February 17 – March 24, 2007

The Kim Foster Gallery presents an exhibition of new paintings by Sarah Leahy, opening February 17 and continuing through March 24. This exhibition is Leahy’s 4th solo show with the Gallery.
 
In her last exhibition, Leahy was concerned with “capturing light as it interacts with water.” (Grace Glueck, NY Times review, 3/19/04). In this new series Leahy paints flowers not intending them as subject. Her intent is to create images that are vivid, fragile and moribund. Overlarge, slightly blurred, dense and concentrated, she creates a physical space that feels too close, like a painting overwhelming the room it occupies, you are unable to step back and focus. The blurred intimacy transforms the subject from its prettiness and familiarity; the image breaks down into light and shadow, making a presence of its basic form.

Leahy’s paintings are made through a
labor-intensive process of applying permanent black ink on a ¼” clear sheet of plexiglass. The plexiglass is repeatedly sanded and painted with an ink wash, building up to an image embedded in the surface. Darkness is an accumulation of ink, while light is transparent glass.