24.06.2009  THE NEW BLUE RIDERS. Anton S. Kandinsky, Sophie Matisse, Laurance Rassin and David Noah Burliuk

• NEW YORK, June 23, 2009- Art Next Gallery is pleased to announce the first exhibition of The New Blue Riders, a newly formed group, taken from the historic Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). The exhibition will be held from June 23 to July 18th at Art Next Gallery, located at 530 West 25th Street, 3rd Floor. The New Blue Riders exhibit is a multifaceted and multidisciplinary event, showcasing the works of Anton S. Kandinsky, Sophie Matisse, and David Noah Burliuk and Laurance Rassin, founding members of the group. Displaying inherited styles of artistic expression by Wassily Kandinsky, Henri Matisse, David Burliuk, these four leading New York-based artists merge their talents to create the group, The New Blue Riders. Illustrated in the members’ art work you will see references of impressionism, expressionism, contemporary-expressionism, neo-fauvism and gemism. “Collectively, we anticipate our work to inspire and challenge traditional forms,” said Laurance Rassin, artistic director of the group. “Our purpose is to exhibit new forms of expressionism in a group setting and plan on growing the group, welcoming other artists that have the same goals.” The artists will showcase works including traditional oil paintings, bronze sculpture, photography, ceramics, tapestries, furniture and music. To accommodate such variety, three events with the artists will take place on June 23rd, July 2nd and July 16th. Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) was originally founded in Munich, Germany by a group of artists including led by Wassily Kandinsky, and lasted from 1911 to 1914. The group was formed in response to the rejection of Kandinsky`s painting Last Judgement from an exhibition. Anton S. Kandinsky is known for his “Gemism” paintings, works inspired by and decorated with gem stones. Kandinsky declared Gemism as a new independent movement in contemporary art. He founded Gemism in New York in 2004. In 2007-2008 Kandinsky showed paintings from his series “Meditation of Weapons” in New York, Chicago, Beijing and Kiev. Six new paintings by Kandinsky from his new series “Chinism” and “I don’t want to be a Russian artist” will be shown at the exhibition. Laurance Rassin with his works creates a sumptuous and color filled world, enveloping his audience in signature large scale impasto oil paintings, bronze sculptures, ceramics, tapestries, and textiles in a way that is uniquely Rassin. Weaving an over-arching narrative with over 500 original works of art, Laurance fuses humor to his whimsical characters and interior scenes allowing his fictional almost cinematic stories to unfold. With Rassin`s work now featured regularly at Bonhams & Butterfields, 20th Century in Manhattan, he has shown not only auction house appeal, but also terrific pop appeal. David Noah Burliuk, founding member of “The New Blue Riders” is a New York artist. He was born in 1983 in New York and studied architecture at SUNY Delhi where he earned his bachelors degree in 2009. Currently he works as an architectural designer for Lobas architects. As the Great Grandson of Russian Futurist David Davidovich Burliuk, David Noah Burliuk continues the family tradition of producing futuristic works of art in sculpture, watercolor, oil, and architecture. His oil paintings and ceramic pieces were featured in the 2008 Hamptons Designer Showhouse, as well as other charitable events in the Hamptons. Sophie Matisse studied at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, as well as at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, but her career as a painter began in 1997 when she showed a painting called Be Back in Five Minutes in the vault of a bank in New York City. The painting was a painted replica of Leonard da Vinci’s Mona Lisa with one noteworthy difference: she removed the female figure, La Jocconda, leaving visible only a balustrade and the background landscape. The picture was followed by an entire series of pictures where figures and animals—all living things—were removed from famous paintings (a series that later became known as the “removal series”). Her next series involved interweaving well-known historical paintings in a zebra-stripe pattern with colorful images excised from notebooks that she kept over the years (resulting in pictures that are now referred to as the “Zebra Stripes”). Her work has continued in a similar vein to this day, but she has recently branched out to utilize vivid color patterns reminiscent of Matisse (her great-grandfather) on wine and perfume bottles, which she is currently planning to execute on a grand scale in a series of monumental sculptures. About Art Next Gallery Art Next Gallery is dedicated to creating an East-West discourse by spotlighting the greatest artistic talents ascending across Asia. By featuring both emerging and established artists from Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, and beyond. Art Next offers the Chelsea gallery community a unique confluence of cross-cultural vitality, shifting perspectives, and the newest voices of artistic identity. Art Next Gallery, located in the heart of Chelsea, functions as a gallery and event venue for artists, auctions, and various private events. The exhibition will continue through July 18, 2009. For additional information, please contact Gallery Director, David Rong at 212-206-1668 or artnextgallery@gmail.com >>> www.artnextgallery.com