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Chelsea Morning by Sherri Wolfgang, Oil on Linen, 60x48
 
AMERICAN PATHOS 
 
SHERRI WOLFGANG
 
Solo Exhibition 
November 12-28, 2021
 
Opening Reception
Thursday, November 18, 6:00 - 9:00pm
 
Meet the Artist at Opening Reception
Artist Talk at 8:00pm 
 
 
ARTIST STATEMENT

Millennials were raised to strive for the best possible life, because that is what had been given to them — access to opportunity, and the emotional support they’d need to achieve it. Hovering family and friends laud their successes, listen to their complaints, and clear the paths of the obstacles and challenges that made their own experiences so trying. And yet, despite this foolproof, cushy narrative that was created for them, millennials struggle, leaving the generation that raised them wondering — what happened?

With the unrelenting exposure to news, social media, and the increasing societal pressures to “achieve” what their parents did amidst a completely different economy and culture, paralyzing anxiety and fear of the unknown future have taken root in their young minds. At the same time, they acknowledge and celebrate the diversity of their experiences, of race, sexual identity, economic status, religion. Those who have been lucky enough to be employed in a post-2008 economy watch out for their friends stuck in internships, in endless assistant-ships, behind the counter of their local coffee shop. While their situation is remarkably different from that of generations before them, they still struggle to obtain the future that was envisioned for them.

AMERICAN PATHOS attempts to capture the dark cloud of millennial doubt that constantly rears its head, even during periods of stability and satisfaction. Moments of joy, of togetherness, are counterbalanced by the age-old question, “Now what?” In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the social and emotional issues engendered by this juxtaposition become even more urgent. This is particularly evidenced in All The Young Dudes, which depicts five men, all but one of whose gazes avoid the viewer; on the table in front of them, the dark screens of their smartphones contrast against that day’s grim headlines. They do not quite know what the next step is, inviting uncertainty, melancholy, and desolation to descend as they try to figure it out. The series portraitizes millennials at that moment in time. - Sherri Wolfgang 

 
ARTIST BIO 

Painter Sherri Wolfgang is known for her figurative works, which draw on Renaissance painting traditions and Old Master painting techniques. Wolfgang has received critical acclaim for her painting series: Crazy Making, on mental illness; Twisted, on cosmetic surgery; Nick.e.lo.de.on, a figurative study of a male dancer; and her most recent series, American Pathos, which examines millennials' place in society through Renaissance aesthetic sensibilities. Wolfgang frequently portrays her figures as examinations of male and female archetypes found in visual culture, with caricatured sexuality and studied emotions. Across her work, she applies different subject matter and genres, including Anatomy and Figure, Expressionism, Portraiture, Self Portrait and the interplay of light, color and texture as originated by the Dutch Masters. Her recent work utilizes a wide variety of media, including charcoal, conté, graphite, oil, resins on canvas, paper, and linen. Wolfgang’s work has appeared in Fine Art ConnoisseurThe New York TimesStudio Visit Magazine and Hamptons Art Hub. Her work is shown in the permanent collection of Carnegie Mellon University and the Housatonic Museum of Art, and has been acquired in public and private collections. Wolfgang is a member of the Society of Illustrators, and has exhibited at Dacia Gallery, The Housatonic Museum of Art, William Ris Gallery, Silvermine Art Gallery, City Lights Gallery, among other national and international exhibitions. Born in New York City, she holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, followed by graduate studies at New York University. Wolfgang’s studio is in Westport, Connecticut. Sherri Wolfgang is represented by Dacia Gallery in NYC.

 
 
 
 
Chelsea Morning by Sherri Wolfgang, Oil on Linen, 60x48 Same As It Ever Was by Sherri Wolfgang, Oil on Linen, 60x48 The Fortunate Son by Sherri Wolfgang, Oil on Linen, 48x60 All The Young Dudes Carry the News by Sherri Wolfgang, Oil on Linen, 60x48 Like a Rolling Stone by Sherri Wolfgang, Oil on Linen, 60x48