Expo Chicago 2023

Emilie Picard, So Lee, Afia Prempeh, Ruben Rodrigo, and Flavia Junqueira

April 13 – 16, 2023

EXPO CHICAGO

13–16 APRIL 2023

UniX Gallery is pleased to participate in EXPO CHICAGO 2023, held at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall from April 13 – 16, 2023. The gallery is presenting a carefully curated show including new works from Emilie Picard, So Lee, Afia Prempeh, Ruben Rodrigo, and Flavia Junqueira.

Flavia Junquièra’s signature element is the use of the real inflatable balloons that she brings to her set locations. After long and deliberate installation, she photographs them – reflecting the still history of the buildings, cultures, and the times past, while also capturing the moments of joy that light up our transient human existence. Flavia Junqueira introduces us to scenes where the real and the fictitious are combined, and where History becomes a memory.

Afia Prempeh draws on art historical, political, personal, and national references. Her poignant view on life shows a multifaceted perspective through the lens of Ghanaian history and connects its past, present, and future. Prempeh’s paintings are also reflective self-examinations: while realistically rendered, they explore the world of the unreal – of our dreams and aspirations. She often paints mirrors as tools for profound self-reflection. In her work they become portals into the realm of the soul and show the complex inner world of her subjects.

Ruben Rodrigo’s works are manifestations of his interests in the sublime, time, chance, color, and the Taoist ideas of emptiness.  His painting series Ostinato is a suite of 54 works of identical dimensions, (grouped into 27 diptychs) that he started weekly for a year. Each has a title that is the date on which he commenced the work. Ostinato series is inspired by the idea of ​​repainting as a spatial inversion in time, given that the works had to be painted and repainted throughout the year as the series kept growing each week, as in a kind of Sisyphean punishment that accompanied the artist.

So Lee’s paintings are focused on the visual and psychological exploration of childhood and domestic environments. Lee’s work offers a non-saccharine approach to the childhood representation. Heightened vulnerability, unprotected exposure to the complex world of adults and to the often-cruel peer-to-peer dynamic invariably create psychological and physical tensions that are reflected in her work. Sometimes covered or disguised, children with mute faces stand or sit in front of the viewer like frozen frames.

Emilie Picard’s work is uniquely poetic, and reflects universal overarching themes that bridge antiquity, renaissance and contemporary painting. Her interest in the passage of time and the fragility of life can be traced back to the Classical antiquity. Picard’s take on the transience of life is conveyed through her elaborate depictions of the detritus weaved in colorful, yet muted background landscapes.  Broken toys, hanging electrical cords, deflated balloons, and sun umbrellas are some of her favorite subjects.

For more information or inquires please contact UniX Gallery at info@unixgallery.com or by phone at 212-209-1572.