Line, Form, Passage: David Stern
Ellipsis Art is pleased to present Line, Form, Passage, a solo exhibition by New York-based German-born painter, David Stern. For this exhibition, Stern continues to contemplate the idea of metaphysical passages in his At the Gates series, and introduces a new work that examines that theme in the face of global corruption of leadership and the current threats facing American democracy. Comprised of new and recent work, "Line, Form, Passage" will be on view from October 15- November 12, 2020.
The headlining work in this exhibition is Stern’s stunning new piece, Study for a Monument to Stupidity, i n which a large figure is seen seated at a throne surrounded by a crowd gathered at his feet. A stream of orange paint drips from the figure’s mouth and is received by the audience below him. The work is the culmination of the artist’s observations from the past four years of witnessing the effects of corrupt leadership and the deterioration of democracy. As a German Jewish immigrant, the parallels between today’s authoritarian climate and 1930s Germany are apparent. Stern felt an urgent need to crystallize these perspectives into a work that captures the conditions wrought by a shuddering democracy.
Line, Form, Passage will also include new and recent paintings from Sterns’ ongoing At the Gates series, which considers gateways and what lies beyond these metaphysical thresholds. As Stern says, “The physical reality derives from our metaphysical concepts of thresholds, the red line, the moment we live in, as opposed to the unknown future.” The At the Gates series explores Stern’s fascination with the movement between and beyond thresholds—both physical and metaphysical—the moment of change from one quality to the next.
The headlining work in this exhibition is Stern’s stunning new piece, Study for a Monument to Stupidity, i n which a large figure is seen seated at a throne surrounded by a crowd gathered at his feet. A stream of orange paint drips from the figure’s mouth and is received by the audience below him. The work is the culmination of the artist’s observations from the past four years of witnessing the effects of corrupt leadership and the deterioration of democracy. As a German Jewish immigrant, the parallels between today’s authoritarian climate and 1930s Germany are apparent. Stern felt an urgent need to crystallize these perspectives into a work that captures the conditions wrought by a shuddering democracy.
Line, Form, Passage will also include new and recent paintings from Sterns’ ongoing At the Gates series, which considers gateways and what lies beyond these metaphysical thresholds. As Stern says, “The physical reality derives from our metaphysical concepts of thresholds, the red line, the moment we live in, as opposed to the unknown future.” The At the Gates series explores Stern’s fascination with the movement between and beyond thresholds—both physical and metaphysical—the moment of change from one quality to the next.