Great Moments in Art: Stephen Hansen

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


Zenith Gallery Presents:

GREAT MOMENTS IN ART Works by Stephen Hansen
Show Dates: December 4, 2015 –January 30, 2016
1429 Iris St., NW, Washington, DC 20012-1409

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We are excited about all of our shows, but this one is seriously floating my boat! For 37 years we have exhibited Stephen Hansen’s figurative sculptures and I think of it as our public service. We live in humor-challenged times, and Washington DC is the epicenter of humorlessness. Our antidote is Stephen Hansen sculptures. They are not just funny the first time you view them, they are funny the 1000thtime. Laughter is the best medicine and this show is a major dose. The concept, character, message, style –all of it is funny. Once you buy one Stephen Hansen, you want more–they are a humorous addiction.For this show, Hansen has faithfully reproduced iconic paintings of the masters, and then added small sculpted painters on scaffolds who appear to be doing the actual painting. Their interactions with the paintings are witty and surprising. They say it is far harder to make people laugh than to make them cry. These will make you laugh so hard you will cry!

Once you buy one Stephen Hansen you want more, they are a humorous addiction. Laughter is the best medicine, and this show will give you a major dose!

Hansen describes his new series this way: “After taking a year off to make metal things to avoid painting, it seemed like it would be easier to learn to paint. This seemed like a good way to do that.This project started with a Rothko, and the notion that one’s life work might have been accomplished one brilliant weekend with a roller.What if art work really was, well….work, and paintings were done by painters? It had never occurred to me, until I became involved in this project,to pretend to be someone else for a few days. It is a bit like a holiday, though I would recommend Gauguin over van Gogh.”Hansen has had one-man shows in galleries and museums in Detroit, Chicago, Santa Fe, Washington, Philadelphia, and New York. His unique papier mache sculptures are included in museum, corporate, private, and government collections including the New Mexico Capitol Art Collection in Santa Fe, The Federal Reserve and Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and United States Embassies in Naples, Italy and Caracas, Venezuela.

Where:1429 Iris Street, NW, Washington, DC 20012
Show Dates: December 4, 2015-January 30, 2016
Meet the Artist Reception: Friday, December 4, 4:00-8:00 pm, Saturday, December 5, 2:00-5:00 pm
New Gallery Hours: Wednesday -Saturday 12-6 pm
All other times by appointment.
Please call:202-783-2963

Now celebrating 37 years in the nation’s capital, Zenith is recognized for its unique mix of contemporary art in a wide variety of media, style and subject.The gallery provides high-quality acquisition, art consulting, commissioning, appraisal and framing services, through its gallery/salon/sculpture garden off16thStreet at 1429 Iris St NW, WDC 20012.Zenith also curates rotating exhibits at the Eleven Sculpture Space at1111 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, WDC 20004.