Shimon Okshteyn: The Artist Estate / Part 1 / There Are Many Forms, But Few Classics – Opening Reception

Shimon Okshteyn: The Artist Estate / Part 1 / There Are Many Forms But Few Classics exhibition held its opening reception on Friday, March 21st, at the Black and White Gallery in Southampton. The exhibition features a carefully curated selection of works from the Estate, created by the artist from 1976 to 2019. This is the first presentation of Okshteyn’s works since his passing in 2020. His work has previously been shown at galleries in England, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and at Stux Gallery and OK Harris Works of Art in New York City.

This exhibition spotlights Okshteyn’s career-long inquiry into how process and material experimentation created entirely new ways to find images. Featuring twenty-one works from the Estate, the exhibition traces Okshteyn’s artistic evolution, from his early cityscapes and figurative paintings to his iconic black-and-white graphite paintings and vibrant abstract landscapes.

Highlights in this presentation include the artist’s self-portrait (1976), three landscapes painted thirty-nine years apart, one of the Okshteyn’s native Ukrainian town, restoring the memory of his native land, the first work created upon his arrival to this country in1980, and two small abstract paintings inspired by the natural landscape around his studio on Long Island, the last work he painted; two installations Hamptons Polo (2018) and Reflections (2007); nine graphite figurative and abstract paintings and one sculpture Comb (1997 – 2003); four portraits of contemporary young women he photographed in Brooklyn (2014) and a group of selfie sculptures rendered in resin and fiberglass (2010).