Introductions: Emi Avora, Tim Davis, Barry Ratoff

Group exhibition

Greenberg Van Doren Gallery is pleased to present Introductions, a three-person exhibition of drawings, painting, and photography, from July 14 – September 30, 2005. The exhibition will feature New York artists Tim Davis and Barry Ratoff and the London-based Greek painter Emi Avora. Introductions will present an in-depth selection of each artist’s work in three separate mini solo-exhibitions.

Emi Avora’s paintings feature imagined interiors of public spaces designed for cultural communion: theatre lobbies, opera house balconies, and grand ballrooms. Avora’s often monochromatic paintings showcase opulent – and curiously empty locations, presenting places of baroque wonder and occasional anxiety. These images – which are inspired by glossy decorating magazines and advertising - are loosely but lovingly rendered in watercolors and oils and become pictures of invented and hallowed beauty.

Light and shadow are the constants that connect the seemingly various subjects of Tim Davis photographs - from the glare of spots on old master paintings in his ‘Permanent Collection’ to the reflections of commercial signage on urban settings in his ‘Lots’ series. Taken with a canny eye for poetic – and sometimes ironic – detail, Davis’ camera captures what he describes as the “grand and gorgeous failures of light to sync up to its supposed functions.”

Working in various media – colored pencil drawings, photography and collage, among others – Barry Ratoff connects the autobiographical to a practice that incorporates text works, abstract line drawings, and everyday snapshots. They are all culled and inspired by the artist’s interest in word play and memory (including lyrics from favorite pop songs) and his unwavering desire to link poetic image and suggestive language to time and introspection.