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Artist in residence 2020 – Fiorentina De Biasi

April 5, 2020

CAE is pleased to host its first artist in residence 2020 – Fiorentina De Biasi

Fiorentina De Biasi and her work
Florentina De Biasi,  Art Ain’t Your Ego, 2019,  Photo-collage/ staples,  16 1/10 × 18 1/10 in (41 × 46 cm)
Greg and TIna at the gallery
Arriving outside the 9th Berlin Biennale with my super-assistant Fiorentina De Biasi.

This emerging artist, a native of Italy who has for the past decade been dividing her time between Berlin, Naples Italy and New York is now a New York resident. She will be pursuing the creation of new collage based works in photography and fashion as well as completing an ongoing series of works devoted to the poetry of Tupac Shakur. 

“An artist’s work full of poetic moments – signed with the brute force of a stapler. And that’s only one of the various antagonistic aspects of Fiorentina De Biasi’s work. Informed by both academic semiotics and the rough subcultures of the street, the Italian born artist who finds her inspiration in the dense climates of New York City, Naples and Berlin constantly navigates between high, low and simply out there.

“The subject of her most recent series of work is a study of the contemporary human condition as it is magnified in the experience of today’s urban space. A space that is fractured along various fault lines which are being mirrored in De Biasi’s approach to the medium of collage. Prints of analogue photographs taken by the artist herself are torn and re-arranged into complex compositions only held together by the needles of a stapler. Reminiscent of the well known grid structure but way more unstable, these works do not only illustrate how fragile the web-like structure formally known as society has become. As artworks in their own right they also constitute a precarious beauty which in an age of constantly shifting grounds from the personal to the political could not be more up to date.”

Sammlung Gunnar Luetzow

The gallery remains open by appointment.

Filed Under: News

Who’s Running the Machine?

March 26, 2020

Art and politics have come to a head. In our current state of political upheaval, the role of governing and our status quo is being challenged. Art is not only being utilized as a vessel to engage in narratives with this current state, but it is also being challenged to act as an example for change. Recent protests of art institutions for their affiliation with ethically questionable corporations reflect the meta-narrative of the omnipotence of big business in our society. Conversations regarding economics are saturating headlines as events such as the Brexit proposal, corporate accountability, and wealth disparity are encouraging the public to reimagine a more desirable future.

In our new installment of an online exhibition “Who’s Running the Machine?”, we are highlighting works within our collection that touch on the topics of art and politics, specifically relating to capitalism and its influence on culture and global economics, and the impression left on the public that questions who are the people that run these entities.

James Anthony, Buy It / Two Buzy, mixed media painting on canvas with silk screen, 48" x 48"
James Anthony

James Anthony’s “Buy It / Too Buzy” utilizes satire and provides an allegorical look at America’s identity and culture. The mixed media painting on canvas with silk screen draws the viewer in by mimicking the idiosyncratic pose of the U.S federal government, personified in the character, Uncle Sam. Though the suited white male figure mimics the iconic pose of Uncle Sam’s “I Want You!” imagery, his message does not instruct the viewer to join the American Army. Instead the background of dollar bills appears to suggest that the viewer hand over American currency.

John Baldessari’s “Money with Space Between”
John Baldessari

John Baldessari’s “Money with Space Between” plays with the idea of creating a narrative through context imagery. The lithograph with silkscreen in two panels are composed of found imagery of two well-dressed men engaging in a transaction. Baldessari obscures the faces of these two men with his signature circle of paint; this invokes an insidious sense of suspicion for these men. Perhaps they are white-collar men engaging in white collar crime? The question posed leaves room for the viewer’s own investigation.

Sui Jianguo - MADEINCHINA, 2012, resin and steel, 23.6" x 3.9" x 3.9”, 10 solid color variants, Each in edition of 120 plus 30 sets in combination colors, plus uniques, base color: Black /White, 32.5" x 11" x 1”
Sui Jianguo

Sui Jianguo’s “Made in China” is a sculpture of resin and steel that depicts the ubiquitous manufacturing tag “Made in China.” Jianguo brings focus to the topic of international trade affairs involving China as a source for mass production. This work also plays with the idea of accessibility via mass production and distribution, as a buyer from anywhere in the global economy can obtain this piece and contribute to the narrative of how products from China are proliferated throughout the world.

Tom Otterness’s “The Consumer”
Tom Otterness

Tom Otterness’s “The Consumer” is a witty pencil and crayon drawing on canvas depicting a traffic line of trucks being consumed by a man who appears to be in discomfort trying to digest them all. In modern society’s conversations around over-production leading to waste, “The Consumer” relates to the absurdity that these products are produced far too swiftly for people to effectively swallow.

Wang Guangyi’s “No Pepsi”
Wang Guangyi

Wang Guangyi’s “No Pepsi” print edition is an allegorical and symbolic statement about the political entanglement of China’s communist society with global capitalism. The juxtaposition of classic communist imagery alongside the universally identifiable imagery of the Pepsi brand brings into question the imposing influences of Western society. As large corporations often hold political influence and outsized privileges due to their financial involvement with government officials, Guangyi addresses both China’s vulnerability to the Western hemisphere’s financial forces and the seemingly omnipresent influence of major corporations.

Huang Yan’s “Mao with Dragon”
Huang Yan

Huang Yan’s “Mao with Dragon” print edition depicts societal uncertainty after a long-reigning era has ended. The juxtaposition of a faded image of Mao Zedong, the former leader of the Republic of China, overlaid with an image of a dragon that appears to be in its own state of distortion reflects a civilization’s transitional stage as it reimagines the future of its state. Considerations of Mao’s notorious disdain of capitalism and his struggle to maintain his ideal of a “Red” society during the last years of his life is evoked here. While his image is symbolically blurred, the viewer is made to question whether his long-standing influence is at the foundation of the future society, or if instead that influence is fading away.

Contact Contemporary Art & Editions for inquiries on purchasing works from the exhibition.

Filed Under: Exhibitions

Greg Smith & Jeffrey Spencer Hargrave

March 26, 2020

Greg Smith, along with artist, Jeffrey Spencer Hargrave in Art Scene

Contemporary Art and Editions is pleased to highlight a yearlong profile in the “Art Scene” segment of luxury lifestyle publication, Industry Magazine. In Art Scene, Industry Magazine features a profile on the gallery in our endeavors throughout the exciting 2020 calendar year.

In the latest Art Scene feature, Industry profiles the director of Contemporary Art and Editions, Greg Smith, along with artist, Jeffrey Spencer Hargrave, who discuss their longstanding collaborative relationship.

Read the full article here

Filed Under: News

Serena Bocchino Profile in Art Scene

March 26, 2020

Serena Bocchino Profile in Art Scene

Contemporary Art and Editions is pleased to be featured in a yearlong profile in luxury lifestyle publication, Industry Magazine’s, “Art Scene” segment. In Art Scene, Industry magazine profiles the gallery in our endeavors throughout the year of 2020.

In Art Scene’s latest feature, Industry Magazine profiles Serena Bocchino and her remarkable 30-year career as an abstract expressionist painter.

Read the full article here

Filed Under: News

Industry Magazine | Women in Art

December 5, 2019

Industry City Magazine

Contemporary Art and Editions has begun promotion through Industry Magazine, one of the most exclusive magazines in the New York area focusing on art, performance and high end culture.

Our current exhibition features works by and about Women and runs through March 2020.

Filed Under: Exhibitions, News

The Vagina Monologues

May 16, 2019

TVM, The Vagina Monologues, 20 Year Anniversary

CONTEMPORARY ART AND EDITIONS, now launching a new 7,000 sq. ft. space in Florham Park, N.J., invites you, in association with LAURA ARTEN PRESENTS to a special presentation of The Vagina Monologues on May 31, 2019. The show will initiate a one year continuing exhibition of fine art created by and about international women.


Date: Friday –  May 31, 2019
Location: 93 Passaic Avenue, Florham Park, N. J. 07932
Time: Cocktails, snacks and music beginning at 5:30 PM

Performances beginning at 7:30 PM featuring Madeline Lewis, Jaime Lynn, Ryan Machan, Romy Valentina, Annie Pisapia and Trish Classe Gianakis.


This is a special opportunity to witness a feminist classic in the context of wide ranging exhibition of fine art by and about women, including work by Barbara Kruger, Shirin Neshat, Alex Prager, Mickalene Thomas and Serena Bocchino.

This free performance requires no RSVP. However, RSVP’s are requested to info@contemporaryartandeditions.com. Adults Only Please. Persons under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Mickalene Thomas, “Oprah Winfrey”, screenprint with hand applied rhinestones, framed - 29 1/2 x 33 1/2 inches, size - 19 3/4 x 23 1/2 inches, edition #5/20
Barbara Kruger, You Are Right, 2010, color lithograph, 9" x 24", edition of 200
Serena Bocchino - 100 degree Fever Dizzy, 2012, enamel paint with graphite on canvas, 52" x 65"
Shirin Neshat
Alex Prager, Marilyn 2010, chromogenic print, 36 x 47 1/2 inches
Alex Prager, Wrath #1 (Blue) 2005, chromogenic print, 36 x 32 inches

Filed Under: Exhibitions, News

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