MINE: Take What’s Yours

January 15 – February 24, 2013

PRESS CONTACT: Casey Burry, info@underlinegallery.com / 212-242-2427

UNDERLINE Gallery is proud to announce “MINE: Take What’s Yours,” an exhibition that opens in New York City on Tuesday, January 15, and runs through February 24, 2013. There will be a reception January 15th, 6:30-8:30pm.

The exhibition investigates the widespread obsession with gold—visually, economically, and socially—in its many capacities. The artists featured in “Mine: Take What’s Yours” use the color and medium to explore the intoxicating and illusory character of this mesmerizing substance. Drawing upon the rich symbolism of gold, they consider themes of the material and the immaterial—from commoditization to mysticism—while reinvigorating the traditions of gilding, gold leaf, and gold plating.

 

“The idea for the show came up while joking about all the ‘We Buy Gold’ places popping up,” says UNDERLINE Director Casey Burry. “In a fluctuating economy, gold is the constant benchmark for currency, commodity, and culture.”

The curatorial style of handling gold as a currency relates to the artist and craftsperson’s manipulation of it as a medium. From gold-plated taxonomy to powder-coated steel shot with bullet holes, the collection of work underscores the malleability of the element. Additionally, the artists play with the virtually unattainable ideal of prosperity in its most material sense. From the golden statuary of Egypt and the gilded façade of Versailles to the American Gold Rush, gold has signified, across cultures, the consummate extremes of opulence and authority.

However, beyond its financial significance, the metal—with its glistening allure and chemically inert properties—also represents a state of divine beauty and stability that trancends the constant flux of everyday life. At once, the metal signifies the tangible and the intangible, reflecting all the reality and illusions that come with wealth.

Image: “My Private Gold” by Domenica Bucalo

Featured Artists: Christian Balzano (Italy), Domenica Bucalo (Italy), Michael Cole (NY), Olga de Amaral (Colombia), Margaret Evangeline (NY), Alisha Gould (ME), Julia Hechtman (MA), Stefan Hengst (Netherlands), Rikka Latva-Somppi (Finland), Livia Marin (Chile), Melise Mestayer (CA), Marsha Owett (NY), Ellie Pyle (NY), Caroll Taveras (Dominican Republic),