There are artists who hit you over the head with concept or try to dazzle with artifice, but it is rare to have an artist who is as sensitive, cerebral, and skilled in technique, a master of visual aesthetics as Luba Lukova, whose exhibit “Graphic Guts,” is on view at the Gold Coast Arts Center in Great Neck, Long Island, through April 5.
The exhibit comes on the heels of the internationally renowned artist’s year-long exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, which also holds her work in the permanent collection. Her work is also in the permanent collections of the Denver Art Museum, the Library of Congress, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris, Centre de la Gravure, La Louviere, Belgium, and the World Bank. She has had solo shows at UNESCO, Paris; DDD Gallery, Osaka; LaMaMa Gallery, new York, and the Art Institute of Boston.
“Graphic Guts” – which is also the name of a book of her work to be released by Clay & Gold in April – it is an amazing tour into her mind and craft.
“I am about social commentary, not political activism,” she tells me at the opening reception held Sunday, March 15 (rescheduled from February 1 due to snow).
“It is the reaction of an ordinary person who is an artist, not taking sides or dictating right and wrong. I want to evoke critical thinking. I am not a propaganda artist.”
Indeed, it is the delicacy of the work – on the surface, simple and bold, but as you look deeper, you are drawn in to find its more subtle messages embedded in symbols – that is so captivating. You feel utterly delighted at the discovery.
“I seduce with pleasing form, color, contrast, to make you think,” she says.
Lukova is famous for her theatrical posters.
“I am blessed to work with some of the most famous theater artists” such as Ellen Stewart, the founder of LaMaMa; Judith Malina of the Living Theater, and Theater 3 Collaborative. It is her task – and her genius – at coming up with the iconic image to represent the work.
She says she is not given the concept to represent, but rather watches rehearsals and reads the play in order to come up with the defining image that encapsulates the work.
She deliberately avoids representing the famous face of an actor, but rather, depicts the concept or theme of the play.
“That’s what I like: to provoke thinking.”
She points to a theater poster from 1987 of a guitar, from a play at LaMaMa. The image depicts spikes emanating from the guitar. “It represents stabbing the culture in the back. The guitar has a soul. The guitar is bleeding.”
Lukova is internationally regarded as one of the most distinctive image-makers today, says Jude Amsel, the Gallery Director and curator who brought Lukova to Great Neck exhibit.
“Whether by using an economy of line, color and text to pinpoint essential themes of the human condition or to succinctly visualize social commentary, her art is undeniably powerful and thought provoking. Utilizing engaging composition and energetic contrasts, her distinctive style is powerful in its simplicity and vivid palette.”
In essence, it is not just intelligent, but beautiful.
She displays an enormous range of interests under the banner of social justice, indicated by the labels and titles she gives her works: “Corporate Corruption” “The Immigrant” “Sudan” (a clever piece which features a head with the nutrition sticker in its mouth). “War and Peace.” “Brainwashing” (the name of a poster about The Media). “Censorship.” “Chernobyl & Fukushima” (2012) is juxtaposed with “Ecology” (2008).
“Transcending language, culture and politics, the exhibit features passionate visual reactions to many of the pressing issues of our time,” Amsel notes. “In the art of Lukova, less is more. More effect, more message, more expression, all while doing it with less. Most of the silkscreened prints are made with as few as two or three colors. The graphic elements are bold with few fine details but the intent is clear.
“Her messages reflect the human condition, fundamental fairness and justice,” Amsel notes. “Yet while it is easy to focus solely on the messages of her provocative works, it is important to take a step back to appreciate the artistic merit in her simplicity. Her use of striking, metaphoric images gives the viewers art to not only appreciate visually but intellectually.”
Most of the works are poster-sized but a collection of black-and-white gouache-on-board paintings that take up a whole wall are miniatures produced from 1999 to 2004 which are studies based on personal reflections on poetry and other texts.
They are so sensitive and engaging – on the surface simple, but takes you in as you perceive the multi-layered imagery.
“Her deceptively simple images have punch and they are laced with such feeling that they often merit a second look,” Amsel notes.
The images are hand-drawn – no computer is used – and silk-screened with as few as two or three colors. She makes about 10 in a series.
Lukova writes about herself, “I was born and educated in Bulgaria and, of course, this has shaped me both as a person and an artist. I came to the U.S. by invitation of the International Poster Exhibition in Fort Collins, Colorado. They had seen my work at other international biennials and wanted me to be a part of their show. So I’ve lived in New York more than any other place in the world, and that has also had an intense effect on me and my work.” (See an interview with Lukova, “IMAGE MAKER LUBA LUKOVA,” by Artist & Illustrator Michael Gibbs).
Looking forward, Lukova tells me, “I will always be interested in human themes, but I am looking forward to exploring new media – three-dimensional – the same kind of metaphorical concepts, but in a different form, not just representational.”
As to where her ideas come from, she says, “sometimes it is easy to come up with a concept. But the goal is to have visual pleasure, and sometimes, the issue is so dark.”
She says that when she is invited to be in a show, she tries to prepare a special piece for it. That was the case of a large poster that is at the opening of the exhibit, “I Have a Dream” was done for an exhibit in Alabama marking the 50th anniversary of civil rights.
Regina Gil, the executive director of the arts center and a visual artist in her own right, says, “It is evocative of great graphics where the artist has something to say, distills, powerful images, shapes and colors. It is exciting, powerful and beautiful – that you can live with.”
Most of what is being exhibited is on sale at prices at a fraction of what they sell for at MoMA, and fans and collectors are flocking to the gallery to take advantage.
The exhibit, on through April 5, is free (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.). For more information, Gold Coast Arts Center, 113 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, 516-829-2570 or email gallery@goldcoastarts.org, www.goldcoastarts.org.
