Allouche Gallery to Open New Meatpacking District Space

On June 9, Allouche Gallery will open a new exhibition space across the street from the Whitney Museum of Art. Previously located in Soho, the gallery will inaugurate the opening of its new Meatpacking District home with a group exhibition featuring 27 artists. Allouche Gallery is part of the area's transformation into a new art center. Represented artists Faile say of the move, "The new space will prove pivotal for the neighborhood in showcasing the dynamic blend of artists that highlight the energy and passion Allouche brings to the art world."

The exhibition's work ranges from abstraction to figuration in a wide variety of styles showcasing the breadth of the gallery and the contemporary art moment. For the debut exhibition, the gallery brings together a diverse selection of artists, many of whom have made new artwork specifically for this show. In addition to eight represented artists who will take part in the show, the gallery will also feature 19 artists that the gallery has sought out over the course of two rigorous years of research and studio visits.

One such artist is the Los Angeles-based, Francine Spiegel, whose paintings unify disparate pop cultural references such as anime and My Little Pony into deKooning-esque portraits of femininity. Similarly, the artist duo Faile (Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller) re-imagine pop art through collage and unusual media. Fantasy Island (2015) depicts a prim 20th Century girl clutching a Faile-branded skateboard rendered in marble, creating a dynamic set of juxtapositions between high and low culture. The piece was featured in Faile's exhibition Savage/Sacred Minds at the Brooklyn Museum in 2015.

Represented artist Ron English's newly completed painting deftly repurposes Peanuts characters, decorative abstraction, and a Thomas Kinkade-worthy landscape into the punny Peanut Gallery (2016). English's bold, street-art inflected style is indicative of Allouche Gallery's ongoing commitment to pushing boundaries.

On the other hand, Mario Martinez, also known as Mars 1, creates imagery that is evocative of alien worlds. Using painting and sculpture, Mars 1 weaves abstract, otherworldly narratives that allow the viewer to glimpse into other dimensions. Rafa Macarron, too, harnesses the power of eyes to give subjectivity to otherwise geometric figures. In his paintings, abstractions come alive and narratives take shape.

Dutch artist Reinoud Oudshoorn uses geometry to a very different effect in his minimalist sculptures. The elegant tromp l'loeil constructions use frosted glass and iron to create deceptively complex spatial relations.

Zemer Peled also contributes sculptural works that appear delicate, composed of thousands of handcrafted petal-like porcelain shards. In actuality, the rough edges of the sculptures' carefully broken pieces betray this appearance with sharpness, like thorns on a rose.

Image: Rafa Macarron, Diptych, 2016, mixed media on iron, 72 x 144.1 inches, Courtesy of Allouche Gallery, NY