Leonard Tourné Gallery: June 2014

Leonard Tourné Gallery is pleased to present "Thought Before Matter," an exhibition of sculpture and works on paper by Strong-Cuevas. The exhibition opens June 4 and will run through June 30.

Art critic Phyllis Braff, writing in The New York Times, said of Strong-Cuevas, "Most of all, one is impressed with the ambitious program of seeking a sculpture that blends architecture and perfectly keyed abstraction with the potent emotionalism resulting from human-face themes…. [Her sculptures] have a commanding, awesome and ritualistic presence that calls to mind the grand and mysterious Easter Island monoliths. Still, the de Cuevas pieces are far more complex… Creative use of negative space has been one of the artist's favorite devices. It is particularly striking when it shapes an eye, for it adds intensity, and often a strange force as well."

Strong-Cuevas' work explores inner consciousness, outer space and communication through space and time. In the words of distinguished art critic Donald Kuspit, "Strong-Cuevas's sculpture is rooted in primitive art, with its bold structures, expressive directness, communal symbolism, and conviction of cosmic absolutes. It is also rooted in Cubism, with its awareness of the dialectical ambiguity of appearances, perhaps most evident in Picasso's use of frontal and profile views of the face in a single image, at once integrating them yet allowing them their difference. Primordial expression and sophisticated perception are the alpha and omega of modern art."

The influence of ancient civilizations – the Egyptians, Aztecs and Mayans – is particularly evident in Strong-Cuevas' abstract faces and large-scale works. Her ten-foot bronze, Arch III, was recently chosen by the New York City Parks Department to be exhibited in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza across from the United Nations. The public exhibition, currently ongoing, will be on view through September 2014.

Born in Paris, Strong-Cuevas lives and works in New York, where she studied under John Hovannes at the Art Students League of New York and worked on projects with Toto Meylan. Her work has been exhibited in dozens of solo and group exhibitions and is represented in the collections of the Bruce Museum (Greenwich, Connecticut), Heckscher Museum (Huntington, New York), Guild Hall Museum (East Hampton, New York), Grounds for Sculpture (Hamilton, New Jersey) and the Smithsonian-affiliated Long Island Museum (Stony Brooke, New York).

For additional information, please contact Leonard Tourné Gallery at (212) 219-2656 or info@leonard-tourne.com.