A long term art world teammate of mine, close friend, artist and former gallerist Christopher Stout talks about his latest work at Lichtunfire and his interest and exploration of the concept of Gay Abstraction in his work. It’s a fascinating topic because it is an emerging term, one that Christopher is helping to define. Stout also gives us a hint about the new project he is commandeering to catalogue the past and present of art in Bushwick from 2010 on. 

More information about this exhibition at Lichtundfire: In collaboration with Mark Gallery, RECLAIMED & REIMAGINED, is an exhibition of mixed-media encaustic paintings, a confluence of figuration and abstraction, by New Jersey based artist Marybeth Rothman. Marybeth Rothman imbeds photography and collage within her intricate and luxurious compositions of carefully layered encaustic paint, a luminous pigmented beeswax, creating a visual depth that is unique to its medium.
The fluidity of the process and its integration of encaustic, photography and collage that occurs simultaneously- enables a poetic dialogue among these materials also thematically. Rothman, as a storyteller, moves freely between the mediums of her semi-abstract portraits of re-imagined strangers- her concept, originally sparked by rediscovered vintage family photos from the 1940's, and presently supported by collected vernacular photography from the same era. Initially inspired by facial expressions and postures of actually depicted, to her unfamiliar subjects, Rothman starts with an underlying abstract composition -- her palette, lines and marks rewrite and transcend the early narrative and convert the physical attributes of her materials to become one tool to paint fictitious narratives of her own imagination. Both additive and subtractive, Rothman's mixed media practice, generally employs many subtle layers to form an amalgam of content and texture, leaving ample room for abstraction, clearly revealed in her recent formally abstract paintings in this exhibition. Conceptually and technically, Marybeth Rothman's work manifests itself at the convergence point of inspiration and actual creation: Concerned with her distinct narrative, partly subjugating her mediums to the ideas of a storyline, while probing and exploring the abilities of her materials, Rothman, akin to a biologist- is aware that any modifications can transform the DNA of her medium, and change the visual outcome of her mind's eye. Marybeth Rothman's Solo Exhibition RECLAIMED & REIMAGINED is on view at Lichtundfire Wednesday
through Saturday noon - 6 pm, & Sunday 1 - 6 pm. 

For more information and images of RECLAIMED & REIMAGINED, and on the ARTIST TALK on WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, from 6 - 8 pm, please contact:
Priska Juschka at info@lichtundfire.com, 917-675-7835, or visit www.lichtundfire.com;
or Arielle Mark at mark- gallery@optonline.net, 201-978-9196, or visit mark gallery.com.
Lichtundfire: 175 Rivington Street NY NY 10002
Contact: Priska Juschka, info@lichtundfire.com, Tel: 917-675-7835
General Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Saturday 12pm to 6pm, Sunday 1pm to 6pm
www.lichtundfire.com