Anna Zorina Gallery is pleased to present the Leah Yerpe exhibition Soliloquies. This is Yerpe’s second solo show with the Gallery and features the artist’s latest series of large-scale charcoal drawings.
In Soliloquies, each drawing offers a glimpse into an individual’s conscience through representing a person interacting with the diverse iterations of their psyche. These alter egos are tangled in thought, yet the stark white environment provides no clues of the psychological context to the introspective interaction. At times the figures appear to be facing tumultuous internal conflicts expressed through dynamic gestures that sweep across the composition while most often graceful poses capture the models within moments of contemplation.
Layers of these candid moments develop into a narrative of the personal drama that paves the way towards self-awareness. Like characters on stage speaking in stream-of-consciousness, the models seem to speak of their meditations through impulsive movements. The subjects confront their own divergent attitudes and incentives without concern of an audience witnessing the deeply personal events unfold, thus revealing thoughts, feelings, intentions, and struggles that would otherwise be inaccessible. The accumulation of varying viewpoints allows for bodies to curl out of view or for lone limbs to emerge alluding to quick reactions, second thoughts or abandoned ideas. These surprising details slowly reveal the secret, and at times surreal relationship that an individual has with their inner self.
Yerpe’s technical dexterity captures a complexity of spirit while also endowing subjects with a sense of emotional fluency. The attention to minute detail embodies the figure’s ability to engage and embrace their sincere thoughts and feelings. The viewer is offered an intimate psychological view but provided no clear answers within the blank setting. The potent energy instilled in each drawing proves that the story has only just begun.
Leah Yerpe (New York, 1985) received a BFA from SUNY Fredonia and her MFA from Pratt Institute. Yerpe’s work has been exhibited extensively including presentations at the Watermill Center and Norwood Club in New York. Her drawings have been reviewed in Huffington Post, Quiet Lunch Magazine, Nylon, among others and featured on the cover of the New York Magazine. Her work is included in renowned international collections including the permanent collection of the Dowd Gallery at SUNY Cortland.\
For further information, please contact Marie Nyquist at 212-243-2100
or via email at marie@annazorinagallery.com.