Transfiguration
Atreyu Moniaga | Dalya Moumina | Karen Shiozawa | Mayuka Yamamoto
May 3rd, 2024 – June 1st, 2024
GR gallery
255 Bowery
New York, NY, 10002
GR gallery is pleased to announce ‘Transfiguration’, a group exhibition of new and recent works by Atreyu Moniaga, Dalya Moumina, Karen Shiozawa and Mayuka Yamamoto, presenting five artworks each at the gallery’s location on Bowery. The exhibition’s title stems from the artists aesthetics, sitting in between the physical reality and fantasy inspired by the world they work and live in, figuration and the its shift towards abstraction; the conceptual, sensual, and spiritual concerns that underpin their practice.
The works on view include depictions of changing forms shaping up into imaginary landscapes, outlandish strokes forming magical creatures and eerie characters turning into cute animals; and images that engage with the artists expansive conceptions of the landscape and the portrait.
“Transfiguration” deliberately weaves a disorienting visual narrative to depict a newly attained state of consciousness, where individuals navigate an unstable equilibrium through novel forms of figuration. Atreyu Moniaga employs his distinctive style, blending symbolism and dark fantasies to craft a dreamlike panorama of a fantastical realm that feels both familiar and whimsical.
From figural to abstract, and from realistic to symbolic, Moniaga’s imagery skillfully intertwines legends and contemporary issues, conjuring idyllic yet haunting visions that evoke nostalgia and illusions. In contrast, Dalya Moumina’s deeply conceptual inner landscapes emerge from an aesthetic clash between abstract geometry and photographic realism. This conflict resolves into ambiguous, disorienting natural scenes, pulsating with vibrant energy meandering through transcendental spaces imbued with a sense of musicality. Meanwhile, Karen Shiozawa offers a fresh and unexpected perspective on interior vistas, using them to interpret the psyche’s power through dreams.
Her hypnotic artworks juxtapose traditionally painted objects and landscapes with bold abstract-expressionism-like brushstrokes, creating a flux of consciousness where abstraction and figuration converge, symbolizing the resolution of an age-old challenge.
Mayuka Yamamoto’s transitional metamorphosis of characters evokes a sense of childhood innocence tinged with melancholy, evoking dystopian undertones. Animal attributes symbolize fantasy and escapism, yet the subjects exude a poignant loneliness, as if seeking refuge in their fantastical realms while yearning to remain unseen. Yamamoto’s aesthetic is profoundly poetic and introspective, her visual approach uniquely captivating and untarnished, drawing the attentive viewer into the dreamlike recesses of memory and sparking a dialogue with their inner child.
Transfiguration opens on May 3rd, 2024 until June 1st, 2024 at GR gallery
©2024 GR gallery
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