Sharon Horvath: Works on Paper

From March 16 through April 24, 2006, The Drawing Room in East Hampton will present an exhibition of recent acrylic, ink and dispersed pigment drawings by New York artist Sharon Horvath.

Horvath’s current body of work on paper builds upon her previous exploration and frequent fusion of two seemingly disparate subjects: antique beds and baseball diamonds. The invented spaces in which these forms intersect are heightened by dramatic perspective and painted with a fluid gesture of iron colored ink imbued with pigments. In some compositions the introduction of an incongruous whimsical element – such as an oversized tiered cake – underscores the dream-like psychological realm the artist achieves. In a recent exhibition catalog Horvath notes: “I overlap two images: the Bed and the Ball Field... In this imaginary in-between, the psyche casts a spell on the actual. I find myself painting in this third space – an intermediate territory distinct from either inner or outer worlds.”

Horvath’s interest in bed imagery dates from 1996 when she was drawn to the ancient furniture she saw while living in Rome as a fellow of the American Academy in Rome. Later, frequent visits to the antiquities galleries at the Metropolitan Museum rekindled her fascination with ancient artifacts - in particular, Etruscan furniture. Her study of the bed subsequently expanded to include elements from spooled, wrought iron and wicker bed frames which, when paired with structural elements from baseball stadiums, suggest interesting riffs on two quintessentially American forms.

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