Steve Gianakos
She remembered a brain surgeon in Chicago who had been madly in love with her, 1990
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 30 inches
Steve Gianakos
It was too late to turn over a new leaf, 1990
Acrylic on canvas
36 x 30 inches
Steve Gianakos
She was the first to arrive, 1990
Acrylic on canvas
35 ¾ x 23 ¾ inches
Steve Gianakos
What a difference her diploma made, 1991
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 24 inches
Steve Gianakos
A feverish heat seemed to emanate from her body, 1990
Acrylic on canvas
22 x 28 inches
Steve Gianakos
She was still in a semi coma, 1990
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 24 inches
Steve Gianakos
Now show me yours, 1989
Acrylic on canvas
25 x 18 inches
Steve Gianakos
With questioning eyes, 1990
Acrylic on canvas
28 x 22 inches
Steve Gianakos
A week before the wedding, 1990
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 18 inches
Steve Gianakos
Life on the farm had been too dull, 1989
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 24 inches
Steve Gianakos
References were provided upon request, 2000
Collage
26 ½ x 24 inches
Steve Gianakos
The holding of such gatherings was an old custom, 1997
Collage
28 ¼ x 26 ¼ inches
Steve Gianakos
Blissful Hospitality, 1990
Collage
31 x 22 ¼ inches
Steve Gianakos
Old Flames
October 16 through November 20, 2004
Fredericks Freiser Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of paintings by Steve Gianakos. The works in Old Flames date from 1989 to 1991. The artist has exhibited extensively since 1969 including solo exhibitions at The Clocktower and the Institute for Art and Urban Resources, NY, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, TX and Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC. He has been included in group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, NY, Whitney Museum of Art, NY and the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH.
The series of paintings in Old Flames encompass the high-low duality of elegance and crudeness in the juxtaposition of black- and-white cartoon nudes and the sophisticated form-making in which they are constructed. These women are stereotypically sexual, with vacant expressions and provocative poses. However the confrontation is always diffused with humorous intent.
In the September 2004 issue of Artnews, Robert Rosenblum writes:
“(Gianakos)…is, as the fancy word goes, “transgressive” (his paintings and drawings are nonstop assaults on family values of every kind). For three decades, he has, like Mel Brooks, pushed the envelope of bad taste, crossing one boundary after another, from Hitler to feeble old ladies. Moreover, he works in an equally bad-taste style that, to be art historical for a moment is a big branch off the tree planted by Roy Lichtenstein, a great admirer of Gianakos’s work. Most of the time, Gianakos tells his outrageous stories with gross, comic-book contours minus Lichtenstein’s Benday dots, leaving us with the graphic punch of the lowest grade cartoonist.”
Fredericks Freiser Gallery is located at 504 West 22nd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 6pm. For further information and/or photographs please contact the gallery by telephone at (212) 633-6555, fax at (212) 367-9502, or email fredericksfreiser@nyc.rr.com. Find more information on Steve Gianakos or any of our artists at www.fredericksfreisergallery.com
