AARON PEXA: Garden Party
SOLO SHOW ZAZ10TS GALLERY
March 5, 2020 – June 30, 2020
10 TIMES SQUARE | 1441 Broadway, New York, NY 10018
Represented by Cade Tompkins Projects
The art installation Garden Party by American artist Aaron Pexa interprets a modern garden theme with original multimedia artwork featuring flowers, birds and nature.
The long corridor of the lobby gallery includes a colorful floral Poppy wallpaper and video still artwork. Further down the corridor is a gold LED sculpture of a bird in flight layered over another colorful wallpaper entitled Garden Party, creating a stunning visual display. In the elevator bank, a black and white wallpaper and large scale collagraph in a silver leaf Rococo frame are illuminated by the Neon Poppy sculpture, all of which is repositioning how viewers experience color, light, and pattern.
Aaron Pexa’s video I Wander the Forest in Search of Mystery will run on a continuous loop. In it, a chandelier slowly twirls in a forest by a lake. The optic qualities of the cut crystal are activated by sunlight and enhanced by pastel atmospheres that move through the frame. The video highlights the incandescence of light and the reflective effect of glass as fleeting moments that create a fictional romantic history. The video is accompanied by a commissioned sound element created by artist Maralie, the fifth collaborative work with Aaron Pexa. The video can also be viewed by the public as it runs on ZAZ Corner, a new LED billboard gallery showcasing digital artwork outside the building at the corner of 41st Street and 7th Avenue.
“Times Square is famous for its sensational signage, evolving from neon-covered facades in the 1920s, to the modern day 25-story LED display. Through the many evolutions of this crossroads, it has always offered visitors a type of visual overstimulation with its over-the-top lights and advertisements. With this history in mind, the exhibition offers a respite from the flashing, quick-cut editing of the surrounding images. The video’s tranquil movements offer a calm counterpoint to the saturated, sumptuous commercial displays and the hustle of New York City,” says Cade Tompkins, representing Aaron Pexa.
About Cade Tompkins Projects
Cade Tompkins’ focus is contemporary art, featuring work by emerging artists as well as mid-career and established artist in various mediums including painting, sculpture, video drawing, installation, printmaking and photography. Cade Tompkins’ clients range from major museums to new collectors as well as corporate collections, hospitals and seasoned art connoisseurs. Cade Tompkins is interested in finding art for clients at all levels of collecting. Cade Tompkins has been contemporary art dealer for over 30 years. Her gallery opened in September, 2009 and to date has featured over 45 exhibitions by represented artists.
Aaron Pexa Garden Party Exhibition at ZAZ 10 Times Square Lobby, images below:
I Wander the Forest in Search of Mystery Video on ZAZ Corner Digital Billboard
More photos of the opening reception, click here.
March 3, 2020
By Howard Halle
See this art installation transform a Times Square lobby into a garden party
If there’s one thing you could say about Times Square, it's that it’s stimulating—maybe a little too stimulating. Everywhere, giant flagship stores lure shoppers with visual theatrics, while five-story high digital billboards bombard you with ads for everything from Broadway musicals to Asian news agencies (though why tourists would be interested in the latter is anyone’s guess). But it has ever been thus: Almost from the beginning, Times Square has been dominated by noise, traffic—and especially by flashing, repeated messaging. Now, a new installation by artist and architect Aaron Pexa promises to provide a break from all that sensory overload.
Photograph: Zdravko Cota
March 9, 2020