Luce Gallery is thrilled to announce our special anniversary group presentation, Fifteen Years.
This show celebrates the gallery's milestone and features new works by a selection of the artists we work with, including Dominic Chambers, Ryan Cosbert, Robert Davis, Derek Fordjour, Connie Harrison, Yowshien Kuo, Hugo McCloud, Johanna Mirabel, Peter Mohall, Demarco Mosby, Ludovic Nkoth, Collins Obijiaku, Zéh Palito, and Francesco Pirazzi. Opening May 16, the exhibition showcases the incredible talent and diversity of artistic style of our artists, some of whom have been with us since the inception of our gallery, as well as recent additions to the program. This show honors our partnership and journey with these artists, whether they have already achieved career stardom or are just beginning to make their mark. Fifteen Years offers a profound moment of pride and reflection, encapsulating Luce Gallery's mission to discover and support international emerging artists, enriching our ever-expanding gallery program.

With director and founder Nikola Cernetic at the helm, Luce Gallery's mission has always been to seek out new talent and provide spaces for their artworks to gain a wider audience. In a recent interview, Cernetic explained:

"I opened Luce Gallery in a very romantic way, and to this day, that spirit persists. I've never chosen an artist solely for a commercial reason; I ask them to join my program because I love and believe in their work and vision. Searching for these artists and being the first to discover them is perhaps the most interesting and rewarding part of my job as a gallerist. What distinguishes Luce from other galleries today is really our strong program of international artists and consistent discovery of new artists."

Over the years, the gallery's roster has been assembled to include artists from more than eight countries, including many hailing from the United States. The program currently excels at painting, displaying the full breadth of this medium from dynamic abstraction to hyperrealism, palpable textures to seemingly invisible brushstrokes, and often incorporates elements of mixed-media or collage used to heighten conceptual meanings. With a strong focus on providing under-recognized artists with a platform to exhibit and a partnership to provide support, we are always searching for unique talent with a distinctive quality from around the globe and in every medium.

To date, the gallery has hung seventy-seven exhibitions, participated in sixty-five art fairs across Europe and North America, and helped organize several well-received institutional shows for our artists, including a recent solo show of Zéh Palito's work at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Querétaro in Mexico. Luce Gallery has distinguished itself through its unwavering commitment to emerging artists for fifteen years, and this show encapsulates that vision.

Included in the nineteen newly made artworks on view are a selection of works by artists who have collaborated with the gallery the longest, including a 1970's inspired portrait by Robert Davis, two floral still-life paintings —composed with his signature single-use plastic technique—on panel by Hugo McCloud, a tranquil leisure landscape by Peter Mohall, and featuring a playful sculpture by Derek Fordjour of upturned legs precariously balancing a glass yellow ball. In recent years, other noteworthy artists such as Dominic Chambers, Ryan Cosbert, Yowshien Kuo, Johanna Mirabel, Demarco Mosby, Ludovic Nkoth, Collins Obijiaku, and Zéh Palito have joined the fold. Each brings a distinct 'language' of painting incorporating elements of surrealism, portraiture, and abstraction, expressing the complexities of race, gender, humanity, and memory. Additionally, the newest members to the program include two artists inspired by the landscape, Connie Harrison creating dense abstracted gardens both painted and excavated from oil and wax layers, and Francesco Pirazzi harnessing the mysterious nature of light in a surrealist style, with both artists debuting their solo shows later this year.

When viewed collectively, the artworks in Fifteen Years narrate a tale of the strength of Luce's program and the significance of the gallerist-artist relationship. Here, their devotion to creation is matched with our belief in their talent and abilities. We would also like to reserve a moment to thank our collectors—small and institutional—who have supported both our artists and this gallery's vision every step of the way. Thank you for joining Luce Gallery as we embrace this milestone with open arms and toast to now and to the next Fifteen Years! Salute!

Dominic Chambers (American, b.1993) is a New Haven-based artist originally from St. Louis, Missouri. He paints introspective scenes that illustrate both the interior and exterior self and how this duality co-exists using a bold, vibrant palette. Chamber's surrealist-inspired work draws on both historical and art historical references and is grounded in his experiences as a Black man.

Ryan Cosbert (American, b.1999) is a Brooklyn-based conceptual artist working in abstraction. Her work draws from her Haitian and Guyanese heritage, humanistic experiences, self- expression, political issues, and rigorously researched historical narratives of the African diaspora. Cosbert skillfully explores the repercussions of subjugation and oppression experienced by the Black community, often shedding light on overlooked Black historical figures, shared experiences, and profound beliefs.

Robert Davis (American, b.1970) was born in Virginia and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. His hyperrealistic paintings and drawings depict nostalgic scenes from the 1970s, often recalling images from popular culture or his vivid childhood memories. Davis' work invites viewers to reflect on the past, encouraging them to form deep personal connections to the subjects and spaces he portrays.

Derek Fordjour (American, b.1974) is an interdisciplinary artist of Ghanaian heritage who works across painting, sculpture, collage, video/film, and installation. Inspired by athletes, musicians, performers, and other Black cultural creators, Fordjour's artworks explore the vast physical possibilities of the human body while anchoring each subject within a broad social commentary. His works feature colorful, textural surfaces paired with energetic subjects, creating a seamless blend of physicality and conceptuality that evokes complex emotions.

Connie Harrison (British, b.1993) is a painter based in London who specializes in vibrant abstracted landscapes. Her technique involves overlaying multiple compositions of oil paint and wax, which she then carves to reveal underlying depths. This process serves as a metaphor for nature's natural rhythms and life cycles. As Harrison works, different parts of the surface evolve in texture, opacity, and color, creating movement and adding physical depth to the painting, as if simulating growth.

Yowshien Kuo (American, b.1985) is a St. Louis-based painter whose surrealist work blends his experiences as a Taiwanese American with historical references that comment on social and racial inequality, cultural constructs, sexuality, and the human condition. Incorporating Asian- American figures with American Western undertones, Kuo conveys universal experiences and traditions through detailed narratives and symbolism.

Hugo McCloud (American, b.1980) is a self-taught artist based in Los Angeles. Drawn to unconventional materials, he creates detailed representational works using his technique of 'painting' with single-use plastic bags that fuse industrial products with traditional painting, collage, and printmaking techniques. By using ubiquitous materials like single-use plastic, both McCloud's materials and subject matter directly address issues of labor, geopolitics, and environmental concerns, providing us with a deeper connection to our humanity.

Johanna Mirabel (French, b.1991) is a Paris-based painter whose work explores the intimate connection between our inner thoughts and interior spaces. By combining symbolic hues, tropical plants, household objects, and suggestions of exterior spaces with detailed portraits, the artist creates deeply intimate works that explore the immersive and transportive experience of recalling a memory. Her work draws from her French Guyanese and Martinique-Guadalupe heritage, sociological and philosophical writings, and historical references to Western art.

Peter Mohall (Swedish, b.1979) is a Swedish-born, Norwegian-based artist working in painting. His work explores the history and medium of painting as a subject and how each element contributes to our rich emotional experiences. His scenes of leisure, with picturesque Scandinavian backdrops, are painted on tactile jute surfaces with rich, palpable colors. Mohall further invites viewers into his artistic process by neatly arranging each color from his palette onto his signature acrylic brushstroke casts.

Demarco Mosby (American, b.1991) is a New York City-based figurative painter originally from Kansas City, Missouri. His work is narrative-based and uses the human figure to mirror and reveal the weight and complexity of life's everyday tribulations. By incorporating his symbolic vocabulary of objects like birds, ropes, rocks, and tumultuous landscapes into each composition, Mosby creates layered narratives that aptly visualize the complexity and disorientation of our emotional states.

Ludovic Nkoth (Cameroonian-American, b.1994) is a Cameroonian-American painting artist who now lives and works in New York. Known for fluid figurative works created with undulating heavy brushstrokes, Nkoth infuses his personal life as a Black immigrant with ruminations on family history, tradition, and the legacy of colonialism onto the canvas to manifest the essence of the Black experience.

Collins Obijiaku (Nigerian, b.1995) is a self-taught artist based in Abuja, Nigeria. He employs portraiture to examine the depths, truths, and complexities of humanity, using friends, family, and locals as his sitters. Each expressive gaze is further accentuated by his signature winding charcoal line work, which weaves throughout the sitter's face, reminiscent of 'mapping' their life journey.

Zéh Palito (Brazilian, b.1986) is a figure painter whose vibrant, joyful works celebrate Black culture. With studios in both Baltimore, MD, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, Palito researches neglected histories and gives them visibility in the canon, with each figure represented as a confident protagonist. His work is embedded with details referencing popular culture and traditional Brazilian fruits and flora to further radiate both beauty and joy.

Francesco Pirazzi (Italian, b.1994) is a painting and drawing artist who lives and works in Turin, Italy. His surreal yet quiet Italian-inspired land and cityscapes explore the profound power of light, using it to refocus the viewer's experience of reality to evoke both familiar and mysterious sensations.

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We are pleased to present Battery of the Machine, the first solo exhibition for Demarco Mosby at Luce Gallery. Thirteen narrative paintings — deeply rooted in symbolism — will be on view beginning July 13th through Sept 16th. Mosby is a New York-based painter who examines the depths of our internal-selves, using the human figure to both mirror and reveal the weight and complexity of life’s tribulations. By incorporating his symbolic vocabulary of objects like birds, ropes, rocks and tumultuous landscapes into each composition, Mosby creates layered narratives that aptly visualize the complexity and disorientation of our emotional states. Together these paintings narrow in on an ambient anxiety when tensions just begin to bubble over, and suspicions are heightened. Battery of the Machine aims to question the stability of our relationships during turbulent times, while also examining the internal forces that cause us to feel anxious, threatened, and isolated.

The exhibition’s title, Battery of the Machine, capitalizes on battery’s dual meaning in English, with the first referring to “battery” as a fuel or direct power source, and the second meaning an assault or violence against another person. In this context, the artist explored how stress can become an effective and steady fuel for negativity in our lives, feeding hostility and violence, and often fracturing once stable relationships. Mosby’s figures — composed of loose brushstrokes, bold outlines and distinct impasto sections — translate these stressors and their consequences into physical attributes of decaying bodies, severed limbs, and mask-like faces to conceal their true-selves. The strength of Mosby’s work is how he’s married the grotesque with distinct symbolic elements, to depict sincere vivid narratives of our interior-selves that are as alluring as they are aesthetically pleasing.

In Fall, a flock of five swans are tethered together with rope secured at their necks, climbing a steep cliffside. This strong diagonal composition is set against a surreal landscape, with a deep midnight-blue sky at twilight — all to heighten the dramatic tensions. We encounter these swans at the moment one has slipped on the steep rocks, pulling the others downward with bodies and wings flailing in panic. It’s as if these birds have forgotten they can fly, and instead are fixated on the ground below, staring toward their doom. The narrative feels like a familiar fable, describing a cautionary tale about the precariousness of trusting the wrong people, and how it can lead to your demise. While the birds in this painting represent people, Mosby also uses swans in other paintings to symbolize weapons. For the artist, this interchangeable symbol is a commentary on how anxiety and suspicion can transform anyone in our lives into perceived weapons against us.

Battery of the Machine! depicts another struggle with a pyramid-shaped pile of figures, limbs, and a swan lassoed by a rope. Each figure or limb reacts to the tightening bind by biting, kicking, or pulling upon it. They appear violently gathered against their will by a set of muscular arms floating in the sky pulling the rope taut, like an unknown force dominating the world below. The composition is reminiscent of the famous Greek sculpture Laocoön, the Trojan priest who was crushed to death, along with his two sons by sea serpents sent from the gods for attempting to warn his countrymen about the now infamous wooden horse. While classic tales of heroism and tragedy are references for his work, Mosby gravitates towards depicting our everyday journeys and portraying the full ramifications of our decisions, responsibilities, and duties, or, as he refers to them as our “grand narratives.”

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Bio

Demarco Mosby is a New York City-based figurative painter originally from Kansas City, Missouri. His work is narrative-based and draws from his interest in depicting the emotional scars collected on our everyday journeys. Mosby is a graduate from the City University of New York Hunter College MFA Program, and debuted his seminal work, Palindrome (2021), during his 2021 thesis exhibition. As an undergraduate, Mosby trained at the School of Visual Arts majoring in cartooning and illustration, deeply rooting his admiration for narrative and the human figure. By 2017, he fully transitioned to painting, adapting his appreciation of story telling. His work has been exhibited in many group shows in New York City, as well as notable art fairs, including: UNTITLED in Miami, FL; Independent HQ and 1-54 in New York, NY; Felix Art Fair in Los Angeles, CA; and EXPO in Chicago, IL. Additionally, his work has been acquired by many notable private collections.

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