By GREGORY ZELLER //
A Hamptons art gallery is putting itself on the front lines of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
With a nod to eminent Sag Harbor art advisor and curator Heidi Lee Komaromi, New York City’s Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, which operates stylish studios in Chelsea and on Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton, is preparing to unveil Reclamation, a group indoor/outdoor exhibition focused on the painful realities of Russia’s Ukrainian invasion – and the poignant promise of reclaiming things lost, stolen or forgotten.
Reclamation will feature 14 artists – all contemporary creators from Ukraine and Long Island’s East End – and their paintings, photographs, wood sculptures and more. The artists and artworks share “revelations or truths about our society and culture … whether it refers to freedom, ancestral homelands, humanity, mother nature or otherwise,” according to a statement from Kathryn Markel Fine Arts.
Sag Harbor-based artisanal brewing company Kidd Squid is supporting a July 1 opening reception at the Bridgehampton gallery, in partnership with Ukrainian brewery Pravda (bring your phrasebook). A portion of the proceeds will benefit Ukrainian medical-support programs run by global humanitarian-aid organization Direct Relief.
Wood if you could: And East End chainsaw sculptor Evan Brownstein can.
Markel – an art-industry veteran who opened her namesake NYC gallery in 1976 – called the exhibition an “insightful and heartfelt curation” and an “appropriate response to the dire situation in Ukraine.”
“We are excited to present this exhibition,” Markel said Wednesday. “The effects of the war are far reaching, and Reclamation offers a sensitive and poignant perspective.”
The curated collection is another jewel in the crown for Komaromi, founder of the Madison Avenue-based HLK Art Group and a recognized industry pioneer who created EditionedArt – the first online consignment gallery for contemporary limited editions – in 2010.
Heidi Komaromi: Good eye.
Over the past two decades, the expert in Post-War and Contemporary art – a certified member of the Appraisers Association of America – has evaluated more than 3,000 individual artworks and executed dozens of curations for private collectors, nonprofit organizations and Fortune 500 clients.
That experience gives Reclamation a truly professional finish – no mean feat, according to Komaromi, who waded through a figurative ton of emotion and passionate expression to assemble the group exhibition’s final roster.
“It is fascinating to me that so many artists’ works touch upon this concept in one way or another, within the current contemporary context,” Komaromi noted. “The response was overwhelming.”
After its July 1 opening, Reclamation is slated to run through July 25.
