Half human, half flower…. Rogers new Hybrids collection will make you wonder if it’s possible.
HYBRIDS “Love is like a Flower”Graham’s Fine Art Gallery is thrilled to welcome contemporary artist, Christy Lee Rogers to the gallery this fall for her South African solo debut and new collection HYBRIDS.
From eternal life to humility and devotion, flowers have had many meanings throughout time. From youth, enlightenment, faith, hope, the divine, beauty, to chastity, fertility, fragility, hope and rebirth; these blossoming fragile creatures are the most beautiful life forms on the planet, and yet one of the most transitory in terms of life span. In her latest underwater collection Hybrids, Rogers creates hybrid human and flower beings, photographed underwater using her rare techniques and style that have gained her International recognition. To encapsulate the feelings and her message into the final works, she then created watercolor and acrylic paintings that she meticulously layered into several of the final images.
Rogers explains “my favorite quote that was inspiring me along the way was from― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince “She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me. I ought never to have run away from her… I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little stratagems. Flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young to know how to love her…”
Dear friends and beautiful people, you are all cordially invited to my opening tomorrow night at the Laura Rathe Fine Art Gallery in Houston…. if you’re near please come by for a glass of wine and some of my newest works from Celestial Bodies Collection. Xxx http://ow.ly/i/l2yjE
Let There Be Art Gallery, Mexico City is pleased to announce part one of Christy Lee Rogers’ most extensive and ambitious exhibition to date, Celestial Bodies. The collection features new large-scale color photographs, star and cloud time-lapse, water and interpretations of space video installations and wood relief sculptures. Her new work explores the human condition and spirit through the gravitationally bound structures of the universe, expanding on and transporting her already imposing vision, literally into the stratosphere.
Venus RisingApproaching SingularityNot of this Earth
A portion of the photography collection is dedicated to Rogers’ interpretation of the dualistic nature of the universe. She explores the idea of the two opposing, yet complementary forces into which creative energy divides and whose fusion brings the phenomenal world into being, with double images that take one in time and space into her classical yet futuristic world.
Christy Lee Rogers’ Celestial Bodies will run at LTB Art from August 6 to September 6, 2015, with an opening reception, artist in attendance on Thursday, August 6 from 6 to 9 pm.
For over a decade Rogers has imagined elaborate scenes of otherworldly colours and entwined bodies that celebrate humankind’s vigor and warmth. She crafted her vision for Celestial Bodies by using models submerged underwater in deftly designed scenarios, photographed in her native home of Hawaii, that conjure the deepest depths of our world and at the same time the furthest reaches of space, in a profoundly human context.This connection between water and space is explored in a way that shows the beauty, freedom and conversely the struggle and complexity of the human condition (a recurring motif in Rogers’ work). The two vast expanses (ocean and space) are juxtaposed, their order and chaos, and one’s feeling of being infinitesimal, yet feeling the wonder of being a part of the universe at large. These basic emotions that caused the Ancient Greeks and other past civilizations to compose myths to explain the awesome power and majesty of deep sea and space are at the core of Rogers’ Celestial Bodies.
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Christy Lee Rogers: ÉLAN
Fri 13th June – Sat 19th July 2014 Private view: Thurs 12th June 6pm-9pm
“cirque sous marin”
ÉLAN: French for vigour, spirit, and an enthusiasm typically revealed by assurance or brilliance of performance, is a fitting title for Rogers’ new body of completely un-manipulated photographs. All will be released as very limited editions in a small number of sizes. 24 different works make up ÉLAN, all heavily influenced by the circus in its many guises. It’s a subject that has entranced many, such as the Impressionist school, who are drawn in by the romance which certain gifted physical forms are so capable of communicating.
“I was inspired by Paris, the performances of the Moulin Rouge, the old circuses, wild abandonment and that feeling of letting go that explodes out of you like you’re drunk with love,” says the artist.
Christy’s new work features a gentle mix of the classical, the abstract, and the wild. They depict a multiplicity of entangled bodies, ravishing the space that they occupy, while delicately floating in her extravagant underwater world. “I imagined living in Paris during the1920s as a performer, with no possessions except for your talent and art, and how free, yet desperate, that would be,” she says.
Christy is revered by painters for her uncanny ability to master chiaroscuro lighting, a contrast between light and dark used to great effect by the late Renaissance master Caravaggio. The technique lends a baroque sensitivity to her works, which are all shot underwater. No camera trickery or special effects are used whatsoever – merely the photographer’s ambition plus her uncanny eye for the physical artistry of human gymnastics. Moreover, in the case of the ÉLAN exhibition itself, Christy has enlisted the services of some of the world’s premiere performance artists.
To capture these images, Christy flew to Las Vegas, Nevada, USA where she worked with ten of the world’s most extraordinary performers; dance masters, synchronized swimmers, aerialists, pole dancers and actors. “You know a true talent by the enthusiasm they bring to their performance and to everything around them. That energy just exudes out of them and it’s so inspiring,” she says.
In what could be described as blissful irresponsibility Christy lets go of all rationality, and turns up the insouciance to superimpose classical elements upon ostentatious costumes dressing some of the world’s top performers. These contemporary harlequins are clad in bold candy stripes, graphic checks, metallic masks, and flowing silks in deep hues – making the perfect visual contrast to the translucent water and mercurial air bubbles enveloping their troupe.
Be exhilarated by the 21st Century Bohemia expressed in Christy Lee Rogers’ ÉLAN, taking place at The Outsiders London this summer.
Credits: Costume Designer: Franzy Staedter | Performers: Dustin Walston, Benoit Beaufils, Sheila Burford, Eliana Girard, Colby Lemmo, David Mayorga, Marie Miller, Jordy Perry, Suwasit, Katy Tate | Special Thank You to Ryan Patrick Murphy, Joshua Schultz, Hank Emerson. Barry Iowin
“élan vital”
The Outsiders Galleries, Newcastle and London
The Outsiders galleries sell affordable original works of art and limited edition prints from the Lazarides stable of artists. Emerging talents are also showcased alongside experimental and boutique projects from established names. The exhibition schedule focuses on work produced by artists who thrive “outside” of the orthodox gallery system. The Outsiders project was launched in 2008, with a group show in New York that attracted more visitors than a corresponding Gilbert and George retrospective at MOMA NY.
The two spaces in London and Newcastle upon Tyne occupy the sites of Lazarides’ original galleries. Having hosted some of the earliest gallery showcases by the likes of Banksy and Jonathan Yeo, and the first European exhibitions by American artists including David Choe, they boast a proud heritage on the contemporary urban art circuit. Artists exhibiting recently include Antony Micallef, Conor Harrington and Invader.
The book Outsiders is out now published by Thames & Hudson and the organisation is featured in Oscar-nominated documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. A dedicated print studio, Execution Dock in east London creates all the gallery’s editioned works. Incorporating the thriving online art store http://www.theoutsiders.net, The Outsiders welcomes over ten thousand visitors annually.
Lazarides is one of the world’s most influential galleries, with three permanent spaces and extensive high profile off-site activity. The group is dedicated to emerging international artists who defy categorisation, often existing outside of conventional artistic career structures. This vision has resonated with the general public and major collectors alike.
Founded in 2006 by Steve Lazarides, the gallery represents some of the most exciting and innovative artists working today including Antony Micallef, David Choe, JR, Vhils, Faile, Jonathan Yeo, Charlie Isoe, Conor Harrington, Ian Francis, Stanley Donwood, 3D, Invader, Zevs, Mode 2, Todd James /Reas, Blu, Paul Insect and BÄST.
GRAPHITE GALLERIES in the historic French Quarter, New Orleans presents CHRISTY LEE ROGERS’ “ODYSSEY” Featuring Portraits of PARKER STEVENSON American heart-throb from the Hardy Boys; accomplished Actor, Director, Producer, Photographer and Teacher. (Rogers and Stevenson will attend the opening) OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, December 9, 5 – 8pm A part of PHOTONOLA the 6th Annual Festival of Photography in New Orleans, Louisiana
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