Howard’s is proud to present an exhibition of sculptures by New York-based artist Sarah Peters. The show will run from April 13th- May 25th. The opening reception will be Saturday, April 13th, from 4-6 pm.
Sarah Peters’ god-like beings radiate an ecstatic and undeniable power. Though the three plaster sculptures in this show are modest in scale, they fill the room with a commanding presence. She effortlessly melds the historical and contemporary, alluding to forgotten monuments, sex dolls, aliens, androids, mythological characters. Their stylized faces evade direct connection with smooth, eyeless sockets. Ambiguous open-mouthed expressions simultaneously hold the rapturous, contemplative, and humorous.
Peters’ work absorbs sculptural traditions that span centuries and cultures. There are traces of Greco-Roman masks, Assyrian antiquities, Egyptian funerary figures, and Cypriotic portraits. Additionally, we see subtle influence of Elie Nadelman, American folk art, Constantin Brâncusi, and early modernist figuration. Symmetry and distinct formal architecture gives the work a structural grandness. In one sense, they are frozen in time with mouths agape. This is in playful contrast to a joyous spatial thrust, visual vibration, and an almost sonic buzz. The energy comes from her acute attention to rhythmic pattern, meticulous detail, and undulating hair. Glowing in white, their unknowable state of being is in flux- bridging a space between past and future, or perhaps another realm.
Brutalist, Plaster, 12 x 7.5 x 9 in, 2019
Sarah Peters lives and works in Queens, NY. She received her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, and BFA from The University of Pennsylvania and The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She is a recipient of awards and residencies from John Michael Kohler, WI; New York Foundation for the Arts; The Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, MA; and The Sharpe-Wallentas Art Studio Program. Solo and two-person exhibitions include Van Doren Waxter, New York, NY (2018); Halsey McKay Gallery, New York, NY (2017); Eleven Rivington, New York (2015); 4 AM, New York (2015); Bodyrite (with Mira Dancy) at Asya Geisberg, NY (2014); and John Davis Gallery, Hudson, NY (2013). Group exhibitions include Samaritans, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, New York, NY (2019); No Patience for Monuments, Perrotin Gallery, Seoul, South Korea (2019) Objects Like Us, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT (2018); and Rodin and the Contemporary Figurative Tradition, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI (2017), among others. Her work has been reviewed and featured in publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Art in America, Artforum, and The Brooklyn Rail.