Carving with Color

## _Carving with Color_ _July 7 - August 27, 2022_ Sugarlift is pleased to present _Carving with Color_, a group show featuring work by Laura Berman, Joanne Freeman, April Hannah, Liz Jaff, Sophie Klerk, Jonathan Lawes, Jon Legere, Naomi Reis, Rebecca Stern, Rene Vasquez, and Aaron Wexler. Taking Henri Matisse’s seminal cut-out series as its organizing principle, Carving with Color is inspired by the way the artist described his process: >**"Sculpting the living color reminds me of the direct carving of the sculptors." 
- Henri Matisse** Toward the end of his life, weakened by illness and largely homebound, Matisse put down his paintbrush and picked up his scissors, embarking on what would be his final series: the cut-outs. Meticulous and with singular focus, he cut colorful paper into shapes which he pinned directly to his studio walls, arranging and rearranging until he achieved the desired result. While born of necessity, this shift gave rise to a burst of creative expression, freeing the artist from the limitations of drawing with which he struggled throughout his career. >**"By creating these colored paper cut-outs, it seems to me that I am happily anticipating things to come…I know that it will only be much later that people will realize to what extent the work I am doing today is in step with the future.” 
- Henri Matisse** The artists of _Carving with Color_ are certainly in step with Matisse. Working across collage, painting, printmaking, and sculpture, each has developed a distinct artistic language. And yet, there is a clear thread throughout the exhibited works. Shape, rather than line, evokes compositional harmonies and movement. Together, the exhibited works represent a celebration of the perspective they all share: subtracting in order to add, carving in order to create. _Carving with Color_ will be on view at Sugarlift Gallery through July 7 - August 27, 2022.