Thursday, May 5, 2011

Razza and the Crates -






Hanging a "long distance" show is not without its unique challenges. There is always an unexpected. This phenomenon holds true with my Razza show.

It has been forever since I’ve seen this work. Ed Mero of PrestigeArt flew me to South Florida to see the “World of Razza”. His work hung at a museum, medium size galleries, schools and restaurants; we had dinner at an awesome Cuban Restaurant; stopping along the way to meet some of Eddie’s people. I saw remarkable art. At warehouse size galleries, art from Botero, Warhol, De Kooning, Modigliani and everybody in between; South Beach, Ft. Lauderdale to Miami. From wholesale to retail to private dealers, I peeked and pushed. Hitting it hard, day and night we pounded away painting by painting. One will be amazed when peering into the nook and crannies while at special places. Looking at tons of art dealers, Eddie’s tour of Arts in Miami was without equal. I saw it from the inside out. At one particular wholesaler, this cat had art from floor to ceilings, like 14 ft ceilings awesome art starting from $500.00 to $1,500,000.00. Razz’a work hung on walls along with all your conceivable heroes. Eddie’s tour reminded me that art mostly is a meritocracy. One must earn ones way to the wall.

Today, only a day away from game day, I’ve spent a few hours hanging the work, work that I have not seen in what seems like years. Tossing around jpegs is nothing like the real thing. As a painter, Razza gives it all to you. You can’t see that in a photo. There are multi elevations to each painting because of the thickness of the paint skins. The “Gearilla” paintings are demonstrative in their gearness, just as the paint skins are also in their silkyness. In their own rite, these are the most luscious paintings you want to imagine.

Here are a few photos just out of the crate.

Oh, the crates!!! That was the unexpected thing! The crates are too big to fit in the basement. I'll have to figure that out inb the morning.

Al Razza - Enough Said

For Immediate Release
Contact: Karl Slocum
609-402-5917
karl@knappgallery.com

The Knapp Gallery Presents:

Razza In “New Work”

First Friday Opening: May 6th, 2011
Exhibition Dates: May 6th – May 29th, 2011
Artist Reception: Sun. May 7th (1pm – 4pm)

I’ve seen Razza’s work hang alongside Chagall, early Warhol and other masters, both old world and contemporary. His imagery, vision and sense of color command our committed acknowledgement.