Rachel Uffner Gallery is pleased to present a booth featuring new works by Sally Saul and Curtis Talwst Santiago at Independent New York from March 7 — 10, 2019.
Sally Saul (b. 1946, Albany, NY) creates playful and satirical ceramics which pay homage to the life around her. Informed by memory, her sculptures explore complexities of the human condition while reflecting on themes such as family, mortality, and our relationship to the natural world.
The works presented here offer vignettes into Saul’s personal life, depicting birds, reptiles, and woodland creatures that inhabit the land surrounding her home and studio in Germantown, NY. Other works pull from more universal sources including Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Matisse’s painting The Conversation, and the story of Niobe from Greek mythology wherein the bereaved mother is transformed into the “Weeping Rock.” Direct, inclusive, and full of humor, these works carry subtle social commentary balanced with levity and nuance.
Originally a student of American Literature, Saul earned a Master’s degree from the San Francisco State University in 1973. During her time in California, she became acquainted with the Bay Area visual arts movement, characterized by a penchant for bright colors and an interest in drawing subject matter from day-to-day life. Saul’s first survey exhibition, bringing together over three decades of works, will open in May 2019 at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, NY.
Curtis Talwst Santiago (b. 1979, Edmonton, Alberta) explores issues of transculturalism, memory, ancestry, and the contemporary Diasporic experience. He considers the absence of certain narratives and the presence of others in dominant culture, calling into question the means and production of our historical understanding. The works presented here are specifically informed by his relationship to Trinidad, where his parents are from and currently live.
In this series of paintings and drawings, Santiago portrays celebratory scenes of people participating in J’ouvert - a large street festival which takes place as a part of Carnival in many Caribbean islands. While Carnival was introduced to Trinidad by French settlers in 1783, the origins of J’ouvert coincide with the emancipation from slavery in 1838. These works manifest the blissful emotions Santiago associates with family—yet his keen awareness of the island’s history, one marred by a period of violent colonization, is ever-present. Santiago renders his characters in clothing typically worn by the European settlers, a nod to the cotton trade which was supported by slave labor.
The artist is preparing for a solo exhibition at the Drawing Center in New York, which will open in February 2020. Santiago was one of the featured artists in the first season of “In the Making”, a new documentary TV series produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). On Saturday, March 9th at 2pm, Rachel Uffner Gallery will host a screening of his episode followed by a Q&A with the artist.
