Damian Loeb | Sgr A*
Aquavella
18 East 79th St. NYC 10075
March 3 – April 6, 2017
Sgr A*, an exhibition of new paintings by American artist Damian Loeb is open until April 6th at Aquavella. The show features twelve new landscape paintings, all depicting astronomical objects and events as seen from Earth. It continues Loeb’s exploration of how our understanding and assimilation of firsthand experience is affected by our constant exposure to new media.Dedicating several months to each painting, the artist’s work reflects a fascination with two worlds – the analog and the digital, and expresses a forebodingly fatalistic view of nature and the universe.
“The paintings appear to be the product of advanced technology. As marvelously detailed as the works appear, Damian’s goal isn’t to create perfect reproductions of outer space. Rather, he wants to convey the universal and ultimately humbling sense of awe he experienced when he was first looking through his lens.” -Nick Acquavella
All of these paintings are based on images from Loeb’s many ‘amateur’ photo safaris. He has captured the aurora borealis flying 50,000 feet over the Dakotas, the depths of the Milky Way from the beach in Maui, and constellations and clouds from a backyard in Long Island. From the artist’s rooftop in downtown New York City, he has photographed planetary conjunctions, the position of Jupiter and its moons, the rings of Saturn, a lunar eclipse, solar flares, and both Venus and Mercury passing in front of the Sun. The show’s title is taken from the standard abbreviation for Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. Understanding the hierarchy of our place in the vastness of our possibly infinite surroundings inspires this body of work. Grand and graphic, these paintings celebrate the play between the micro and macro forms within each scene. Scale and composition are used to elicit a particular emotional understanding of each tableau.
Loeb along with friends and fans celebrated the opening of Sgr A* with a cocktail reception and dinner on March 2nd. Don’t miss Sgr A*, up for one more week at Aquavella . View photos from the opening below.
The Untitled Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Indira Cesarine with artist Damian Loeb and writer Susan Kirschbaum at the opening of Sgr A*
