Exhibition Opening: Saturday, October 22, 2016 from 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Monday - Friday, October 24 - November 18, 2016 from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Rehs Contemporary Galleries Inc.

5 East 57th Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10022

www.rehscgi.com

Duffy Sheridan, Esperanza, 24 x 24 inches, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Rehs Contemporary Galleries.

This Saturday, October 22, 2016, Rehs Contemporary and the Art Renewal Center jointly present ARC Select, a group exhibition featuring the works of six hand-picked artists from ARC’s annual International Salon one of the most prestigious realist art competitions in the world. The inaugural exhibition of this series, debuting at Rehs Contemporary Galleries, will feature a diverse roster of contemporary realist artists and reflect the overall scope of representational art, showcasing figurative, landscape and still life works.

Kara Ross, chief operating officer of the Art Renewal Center, wanted to help up-and-coming artists by providing a platform for them to be recognized, find representation and galleries to work with, and to help build the resurgence of academic art. She sought out Rehs Contemporary to execute this concept and produce an exhibition. Lance Rehs, vice president and director of Rehs Contemporary, said, “We were the first gallery Kara approached [with this idea] and we were incredibly excited and honored to have the opportunity.” Lance Rehs and his sister Alyssa Rehs, co-director of Rehs Contemporary, were integral to the exhibition process from beginning to end.

Joseph McGurl, Twilight, Hudson River, 16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Rehs Contemporary Galleries.

Choosing the right concept for the inaugural show was justifiably important—it would be the archetype for future shows. Lance Rehs explained what the goals for the exhibition were: “We wanted to capture a range of artists at various points in their careers, which in turn creates a broad spectrum in price points for potential collectors; and we wanted to expose visitors to the scope of academic art… some is hard edge, some a bit softer, some incorporates abstract or gestural elements. Most people think of academic art as stuffy and traditional. We want to help create a platform to show people that these talented artists deserve our respect and admiration.”

The selection process for the exhibition involved multiple rounds, each narrowing the pool of artists. It began with ARC’s annual Salon exhibition. Of the thousands of entries submitted by talented individuals each year, ARC chooses the finalists for their Salon—sometimes over a thousand artists are included in the show. This year, to select the finalists for ARC Select, the Rehs Contemporary team combed through the Salon finalists looking for artists who might represent the aesthetic of the gallery and the concept of the show. Several factors were in play during the selection process, including exhibition history, gallery representation, and price point. The final six artists were ultimately chosen for ARC Select unanimously because they all possessed a unique element in their work that made the viewer connect with each in very different ways, whether it was through impeccable craftsmanship, whimsical and intriguing compositions, or the message behind the work.

Richard Hall, The College Fund, 34 x 40 inches, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Rehs Contemporary Galleries.

This group exhibition will be like no other show this fall. Kari Tirrell, a self-taught artist, is known for her quirky still lifes and mesmerizing jumbles of toys. Duffy Sheridan has attracted the attention of collectors on five continents through his expression of the subtleties of the human condition. Philippe Attie, a Haitian artist, communicates complex emotions through meticulously crafted figure paintings juxtaposed against playful abstractions. Richard Hall is a visual storyteller whose work incorporates humor, whimsy, and nostalgia. Walter Rane, who investigates and captures the human form and its relationship to the environment and atmosphere, evokes ephemeral moments of spiritual interactions in his work. Finally, Joseph McGurl, a master of plein-air landscapes, is one of the most sought after and influential landscape artists in America today because of his exemplary use of light and tireless attention to detail.

The ultimate purpose of ARC Select is to showcase the spectrum of academic art and help break many of the assumptions people have about academic art. “I want to help bring this type of artwork to the forefront of the art world; I think these artists are so incredibly talented and are so devoted to their craft, yet over and over again, they are underappreciated,” said Lance Rehs. All of the works of art at ARC Select will be for sale. Artists, collectors and enthusiasts are all welcome at ARC Select, exhibiting at Rehs Contemporary Galleries in New York City, from October 22 to November 18, 2016.

Rehs Contemporary Galleries began as a new venture stemming from Rehs Galleries in 1987, and is mainly focused in contemporary realism, giving a platform to artists who create original works using traditional techniques. The Art Renewal Center was founded in 1999 for the advancement of traditional and contemporary representational art.

To learn more about ARC Select, click HERE.