Svetlana Rabey Watercolors

Svetlana Rabey Watercolors
by
Svetlana Rabey



November 19 - December 7, 2015

chashama 300 Window Gallery
300 West 30th Street
New York, NY

Opening Reception
Please note, DATE CHANGE:  Friday, November 20, 5:30-8pm

Open Hours
On view every day;
Schedule an appointment with the artist to acces the space.

Svetlana Rabey has created a series of site specific large-scale watercolors; these are a continuation of a studio-based series from the past few years. She has divided chashama's windowed space into two sections of three and four panels respectively. The spans were replicated in the studio to create the series altogether as an off-site preparation. Rabey finds this installation particularly exciting because of the installation environment: a busy midtown corner with foot traffic constantly moving and changing. The watercolors are a reflection of this procession of time and action, of repetition and difference.

For Rabey, painting is a hypnotic internal process of chaos and choreography. Arc-like shapes are repeated and layered, leaving behind a plastic continuity of movement and memory. Tension lies in the controlled line of the painting gesture against the downward pull of gravity on the medium. The repeating icons are painted in thin layers so that the shape emerges from within itself. Transparencies blur the perception of foreground and background.

The felt sculptures, or “people”, are also symbols of this passage of time. They share many similarities with the watercolors despite the difference in their process and material. Both objects repeat a shape, and the figures' long, thin legs mirror the flowing drips of the watercolors.

About the Artist
Svetlana Rabey was born in 1972 in Moscow, Russia and grew up in New York studying classical dance. Dance continues to inform her artistic practice. She completed her BFA in painting from Parsons School of Design in New York and Paris. Previous awards include the Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation Space Grant and chashama residencies in 2006 and 2007, and the NYFA grant for drawing 2014. Her watercolors are represented by Kathryn Markel gallery in New York.


For more information or to schedule an appointment, please contact: srabey@nyc.rr.com.