.

The genesis of the “African-American Portraits” is framed by two significant events. In the eighties, Andy Warhol presented Klineman with a pair of his glasses, which she would incorporate into one of her “Fashion Portraits,” marking her first use of the silkscreen technique. Donning the eyewear, she exclaimed that she ‘saw the world Andy sees.’ Years later, she received an African mask on her birthday. Instinctually, she put it on, repeating the gesture in a silkscreened self-portrait. These gifts and their presentation echo a kind of ceremony, and their performance would give Klineman new perspective on her art.

Since then, Klineman has been commissioned to create portraits for some of the most eminent members of the African-American cultural community, including Russell and Danny Simmons, Mary Schmidt Campbell, dance choreographer Bill T. Jones, and actor Malik Yoba. Her choice of masks reflects a sensitivity to the cultural significance of these objects and their innate beauty. Ancestry is reawakened through the masquerade of photographic superimposition. The earlier sister series, “Ancestral Spirits,” is a celebration of indigenous sculpture in the tradition of modern art’s fascination with these objects.

If these paintings are in the mode of Pop icons, Hedy Klineman’s spiritual counter-narrative for the process is entirely her own. Employing an understanding of essence influenced by Eastern philosophy, Klineman’s silkscreened paintings hold the presence of their subjects within. Coupled with colorful grounds that relate to Klineman’s history as an abstract painter, Ancestral Spirits, African-American Portraits is a celebration of ancestry and community.

Hedy Klineman
Born in Hamburg, Germany, and raised in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; Hedy Klineman graduated from Cooper Union. Her works have been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Rubin Museum of Art in New York; the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH; and Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, Miami; among others. Solo exhibitions of her work have been on view at Bridgewater Lustberg Gallery and Benrimon Contemporary in New York; Dorothy Blau, Bal Harbour, FL; and Vered Modern, East Hampton, NY; and at various international institutions. Her paintings can be found in the private collections of Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Patrick McMullan, Sherry and Joel Mallin, Shelley and Donald Rubin, and others.

Currently, “Buddhas in the Garden,” Klineman’s solo exhibition of more than 50 Asian-inspired paintings, is on view at the gallery at Tibet House US through December 12, 2013. “Wedding Buddha,” a work from the exhibition, will be on auction during the 11th annual benefit for Tibet House US to be held on December 16, 2013, at Christie’s.

[Image: Hedy Klineman “African-American Portrait: Eric Robertson, Gold Mask, Akan, Ghana” (2010), acrylic silkscreen on canvas, 18” x 24”]