(openPR) - Chelsea’s Agora Gallery will feature Australian artist, Juanita McCleary, in a special exhibition, Out from Down Under & Beyond. The exhibition is scheduled to run from May 11, 2010 through June 01, 2010 (opening reception: Thursday, May 13, 2010).
A series of dualities shape photographer Juanita McCleary’s work: between modern and classical, digital and analog, natural and artificial, Australian and European, timelessness and instantaneity. Raised in rural Australia, the Melbourne-based artist’s latest series applies the tools and techniques of digital photography to creating images that evoke the floral still lifes of the Old Dutch Masters. By manipulating studio lighting and graphic technologies, McCleary achieves an effect that mimics these meticulous paintings’ composition and texture while maintaining a distinctly photographic aesthetic. This style aligns her with European art practices, but her Australian landscapes and flora pay homage to more personal lived experiences of nature.

As with the style of painting to which her work refers, McCleary’s stunning use of color, sharpness and light achieves an effect that is both naturalistic and stylized. In doing so, she offers new approaches to the questions posed by the classical painters with whom she is in dialogue. Each image of intimate beauty reflects a snippet of a natural cycle and a lifelong artistic process.

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/Juanita_McCleary.aspx

Australia and New Zealand have produced notable contemporary artists from both Western and Indigenous artistic traditions. Enriched with these influences, some of the finest contemporary visual art, where the importance and sacredness of the land, the power of ancestral art as well as modern artistic joy and technique become a uniting theme. In this art exhibition of exception, not only art collectors but also art lovers of all sensitivities will discover a wealth of enigmatic forms and lush symbolism imbued with drama and originality.

Featured Artists:
Dave Behrens, Yolande Bennett, Kay Bridge, Ji Chen, Etienne Cohen, Wendy Cohen, Leigh Gordon, Yianni Johns, Tracey Keller, Juanita McCleary, Kristian Mumford, Libby Primmer, Donna Robinson, Derryn Tal, Jana Vodesil-Baruffi, Belinda Wilson

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
530 West 25th St
Chelsea, NY 10001
212-226-4151
lee@agora-gallery.com