NEW YORK, NY – Chelsea’s Agora Gallery will feature the original work of Ashraf Elsharif in The Figure and Unknown Places. The exhibition opens July 7, 2018 and runs through July 27,  2018 with an opening reception on Thursday, July 12 from 6-8 pm. Any art lover who enjoys thought-provoking artworks and meeting talented and interesting artists is encouraged to attend.

About the Artist

Inspired by his upbringing, where he came into intimate acquaintance with the Nile valley as well as the Sahara desert, Sudanese-born Ashraf Elsharif uses a multiplicity of media to capture the experience of living in Africa. Whether working in painting or photography, what underlies Elsharif’s output is a fidelity to the formal contours of a place, visage, or social situation. Elsharif’s artistry has less to do with showing non-Africans pictures of daily life in Africa, than with recreating landscapes, figures, and architectural patterns that only Africans can truly experience.

Ever-conscious of the fragility of legends, royal genealogies, architectures, and other ancient regional signifiers in the wake of globalization, Elsharif’s Nubian Gate at Karima is a candid glimpse into an ordinary occurrence that non-Africans are not likely to experience. A man is photographed opening the door of an architecturally elaborate temple; and this moment is captured in a way that makes it appear less sacred than familiar. In this way, Elsharif preserves the dailiness of a society that is too often relegated to the status of an exotic third world.

Exhibition Dates: July 7 - July 27, 2018

Reception: Thursday July 12, 2018 6-8 PM

Gallery Hours: Tues-Sat 11:00am – 6:00pm

Gallery Location: 530 West 25th Street, New York, NY

Event URL: https://www.agora-gallery.com/artistpage/Ashraf_Elsharif.aspx

Featured Artists:

Monica Adams | Francis Annan Affotey | Yu He | Angela Blattner | Ilaria Castagnacci | Boguslawa Czarnecka | Fiorenza D'Orazi | Jutta Ebeling-Dehnhard | Ashraf Elsharif | Marco Henrie | Ketan Kelkar | Gunter Langer | Pino Lavecchia | Taikyu Lim | Susan Marx | Andreas Meer | Mireille Pizzo | Mileidy Plata | J.H. Rebelato | Linda Rosen | Marliese Scheller | Christine Stettner | Richard Tomlin | Gonzalo Urrea Correa | Germán Valles Fernández | Hugo Ximello-Salido

About the Exhibition

The Figure and Unknown Places is an exhibition featuring twenty-six international painters and photographers exploring the connections between humans and the world we inhabit. Working between landscape painting and portraiture, the artists included reassess traditions and convey unique perspectives on timeless themes. Utilizing diverse visual languages, these artists provide fresh insight on engrained understandings of culture and nature, man and animal.

About Agora Gallery

Agora Gallery is a contemporary fine art gallery located in the heart of Chelsea’s fine art district in New York. Established in 1984, Agora Gallery specializes in connecting art dealers and collectors with national and international artists. The art gallery’s expert consultants are available to assist corporate and private clients in procuring original artwork to meet their organization’s specific needs and budget requirements. With a strong online presence and popular online gallery, ARTmine, coupled with the spacious and elegant physical gallery space, the work of our talented artists, who work in diverse media and styles, can receive the attention it deserves. Over the years Agora Gallery has sponsored and catered to special events aimed at fostering social awareness and promoting the use of art to help those in need.