Anonymous Tantra

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Judy Blum Reddy

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Samuel Laurence Cunnane

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Thomas Mulcaire

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Ricardo de Oliveira

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Oliver Wasow

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Jane Kim, in association with THEODORE:Art, presents The Color of Summer an exhibition of works by Anonymous Tantra, Judy Blum Reddy, Samuel Laurence Cunnane, Thomas Mulcaire/Ricardo de Oliveira, and Oliver Wasow. The exhibition opens August 16 and closes September 11 with a closing reception for the show on Wednesday, September 7th from 6 to 8 pm, the Lower East Side Gallery Season opening night.

The Color of Summer is an ode to the calm, easy going pace at the end of summer, the last weeks of August, when one journeys to distant places or to the nearest seaside. "Color" pertains not just to the shades and hues of light, topography, and organisms surrounding us but felt in the spirit and vigor of life. This substance is seen through the tantric paintings made anonymously in Rajasthan, India, in Judy Blum Reddy's "Futurama" installation, through the color photographs of Samuel Laurence Cunnane, in Thomas Mulcaire/Ricardo de Oliveira's surf film "Afrika", and in Oliver Wasow's travel photos.

The two tantric paintings in the exhibition represent the boundless, physical quality of tantrism, within the simplicity of color and form. The vibrant yellow oval shape with two black spiral eyes is "Energy's Egg; Udaïpur, Rajasthan," 2001. The white, red, and black blocks of color in "The three gunas: matter, energy, essence; Jodhpur, Rajasthan," 2014 are "the three gunas now in their natural ascension: from darkness to light passing through fire. A notion of passion sleeps (or dreams) in rajas, the central step; while in saatva, the final stage, it's a taste of kindness." (excerpt Franck André Jamme, from "Tantra Song, A Guidebook", Tantra Song, Siglio Press, 2011).

In her multifarious work, "Futurama", Judy Blum Reddy's objective reality is laid out in the hundreds of painted aluminium panels, roadmaps of extensive journeys taken to Europe and India, with symbols referring to the anxiety of the current state of the media in the globalized world. "Futurama" was created in 2015 and comprised of panels (4 by 10 inch each), with acrylic, oil paints with marker. Strips of film with cartoonish drawings become absurd, humorous renderings of Blum Reddy's repetitious visual language. "Futurama" was first shown at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam in Kamarado, 2015, the museum's Global Collaborations project with the Clark House Initiative, Bombay. Blum Reddy received her BFA from Cooper Union, New York. She lives and works in New York.

The three photographs by Samuel Laurence Cunnane represent the subtle gaze of the artist's eye to capture the quiet instants of beauty. "Harlem", "Field," and "Flower and Strip Lighting," made in 2015, are shot with 35mm film and printed by the artist in small format. The intimacy and deep reflection of each piece is highlighted by Cunnane's process of printing each by hand. Represented by Kerlin Gallery, Dublin with recent shows at THEODORE:Art, New York and Les Rencontres d'Arles, France, Samuel Laurence Cunnane is a BA Photography graduate of IADT, Dublin (2011). In 2012, he began working in the Maysles Documentary Centre in New York, working alongside its founder, the celebrated American filmmaker Albert Maysles, to hand print his collection of documentary photographs.

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa,Thomas Mulcaire and Ricardo de Oliveira created AFRIKA – a film inspired by Timothy Leary's proclamation that humankind was evolving towards a purely aesthetic state, and that surfing is the embodiment of this process. Following a group of Brazilian surfers on a road trip around Southern Africa, the film explores this notion through their dynamic encounters with a new and multifaceted part of the world. Featuring Brazilian surfers Cassio Sanchez, Fernando Fanta, James Santos and Mario Massarelli with guest appearances by Bruce Gold, Derek Hynd, Khayelihle Ncgobo, Bright Ntuli and Mbongeni Hlengwa. Original score by Shelby Gaines and Firstborn. Ricardo de Oliveira is a painter, photographer, and surfer who lives in New York and Thomas Mulcaire is an artist, curator and founder/director of the Institute for Contemporary Art in Cape Town.

Oliver Wasow's surreal, fantastical landscapes, "Hay," 1998, and "Duster," 2007, are syntheses of elements of found imagery and Wasow's photographs. Oliver Wasow was born in Madison, Wisconsin and received his BA from Hunter College and his MFA from the Transart Institute in Austria. He has been exhibiting extensively since the early 1980s. His work was included in the exhibition "Faking It: Manipulated Photography before Photoshop," at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, and two of his portraits were given marquee status in "Here & Now: 80 Years of Photography at The Mint", an exhibition of acquisitions of the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. His photographic installation "Hover" will be featured in "Dream States" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2016, where it is part of the permanent collection.

Summer gallery hours through September 2 are Tuesday - Thursday from 12 to 6 pm, and Fridays from 3 to 6 pm. From September 7 to 11, the gallery will be open from Wednesday to Sunday from 11 to 6 pm. For further inquiries, please contact Jane Kim at office@33orchard.com or +1 347 278 1500.