(openPR) - Chelsea’s Agora Gallery will feature Irish artist, Conor McGuire, in The Persistence of Form. The exhibition is scheduled to run from May 11, 2010 through June 01, 2010 (opening reception: Thursday, May 13, 2010).
Conor McGuire’s luminous, exquisitely textured paintings pull viewers into virtually timeless visions of his native Western Ireland. Hoping to convey the region’s isolation and relatively unchanged picturesqueness, his portraits and landscapes privilege small towns, local characters, pristine nature and traditional music. In these settings, occasional modern details – wristwatches, camera-toting tourists, electronic keyboards – complicate the illusion of isolation. McGuire’s aesthetic choices reflect this tension between regional vernacular and modern sensibilities, moving between a gentle, impressionist landscape style reminiscent of Monet and an expressionist mode in portraits where the canvas’ edges blur into abstraction.

A rhythmic quality plays throughout these stylistic variations, uniting McGuire’s paintings. This rhythm figures very literally in portraits of musicians, where musical tones seem to ripple over surrounding spaces and architectures. In paintings of streets, towns, fields and seascapes, meanwhile, a less overt but no less powerful cadence develops from repeating shapes, shifting forms and alternating colors. McGuire’s paintings, then, invite viewers to experience lives and landscapes at a different rhythm.

Exhibition Dates: May 11, 2010 – June 01, 2010
Reception: Thursday, May 13, 2010, 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: www.agora-gallery.com/ArtistInvite/Conor_McGuire.aspx

Form is the vessel in which ideation takes shape, and it is with ingenuity and abundant variety that artists communicate their ideas about the world. The Persistence of Form is a captivating journey into the hearts and minds of a talented grouping of artists who have distinctive techniques and interests. The artworks complement one another by exploring individual perspectives and the imaginative means to express them.

Featured Artists:
Benjaporn (Apple Cox) Ngarmkrerkchote, Hye-Kyoung Kim, lCUEVAS, Conor McGuire, Billy Sullivan

About Agora Gallery
Agora Gallery is a fine art gallery located in the heart of New York City’s Chelsea art district that was established in 1984 and is famous for showcasing a spectacular array of talented artists from around the world and around the corner, while providing quality and original art to collectors. At the end of 2009, Agora Gallery opened its doors to a new exhibition space. This beautifully designed and spacious new gallery will showcase artists and their work in a significant solo exhibition environment. The gallery also publishes ARTisSpectrum Magazine, a bi-annual magazine that is distributed to museums, galleries, art institutions and art schools around the world. It provides artists, collectors, museums, galleries, art organizations and enthusiasts with access to the work of internationally talented emerging and mid-level artists as well as feature articles, reviews and interviews. Agora Gallery is also the sponsor of Art-Mine.com, one of the most comprehensive resources available worldwide to view and purchase fine art from emerging, mid-level and well-established artists. Most recently, the gallery launched agoraartgalleryblog.com, a blog designed to provide helpful information and advice for artists while providing a forum for artists to help one another by sharing their experiences and thoughts.

Contact:
Lee Eagle
Public Relations
Agora Gallery
Lee@agora-gallery.com

Agora Gallery is a fine art gallery located in the heart of New York City’s Chelsea art district that was established in 1984 and is famous for showcasing a spectacular array of talented artists from around the world and around the corner, while providing quality and original art to collectors. At the end of 2009, Agora Gallery opened its doors to a new exhibition space. This beautifully designed and spacious new gallery will showcase artists and their work in a significant solo exhibition environment.

Agora Gallery
530 West 25th St
Chelsea, NY 10001
212-226-4151