The Lehua gallery

These pieces from a broad variety of places and times are connected through the use of language. Each artist has a story to tell whether a personal narrative, a sales pitch, or a mere observation of the world around them. Some are introspective and imaginative, others are an extroverted projection of what they see day to day but all have given us the invitation to take a closer look if we chose. I hope you enjoy this collection of artists and pieces, which employ the use of words to more compellingly tell you their stories if you have a mind to hear them. This includes: George Braque: Violin and Pipe ‘Le Quotidien’ Ann Niu: Solitude Kurt Schwitters: Opened by customs Zhang Huan: Family tree Ed Ruscha : Dead End Mario Merz: Continent to continent Joseph Cornell: Naples Richard Estes: Pressing George Grosz: Berlin street scene Jules Cheret: Carnival 1892

ARTIST Georges Braque Violin and Pipe, 'Le Quotidien' Date: 1913; France * Style: Synthetic Cubism Genre: still life Medium: chalk, charcoal, collage, paper Dimensions: 106 x 74 cm Location: Georges Pompidou Center, Paris, France Tags: musical-instruments, cigarettes-and-pipes, newspapers References: ( http://www.theartstory.org/artist-braque-georges.htm#important_art_header ) http://www.abcgallery.com/B/braque/braquebio.html Biography: French painter, collagist and sculptor Georges Braque is, along with Pablo Picasso, renowned as the co-founder of Cubism, which revolutionized 20th-century painting. In his work, objects are fragmented and reconstructed into geometric forms, fracturing the picture plane in order to explore a variety of viewpoints. “The hard-and-fast rules of perspective … were a ghastly mistake which…has taken four centuries to redress,” he said in 1957. Merging aspects of the sculptural with the pictorial, Braque

ARTIST Ann Niu Solitude - Haze , From the series Haze series Date: 2014 Medium: Acrylic on canvas Dimensions: 78 7/10 × 78 7/10 in 200 × 200 cm References: (https://www.ahalife.com/profile/2591/) Biography: Using fluid, gestural lines, Ann Niu builds upon calligraphic tradition to tell stories both personal and universal. Niu’s work draws upon her multicultural upbringing in places such as Japan, China, Korea, and the United States. Incorporating elements of traditional Chinese ink painting and Western oil painting, the artist works in both oil on canvas and watercolor on rice paper. Her representational and calligraphic compositions, which draw from street art and Abstract Expressionism, are rendered with energetic brushstrokes and in vivid colors and thin washes. Emblematic of her larger body of work, Niu’s “Scholar Stones” series features free-spirited gestures that filter traditional techniques through a modern lens. Grounded in Chinese tradit

Artist Kurt Schwitters Date: 1887–1948 Original title: Zollamtlich geöffnet Medium: Paper, printed paper, oil paint and graphite on paper Dimensions: Support:331x253mm frame: 523 x 421 x 29 mm Collection: Tate Reference: http://www.tate.org.uk/art Biography: Associated with the Dada movement, painter, poet, and mixed-media artist Kurt Schwitters is best known for his collage and assemblage works in which he transformed appropriated imagery and text from print media into dynamic and layered compositions. Schwitters studied at the Dresden Academy of Art with Otto Dix and George Grosz, and after showing in Berlin in 1918 was introduced to Dadaists Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch, and Jean Arp. It was at this time he began making assemblages from materials found discarded on the streets of his home city, Hannover, intending to reflect the ruined state of German culture; he called the works Merzbilder after the German word “Kommerz,” as in Merzbild

ARTIST : Zhang Huan Family Tree Date: 2001 Medium: Nine chromogenic prints, calligraphy ink Dimensions: 49 1/2 × 39 in 125.7 × 99.1 cm Edition of 8 + 2AP Reference: http://www.pacegallery.com/artists/527/zhang-huan   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/3646417/Viewfinder-Family-Tree-2001-by-Zhang-Huan.html Biography: One of China's best-known performance and Conceptual artists, Zhang Huan's more recent work has consisted of sculptures and paintings that reference the history of his native China, from significant political, intellectual, and religious figures to anonymous portraits and landscape scenes. For his two- and three-dimensional works, Zhang frequently uses both common objects and unusual organic materials, including feathers, cowhides, and for his 2005 sculpture Donkey, a taxidermied donkey. Particularly evocative is Zhang’s use of incense ash, a material that epitomizes both detritus and religious ritual, with which

ARTIST: Ed Ruscha Rusty Signs - Dead End Date: 2014 Medium: Embossing on paper Dimensions: 24 × 24 in 61 × 61 cm References: http://www.artnet.com/artists/ed-ruscha/ http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3714479&partId = Biography: Despite being credited with a Pop sensibility, Ed Ruscha defies categorization with his diverse output of photographic books and tongue-in-cheek photo-collages, paintings, and drawings. Ruscha’s work is inspired by the ironies and idiosyncrasies of life in Los Angeles, which he often conveys by placing glib words and phrases from colloquial and consumerist usage atop photographic images or fields of color. Known for painting and drawing with unusual materials such as gunpowder, blood, and Pepto Bismol, Ruscha draws attention to the deterioration of language and the pervasive cliches in pop culture, illustrated by his iconic 1979 painting I Don’t Want No Re