MAY 30–JULY 3, 2013

OPENING: THURSDAY, MAY 30, 6-8PM

Mixed Greens is thrilled to announce Leah Tinari’s sixth solo exhibition with the gallery. For this series, Tinari returns to her roots, presenting lively paintings, drawings, and installations inspired by, and in some cases directed by, her family.

Tinari is best known for capturing spirited scenes of celebratory friends and family. Photographs from drunken nights out and boisterous vacations inspired her paintings, and over the years her cast of characters became familiar faces. That landscape changed dramatically after she gave birth to her son. Tinari states, “I have a new “director” in my life and it seems as though I moved behind the scenes and became the “producer” of my own reality show. What I do, where I go, what I look at, the places I eat, what I eat, the things I talk about, what shows I watch, what time I wake up, what books I read…are all curated by my son, Mars.” For this exhibition, Tinari’s recently shifted perspective focuses on the impact childrearing has had on her surroundings.

Larger-than-life paintings capture visuals from Tinari’s new world: a refrigerator door overwhelmed by stickers and finger-paintings; dreams of Happy Meals and soft-serve ice cream; toys meshed with family heirlooms; and wayward toothpaste goop. Tinari also responds to the direction given to her, quite literally, by her son. Smaller gouaches on paper depict Mars’ “commissions” for drawings of Army soliders engaging in combat with wolves, safari animals, and similarly imaginative visions. The result is a peek into Mars’ imagination and his exciting life as a 3-year-old boy. Unlike the straightforward portraits of years past, Tinari considers the entire show to be a more realistic portrait of herself and her family.

Tinari’s paintings, drawings, and occasional installations result from the daily hilarity and unique circumstances experienced while raising a child in New York City. The series is a celebration and a tribute to children and their playfulness, and also a realization of the humor in being a parent.

Leah Tinari received a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and had her first New York City solo show with Mixed Greens in 2003. Other solo venues include District Fine Arts, Washington DC; NuLu Gallery, Louisville, KY; Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT; and Peter Miller Gallery, Chicago, IL. In 2009, she painted famous female athletes for Nike’s Delicious campaign and created animations for the feature film The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. Group exhibition venues include Supreme Trading in Brooklyn, the Bronx River Art Center, the Bronx Academy of Art and Dance, the Dumbo Art Center in Brooklyn, Lombard-Freid Projects in New York City, Gale Gates in Brooklyn, and the Museum of Art in South Bend, Indiana.


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