Garden Party – An Online Exclusive / Méïr Srebriansky

June 25th – July 15th, 2020

artsy.net/81-leonard-gallery

One night, on the Upper West Side, Méïr Srebriansky and his wife were walking home, as they turned a corner, they were met by an assortment of flowers, and she exclaimed: “I wish you would buy me flowers more often.” The following day, in his studio, Méïr laid out plastic sheets instead of canvas and began the complex chemistry of mixing resin – with care and attention, he poured his wife flowers.

Méïr Srebriansky’s artistic process i

s usually painstaking, laborious, and time-consuming; his manipulation of resin usually involves pouring, puncturing, layering, and erasure often touching upon a fantastical array of subject-matter. Naught was simple, until his departure to horticulture. Srebriansky’s poured floral works are uncomplicated gestures of love, community, friendship, and family. Reminiscent of the simplicity of childhood the stark lines and vibrant colors are pure and prophetic; they are flamboyant, in a paramount manner. The artist’s use of resin is truly unique. Installed one-by-one or in groups, the poured resin flowers become singular and exquisite wall-drawings. Following the flowers he lovingly poured for his wife, the artist continued to pour new flora and fauna in a frenzy – similar to the gardening craze sparked by stay-at-home orders across the world. As we have all experienced in the past months, a sequestered occurrence can spark incentives that inspire change or action – some life-altering and others that shift entire historical trajectories.

As if preempting the crisis, Srebriansky’s fortuitous and urgent turn to whimsy and cheerful flowers was both timely and indispensable. For their summer show, 81 Leonard Gallery, has staged Garden Party as an ode to innocence that catalyzes joy to highlight a moment of relief.

– Anna Mikaela Ekstrand

About the Artist