"SUMMER LOVIN' CURATED BY JOAN TUCKER & HENRY RELPH" GROUP SHOW: Paris

STEMS Gallery–Paris is pleased to present the group show Summer Lovin’ curated by Joan Tucker and Henry Relph, on view from June 11 to July 9, 2022. The show comprises 22 works by rising artists Àngeles Agrela, Amy Lincoln, Amanda Baldwin, Jenny Morgan, Noelia Towers, Rob Ober, Jake Clark, Laurie Nye, Jonathan Casella, Aglaé Bassens, Anna Kenneally, Elana Bowsher, Stan Kaplan, Daisy Dodd-Noble, Sarah Ann Weber, Khushna Sulaman-Butt, Anthony Miler, Anthony Padilla, Sarah Kim, Anthony Rianda and Saskia Colwell. The inspiration for the exhibition is the song Summer Nights from the iconic film Grease which conjures up nostalgia, innocence, warmth, nature, fantasy, attraction and desire.
Azure sky, lazy afternoons at the café, long days at the beach, sun rays through a window, bare feet on grass, sultry nights, dream states, nascent love – these are but a few of the estival evocations whipped up in the collection of works. In Dianthus Dream, Laurie Nye bends and morphs vibrant yellows and pinks into organic forms, inviting viewers to get lost in between the shapes.

In Calla Lily, Noelia Towers paints a scene saturated with sensuality, fantasy, humor, and desire all at once. Her photo-realistic painting captures, perhaps, the innocence and curiosity of young love, or the power and fragility of a young woman’s erotic exploration.

Inspired by a scene from the film Lolita, Aglaé Bassens’ appropriately titled Summer Heat draws us into the water sprinkler spraying and spinning in all directions on a verdant lawn, conveying the perfectly controlled chaos of the gleaming water droplets in her brushstrokes. Jake Clark’s playful ashtrays invoke the many long summer days with nothing to do but chat endlessly on a terrace with friends. Highlighted here are just a few of the works on view in Paris at STEMS. Across the paintings and sculptures, which span figuration, abstraction, hyper-realism, surrealism, pop art and many shades and subjects in between, one truth becomes evident – never underestimate what a splash of color and joie de vivre can do for the spirit.