LEE WAISLER

Over his long career, Waisler has pursued both a radically abstract style and figuration. He doesn’t distinguish between the two, however. He sees abstraction as another language for figuration. In his new series Let There Be Light, he imbues a multitude of forms, textures and materials with meaning, including ovals representing the feminine, reproduction and birth and sculpted layers of metallic pigment that signify self-reflection. To add definition and dimensionality to his compositions, he incorporates thin, malleable strips of wood, a symbol of life, shelter and protection. For the artist, all of these essential elements intersect with light, which he sees as the link between life, nature and space.

Waisler’s work will also be on view in 20+, an exhibition celebrating more than twenty years of gallery history at Sundaram Tagore Chelsea beginning February 11.

ABOUT LEE WAISLER

American artist Lee Waisler (b.1938) creates a strong sense of character and place through the hard lines and graphic qualities of his paintings. His earliest works were politically charged, but soon began to reflect his growing interest in Eastern philosophy, and accordingly, became increasingly abstract. It was after a journey to India in the mid-nineties that his works moved toward figuration, particularly portraiture. His subjects have ranged from unnamed figures to luminaries of contemporary history, including Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Franz Kafka and Virginia Woolf.

Waisler’s work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum, New York; the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; the V&A (formerly the Victoria and Albert Museum), London; the Tel Aviv Museum of Art; Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris; the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; and the Indian Museum, Kolkata.