Over the Influence Hong Kong Presents "Flesh of the Gods", New Works by Sam Fieldman

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A&O PR

Release Date

Thursday, September 6, 2018

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Exclusive Media Preview: September 20, 2018, 4-5pm
Opening Reception: September 20, 2018, 6-8pm
Exhibition Dates: September 21 - October 27, 2018 (Tuesday to Saturday)

Over the Influence is pleased to present Flesh of the Gods, an exhibition featuring new paintings from New York-based artist Sam Friedman. The exhibition, which marks Friedman's debut solo show in Hong Kong, will open on September 28, and remain on view through October 27, 2018. An opening reception for the artist will be held on September 27, from 6 to 8pm. Deftly occupying the liminal borders between abstraction and representation, Friedman's enigmatic paintings have a tendency to disorient, plunging the viewer into an unreliable world, a nowhereness at once atmospheric and decorative, mythical and mysterious. Drawing upon personal memories, Friedman explores the tension between recognizable imagery and the artist's emotional and spiritual experience of the natural world. Blending the representational with the surreality of a dream, Friedman's candy-colored abstractions proffer uncanny glimpses of the everyday, as if viewed through a kaleidoscopic prism. Loose yet precise, Friedman's arresting, otherworldly compositions of fluid movements amongst vibrant patterns aim to capture the idea of memory, an image of distanced reality, more feeling than nature.

Without any preparatory design, Friedman spontaneously breaks down and rebuilds natural surroundings, prompting a sense of dislocation in the viewer. Employing his unique visual language -- an idiosyncratic, freewheeling way of applying paint, in which previously intuitive decisions organically dictate each successive mark -- the high-spirited, large-scale paintings invite us into a fantastical universe, an abstract tapestry of vibrant flora and tropical sunsets. Creating a surreal world, both familiar and strange, Friedman's vivid, dreamlike paintings serve as re-imaginings of memory, forever tussling between representation and abstraction.

About Sam Friedman

Born in 1984 in Oneonta, NY Friedman lives and works in Beacon, NY, USA. He has had solo exhibitions at Joshua Liner Gallery (New York, NY), Library Street Collective (Detroit, MI), Chandran Gallery (San Francisco, CA) and Space 1026 (Philadelphia, PA). He has also been shown in group exhibitions across the USA.

About Over the Influence

Over the Influence is a gallery based in Hong Kong and Los Angeles, dedicated to a vibrant contemporary program of international emerging and mid-career artists. Over the Influence has served as a unique platform in Asia since its launch in Hong Kong in 2016, exhibiting an ambitious international program including Ron Arad (UK), Nobuyoshi Araki (JP), Alexandre Farto AKA Vhils (PT), Invader (FR), and Cleon Peterson (CA). In February 2018, the gallery opened its second space in Los Angeles showcasing a diverse program focused on global contemporary culture. With the launch of Over the Influence Los Angeles, the gallery aims to be a cultural landmark in Los Angeles’s vibrant arts district and an internationally positioned gallery focused on developing a dynamic cross-cultural dialogue between Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

Address: 1/F, 159 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11am – 7pm


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