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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New York, NY – May 2023

“Leisure is neither an escape from the world nor a refuge from it. It is a way of engaging with the world on our own terms, of taking time to explore our desires and our dreams, of cultivating the capacity for joy, for wonder, for delight, for laughter, for pleasure, for love.”

– Fred Moten

Luce Gallery proudly presents Won’t You Celebrate with Me, the New York City solo exhibition debut by Afro-Brazilian visual artist Zéh Palito curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah. Opened on May 19, the exhibition, born as a special project, will be on view through Saturday, June 10 at Luce Gallery in New York City residence, 365 Broadway.

The exhibition is a clarion call by Palito, inspired by the legendary Baltimore poet Lucille Clifton’s poem of the same name. A response to the rhythm and urgency of Clifton’s poem, Palito’s exhibition of works captures the essence of Black life in respite, at ease, and at peace through vivid dreamscapes. Won’t You Celebrate with Me invites us to reflect on the resilience of Black people across the diaspora.

Palito honed his visual lexicon in the streets of Sao Paulo as a muralist creating larger-than-life artworks in his signature pinks and yellows. Utilizing public space as his studio and the walls of buildings around Sao Paulo as his canvas, Palito developed an adroit facility to situate his subject in scenes that articulate Black joy and subvert the oppressive visual language that does seek to uplift Black people. A visual language amplified by traditional and social media that has plagued Black people for centuries depicting them as lazy, unsophisticated, violent, and inhuman. Palito has cultivated a practice that centers Black voices and ruptures traditional stereotypes associated with their bodies, particularly in leisure spaces. By tapping into the Black collective consciousness, Palito shares his view on the Black reality in its fullness - loving, complex, happy, and in community with each other.

Palito’s art seduces you into his universe and invites you to celebrate the multidimensionality of the global Black experience. His work celebrates the beauty of Black bodies at rest, as illustrated in I Swam Against Their Waves, lounging on a beach articulated in No Jim Crow Laws on Sag Harbor, or simply enjoying the company of loved ones, as seen in the piece From Baltimore with Love. Black bodies at play, expressing self or romantic love, and visualized in a state of repose are some poses that anchor the crux of Palito’s practice. A painting like Love x Love is a quintessential example as it highlights a couple enveloped in each other's arms, gaze directed at the viewer evoking an unbreakable bond between two soulmates. By showcasing these moments, Palito challenges stereotypes and invites viewers to rethink their perceptions of Black life and celebrates the importance of taking time to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, reminding us that leisure is not a luxury but a vital aspect of our well-being.

“Leisure is not a luxury, but a necessity. It is the time we need to recharge our spirits, to reconnect with our communities, and to reaffirm our commitment to justice and liberation.”

- Fred Moten

Within his dynamic artistic practice, we recognize inspiration from various sources including The Impressionists, Post-Impressionist, the West African Portrait Studio, Hip Hop, and Brazilian culture. Palito utilizes his artistic practice as a forum for telling stories about his culture, heritage, and identity. Through his paintings on canvas, he celebrates Black people with bold colors, loose brushwork, and dynamic imagery that often deconstruct symbols to recreate fecund pictorial planes proliferated by the presence of Black bodies from the diaspora uplifted. This is often depicted in Palito’s work by still life-like tropical fruits, subjects draped in clothing with luxury brand logos, and other signifiers of upward mobility. With each brushstroke, Palito creates visually arresting paintings that operate at the intersection of race, history, identity, leisure, and culture, developing a practice that is expressive and nonlinear in structure. His capacity to make fraught conditions beautiful is the key ingredient that makes Palito’s practice so singular. His art challenges the tropes and negative representations of Black culture, presenting a refreshing and authentic portrayal of the diverse experiences within the Black community.

The exhibition is accompanied by a playlist of music curated by Zéh Palito, which inspired the creation of works on show, in addition to a publication of essays by Ademar Britto, Teri Henderson, Larry Ossei-Mensah, Chantel Akworkor Thompson, as well as a Q&A between Derrick Adams, Zéh Palito and Larry Ossei-Mensah.

About Zéh Palito

Zéh Palito is a storyteller and cultural observer who provides insight into contemporary African diasporic life. Adorned with gold and other jewels, shells, exotic fruits, and flowers, the figures in his paintings become the centre of attention and the protagonists of their own stories. Each figure is positioned in a stance of power that illustrates a positive self-identity and pays homage to a rich cultural heritage. Combined with the use of bright colors, each figure demonstrates confidence, satisfaction, and self-assurance through their mere existence.

Zéh Palito's practice seeks to promote a relationship of mutual respect and pleasure between humans and the natural world, often drawing inspiration from Brazilian, African, and American cultures. The artist works across very different scales, from ambitious site-specific murals to small-scale figurative works on canvas. In parallel with his commitment to the environment, elevating, inspiring, and celebrating marginalized communities and underrepresented voices is a fundamental element of his practice - an implicit suggestion that the two issues go hand in hand.

Tropical fruits, animals, cars, and swimming pools, move through a world of vibrant foliage, flowers, and houseplants. Zéh Palito, choosing to represent minority groups, focuses on individuals with a greater intimacy of perspective. He depicts his figures in sync with their surroundings. Through dramatic shifts in scale and highly saturated use of colors, the artist proposes a wonderous utopic vision for the future.

Zéh Palito has made art murals in over 30 countries between Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. He has been the subject of numerous group exhibitions, including “When We See Us” at Museum Zeitz MOCAA in South Africa, “Quilombo: vida, problemas e aspirações do negro” at Museum Inhotim in Brazil, “Regarde-Moi” at Perrotin, Paris and “Winner Takes All” at Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York. Among his solo exhibitions some highlights are, “Eu sei porque o pássaro canta na gaiola” - Galeria Simões de Assis, Brazil, “Untouchable Negritude” - Luce Gallery, Italy and “Tropical Diaspora” at Eubie Blake Cultural Center, Baltimore, USA.

About Larry Ossei-Mensah

Larry Ossei-Mensah uses art as a forum to redefine how we see ourselves and the world around us. The Ghanaian-American curator has launched numerous exhibitions and programs featuring artists such as Firelei Baez, Steve McQueen, Catherine Opie, Nick Cave, Guadalupe Maravilla, Ebony G. Patterson, Judy Chicago, Stanley Whitney, and many more. As a global collaborator, Ossei-Mensah has worked with renowned venues around the world such as; the MCA Denver, Ben Brown Fine Arts in Hong Kong & London, the 7th Athen Biennale in Athens, Greece, (co-curated with OSMK Social Club), and MASS MoCA (co-curated with Susan Cross and Allison Janae Hamilton in 2018-2019). He’s been a partner on several Web3-related projects with creatives such as Derrick Adams x Jay-Z, Marco Brambilla, and Mikael Owunna.

Following his critically acclaimed exhibition in Spring 2022, Ghost of Empires, at Ben Brown Fine Art in Hong Kong, Ossei-Mensah recently opened his second exhibition in Asia, Sounds of Blackness, at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in the Philippines. This is the first group exhibition featuring an ensemble of all Black visual artists from the African Diaspora in South East Asia. The exhibition explores how the participating artists utilize their practices as a forum to articulate a diversity of ideas and perspectives through various mediums and is on view until June 17th featuring Artists such as; Rashid Johnson, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Vaughn Spann, Tschabalala Self, and Hank Willis Thomas. Ossei-Mensah has also worked alongside Ghanaian painter, Amoako Boafo, curating his first museum solo exhibition, Soul of Black Folks, exhibited at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in 2021, San Francisco, and the Contemporary Art Museum Houston in 2022 with upcoming iterations on view summer & fall ‘23 at the Seattle Art Museum and Denver Art Museum.

A native of The Bronx, Ossei-Mensah co-founded ARTNOIR, a nonprofit whose mission is to drive racial equity in the art world by centering creatives, curators, collectors, and communities of color. Through ARTNOIR, he has worked with brands like UBS, Twitter, Coca-Cola, 1stDibs, and Mailchimp on projects that were the intersection of art and culture. Ossei-Mensah has been profiled in publications, including the New York Times, Artsy, WWD, Frieze, Dazed, Robb Report, The Financial Times, and Cultured Magazine. He has participated in numerous panels and conversations alongside Art Basel Miami Beach, The Earn Your Leisure Podcast, and The Fog Art Fair. Formerly the Susanne Feld Hilberry Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCAD), Detroit, Ossei-Mensah currently serves as Curator-at-Large at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).

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