There Is Too Much to Discuss
Lee Russell Holin

There’s Too Much to Discuss is an exhibition of large collaged works by Lee Russel Holin.

Artist Statement
As a lifelong New Yorker and street artist for over a decade, Lee Holin has been able to witness first-hand the rapidly shifting landscape and expedited gentrification occurring in every usable corner of post-9/11 Manhattan and its surrounding boroughs. From SoHo to Brownsville, spaces once adorned with graffiti and urban art representing the voice of a neighborhood began to vanish, and along with
them the inhabitants who could no longer afford to live there.  Through these city streets that have been the inspiration and frame for his art, Holin has seen New York lose much of its heart to make way for endless new developments, willing to bulldoze and build over its history in favor of modernization and mainstreaming.

Whether it was the lack of usable public art real estate or the need to grow as an artist, Holin began to lose the desire to put art on the street, but rather take from the street to make art. While he experimented with repurposing abandoned newsboxes, sign postings, and curbside video installations, the cornerstone of much of his work is simple wheat paste and paper—torn up building development markers, “Cash For Your House” signs, film shoot announcements, high fashion advertisements, etc., the tangible proof of the “new” New York. A Chanel ad plastered over a Starbucks ad plastered over a summer blockbuster movie ad, often still wet from the one before it, symbolizing our ever-shortening attention spans and insatiable need for more and easily-digestible trends. Holin cuts through and unearths layers upon layers, letting them feud among themselves in a figurative battle of one-upsmanship to become sculptural, textural commentaries on the society from which they are gathered, a society where newer/bigger/faster/more expensive is better, where consumerism is king, and where everything, including the very facets that make it unique, is expendable.

Artist Bio
Lee Russell Holin is an artist based in New York City. He received a B.F.A. in drawing and painting from Long Island University (1999) and an M.F.A. from the New York Academy of Art with a drawing concentration (2002). After graduating the New York Academy of Art he spent a decade working with art on the street under the moniker Russell King. His work focuses on ideas of consumption and ephemerality.

He is a featured artist in the book Outdoor Gallery New York City (2014), New York Magazine Best Bet (2009), “15 Street Art Terms You Should Know” complex (2012), New York Times “East Village Guerilla Art” (2015). Select shows include Red Bull Curates (2012), Terhan to NYC/NYC to Terhan (2014), and Combined Talents at Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts (2019).

Sales & Information

leerussellholin@gmail.com

www.russellkingalive.com