SKYLAR FEIN

JONATHAN FERRARA GALLERY is proud to announce, Strike Anywhere, an exhibition of the latest work by artist SKYLAR FEIN in his ongoing ‘Giant Metal Matchbook’ series. The exhibition will also feature a special presentation of the artist’s collaboration with New Orleans street artist MRSA entitled Children of the Night. The exhibition will be on view Wednesday 1 April through 30 May 2015. The gallery will host first Saturday artist receptions on 4 April and 2 May from 6-9pm.

Fein is best known for his large-scale installations, including Remember the Upstairs Lounge, an exhibit during Prospect.1 that threw a spotlight on a little-known chapter of history. The 1973 arson fire at a gay bar in the French Quarter is still the deadliest attack against gay people on record. But here, in Strike Anywhere, the Bronx-born artist turns to something on a more intimate level.

Fein says of the ‘Giant Metal Matchbooks’ series…
Why matchbooks? It reflects the artist’s love of pop culture, its vibrancy and also its accidental depth and poignancy. “A common object is a perfect meeting place.” That’s a Claes Oldenburg quote, and it’s still true—the most banal objects, aren’t.

Obviously Claes Oldenburg’s giant sculptures are forerunners, along with a dash of Warhol’s Brillo boxes and a side of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." The aluminum matchbooks open up, revealing—yes, giant wooden matches, with realistic (rubber) match heads.

Do they light? Not exactly. But they burn.

SKYLAR FEIN was born in Greenwich Village and raised in the Bronx. He has had many careers including teaching nonviolent resistance under the umbrella of the Quakers, working for a gay film festival in Seattle, stringing for The New York Times and as pre-med student at University of New Orleans where he moved one week before Hurricane Katrina hit.

In the wreckage of New Orleans, Fein found his new calling as an artist, experimenting with color and composition of the detritus of Katrina. His work soon became known for its pop sensibility as well as its hard-nosed politics. After a few starring roles in group shows, he had his first solo show in May 2008 at Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans.

In the fall of 2008, his Prospect.1: Biennial installation, "Remember the Upstairs Lounge," shined a spotlight on an overlooked piece of New Orleans history: a fire that swept through a French Quarter bar in 1973, killing everyone inside. The worst fire in New Orleans history has never been solved. His installation walked visitors right through the swinging bar doors, and offered visual riffs on politics and sexuality circa 1973.