SUNDAY L.E.S. | Alexia Stamatiou "In the Twinkling of An Eye"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The gallery is pleased to present In the Twinkling of An Eye, a solo exhibition of paintings by artist Alexia Stamatiou. Lifting its title from a Biblical scripture (1 Corinthians 15:52) the exhibition represents the artist’s interest in the ideas surrounding the “rapture” – a dramatic and fantastical event accepted by certain facets of contemporary Christianity, particularly those adhering to the doctrine of Dispensational Premillennialism.

Extensively promoted by television evangelists, political activists, and best-selling authors, Dispensational Premillennialism holds that the return of Christ is preceded by the secret rapture of Christians, followed by the rise of the Antichrist during a literal seven year Tribulation then Armageddon, and eventually the return of Christ. Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth and its sequels, along with Tim LaHaye’s best-selling novels in the Left Behind series (now both books and movies), have sold hundreds of millions of copies and popularized this view throughout many facets of American culture.

Mining the rapture scenario for its imaginative possibilities, the artist’s most recent small-scale gouache paintings serve as intimate portraits of a communal society whose members identify themselves in terms of their divine potential. Groups of rapture-ready men stand nude on hilltops or in forest thickets awaiting a sign, while women tend to litters of children marked with their mother’s religious zeal. Others rest alone in quiet contemplation, while some are actually caught up in the clouds. Divesting the myth of all of its theatrical, fictional-thriller possibilities in favor of a simpler approach, the artist’s naïve figures and monochromatic fields seem to ask subtler questions regarding the psychology of religious belief.

Alexia Stamatiou (b. 1978, Miami) received a BFA from The Cooper Union; she currently lives and works in New York City. In addition to this exhibition, she has had solo exhibitions at Fredric Snitzer, Miami. She was recently included in the three-person exhibition Left Behind, Hesperides, and… curated by Hernan Bas for Sandroni Rey, Los Angeles. Other group exhibitions include the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Gavin Brown Enterprise, New York; BBlessing, New York; and Freight + Volume, New York, among others. She is a member of the collaborative team, JVA Flag Corporation, which has performed in the Deitch Projects Art Parade. Her work has been reviewed in Flash Art, +81, and the Miami Herald. In the Twinkling of An Eye is the artist’s first New York solo exhibition.

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		Alexia Stamatiou In the Twinkling of An Eye November 17 – December 22, 2006 Reception: Friday, Nov. 17, 6-9 PM


		FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The gallery is pleased to present In the Twinkling of An Eye, a solo exhibition of paintings by artist Alexia Stamatiou. Lifting its title from a Biblical scripture (1 Corinthians 15:52) the exhibition represents the artist’s interest in the ideas surrounding the “rapture” – a dramatic and fantastical event accepted by certain facets of contemporary Christianity, particularly those adhering to the doctrine of Dispensational Premillennialism. Extensively promoted by television evangelists, political activists, and best-selling authors, Dispensational Premillennialism holds that the return of Christ is preceded by the secret rapture of Christians, followed by the rise of the Antichrist during a literal seven year Tribulation then Armageddon, and eventually the return of Christ. Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth and its sequels, along with Tim LaHaye’s best-selling novels in the Left Behind series (now both books and movies), have sold hundreds of millions of copies and popularized this view throughout many facets of American culture. Mining the rapture scenario for its imaginative possibilities, the artist’s most recent small-scale gouache paintings serve as intimate portraits of a communal society whose members identify themselves in terms of their divine potential. Groups of rapture-ready men stand nude on hilltops or in forest thickets awaiting a sign, while women tend to litters of children marked with their mother’s religious zeal. Others rest alone in quiet contemplation, while some are actually caught up in the clouds. Divesting the myth of all of its theatrical, fictional-thriller possibilities in favor of a simpler approach, the artist’s naïve figures and monochromatic fields seem to ask subtler questions regarding the psychology of religious belief. Alexia Stamatiou (b. 1978, Miami) received a BFA from The Cooper Union; she currently lives and works in New York City. In addition to this exhibition, she has had solo exhibitions at Fredric Snitzer, Miami. She was recently included in the three-person exhibition Left Behind, Hesperides, and… curated by Hernan Bas for Sandroni Rey, Los Angeles. Other group exhibitions include the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Gavin Brown Enterprise, New York; BBlessing, New York; and Freight + Volume, New York, among others. She is a member of the collaborative team, JVA Flag Corporation, which has performed in the Deitch Projects Art Parade. Her work has been reviewed in Flash Art, +81, and the Miami Herald. In the Twinkling of An Eye is the artist’s first New York solo exhibition.