Madelyn Jordon Fine Art PIERRE JAVELLE & AKIKO IDA: New MINIMIAM Works, DJ LEON: Lenticular & 3D Works, CHRISTINA STAHR: Chocolate Obsession

PRESS RELEASE

Madelyn Jordon Fine Art is pleased to present an exhibition of works by Pierre Javelle and Akiko Ida, DJ Leon, and Christina Stahr from September 12-October 18, 2014.   It will be the second exhibition of works by Pierre Javelle and Akiko Ida, and DJ Leon, and first exhibition for Christina Stahr at the gallery. 

An opening reception in collaboration with SoWe, Westchester’s food and wine festival, will be held Friday, Sept. 12, 2014 from 6-8PM.  Hors d’oeuvres by Piccola Trattoria, of Dobbs Ferry, and wine from Westchester Warehouse will be served.  The public is invited. 

Previews and private showings are by appointment only.

The exhibition brings together 4 exciting contemporary artists, working in photography, collage and printmaking, 3 of whom are inspired by the visual and emotional pleasures of food. 

Pierre Javelle and Akiko Ida, the Paris based husband and wife team, will present new “foodscapes” from the beloved “Minimiam” series.  The works -- whimsical, inventive photographs depicting miniature toy characters in food settings, are meticulously staged, clever and poignant “stories” which seduce and tickle our senses. The diptych format and beautifully rendered food imagery entice the viewer to engage with the work.  The artists, both highly successful food and lifestyle photographers, began Minimiam in 2002, and since then, have developed an international following for their imaginative, delightful works, which morph several genres: microphotography, culinary art, portraiture and landscape photography.  Their work has been exhibited in the US and in Europe, and is widely followed in the blogosphere and mainstream media.

New York artist DJ Leon will exhibit new lenticular and 3D prints which animate and interact with the viewer to heighten the impact and enjoyment of his image/text based works.  Lenticular images move as the spectator shifts his position, creating the illusion of movement.  The lenticular technology activates DJ’s fluid, unexpected image bank, engaging the viewer in the production of meaning of the piece. 

The artist works with collage, photography and text to make complex compositions on diverse subjects, from pop culture to art history.  Each thematic work is an assemblage of crudely cut, found images sourced from Internet browsing, and photographs of both related and free-associative text.  Although appearing to be slap-dash in style, the artist’s methodical and laborious practice involves embellishing, manipulating and repurposing image and text to craft a complex melange of visual power and tacit humor. His choice of materials and images is never random, and his allusions are carefully considered.

This fluid, deceptively simple image world interjects content and critique, by disrupting and informing simultaneously, all with cheeky wit.  Leon’s works explore the phenomenon of experience and the translation of memory into image and form.  Each collage combines 100 – 150 images, which the artist alters, interlacing aphorisms, cultural adages and disjointive phrases, which suggests a new narrative for the piece, adding humor and wit. 

New York artist Christina Stahr will exhibit collage works from her ongoing “Chocolate Obsession” series.  Working with wrappers from chocolate she has eaten, the collages combine commercially printed chocolate wrappers and fine art papers with aluminum and 24 karat gold leaf.  The rich, sensuous texture and colors of the assembled elements investigate the marketing and packaging of luxury consumer goods, as well as the pleasures they promise.  Ms. Stahr’s works have been exhibited both in the US and in Europe.