Cary Griffiths' Jazz Inspired Artwork at Agora Gallery: Feel the Beat

NEW YORK, NY, May 18, 2012

Salt Lake City-born and based artist Cary Griffiths paints to the accompaniment of jazz music, and one sees its influence in the resulting compositions, which combine improvisational forms with structured and deliberate execution. His acrylic canvases are based around series of looped, overlapping and intersecting lines, some wild and drip-like, others graphic and precise. These playful forms become the irregular latticework for Griffiths' formal exercises with color. He fills certain closed areas formed by the intersecting lines of black paint with bold, contrasting tones and leaves others blank, creating surprising juxtapositions of shapes and shades that take up the central themes of abstract painting.

Rather than rely on rectilinear grids as the basis for his enthralling experiments, Griffiths employs a delightful fluidity. His application of colors respects edges and outlines meticulously, but he applies those lines in a variety of swirling, splattering and cascading ways. The resulting compositions combine a quasi-musical cadence with incredible painterly sophistication.

Exhibition Dates: May 18, 2012 - June 7, 2012
Reception: Thursday, May 24, 2012, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Gallery Location: 530 West 25th St, New York City
Gallery Hours: Tues - Sat, 11a.m. - 6 p.m.
Event URL: http://www.agora-gallery.com/artistpage/Cary_Griffiths.aspx

About the Exhibition:

Discover more about the world you live in and revel in the wonders we too often ignore, through the art on display in the upcoming exhibitions at Agora Gallery. Out From Down Under & Beyond: Fine Art from Australia and New Zealand focuses on the wonderful artworks by talented artists from this region who delve into their cultural and geographical heritage to inform pieces of great vigor and power. In The Portal of Tranquility we are introduced to the sensitive and evocative creations of artists who are not afraid to expose their innermost thoughts, hopes and dreams. Landscapes of the Mind explores the diverse emotions and ideas that unite human experience, describing life through the language of colors and forms. In addition, New Zealand's Flagstaff Gallery is bringing the works of some of their exciting artists to New York at Agora Gallery in Made in New Zealand: An exhibition of Fine Art from New Zealand. The gallery is well-known for adding renewed dynamism and relevance to the Auckland art scene, and looking at the works they are sharing with us now, that fact is no surprise.

The exhibitions open on May 18, 2012 and run until June 7, 2012. The opening reception will take place on the evening of Thursday, May 24, 2012. Entrance is free and anyone with an interest in gaining a new perspective on life and art is warmly encouraged to attend and meet some of the artists whose works make up the show.

Featured Artists:

Out From Down Under & Beyond: Fine Art from Australia and New Zealand
Nicolette Benjamin Black | Heléne Henare | Caroline Josephs PhD | Jean Marc La-Roque | Eileen Lee | June McCotter | Natasha Parenta | Cristina Popovici | Tanya Marie Reeves |
Dragan Simic | Joanne Webber

The Portal of Tranquility Jacques Descoteaux | Marcia Feller | Silvio Franzini | Zlata Jaanimagi

Landscapes of the Mind
Gabriela Bittner-Krainz | CATO | Cary Griffiths | Frankie IP | Gabriella Legno | Michael Lierly | Maria Mardomingo | Bonnie Pakman | Walter B. Probst | Maria Mercedes Rozo | Fabrizio Valle'

Made in New Zealand: An Exhibition of Fine Art from New Zealand
Tony Allain | Emma Butler | Sean Chen | Mark Compton | Dagmar Dyck | Dave Gunson | Julia Henderson | Daniëlla Hulme | Crispin Korschen | Peter Lambert | Kit MacGregor | Ewan McDougall | Peter Mesley | Tony Ogle | Anna Palmer | Matt Palmer | Ted Sherwen | Richard Smith | Cynthia Taylor | Mary Taylor | Rae West | Fraser Williamson

Interviews with the artists and high resolution images are available upon request.

Established in 1984, Agora Gallery is dedicated to the promotion of national and international contemporary artists. The Gallery caters to the taste and trends of the sophisticated New York art market and the Gallery's discerning worldwide collector base. The Gallery's wide client-base includes private collectors, art consultants, corporate art consultants, architects and interior designers as well as business, government, diplomatic and social VIPs. Agora Gallery offers the client an extraordinary opportunity to acquire some of the most carefully curated art in the contemporary, global art market.