The World Is Not Flat

Bernice Sokol Kramer

In the exhibition The World Is Not Flat Bernice Sokol Kramer presents sculptures based on the human figure using fabric and papier-mâché that hang from the ceiling and walls or rest on the floor. Her background in Biology and a childhood fascination with marionettes informs and inspires these works. Sokol Kramer explains, “In order to alter the expected human form, I perform surgery - cutting and sewing limbs, reattaching/relocating them. The marriage of human and animal traits, my “genetic mischief,” guides the process.”

Bernice Sokol Kramer is a sculptor, painter and mixed media artist who has spent the last half century living and creating in New York City. Encouraged by numerous awards including the National Academy Museum Award for Graphics, the Curator’s Choice Artist Talk on Art Award, and winner of the George Condo Costume Contest from the New Museum. She has been selected for exhibitions with noted jurors, critics, and galleries, among them are: Rebecca Rabinow, the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Stacey C. Hollander, American Folk Art Museum; Curate NYC; David Cohen, critic; Nat Trotman, Guggenheim Museum; Ivan Karp, OK Harris Gallery; Tracey Bashkoff, Guggenheim Museum; Jim Kempner; Jack Shainman; Donald Kuspit, critic; and many more.

Mitchell Lewis

In his fifth exhibition with Carter Burden Gallery, Mitchell Lewis presents a new series of mixed media paintings with origins steeped in biblical stories and historical allegories, in the exhibition The World Is Not Flat. With a focus on motifs and shapes that play a part in his personal and artistic history, Lewis explores human sensuality and the relationship between men, women and the environment. In a departure from the hieroglyphic quality of his last series, Lewis depicts flat fields of color alongside painterly brush strokes and a diverse palette that abstractly indicates landscapes. Lewis’ enjoyment of art and its making is evident in the self-described “fun” quality of his paintings.

Mitchell Lewis, born 1947 in the Bronx, studied painting at Hunter College in New York City, earning a BA and MA under the tutelage of Ralph Humphrey and Robert Huot. Originally trained in the minimalist school of painting in the 1970s, he was influenced by artist lecturers at Hunter, including Robert Motherwell, Helen Frankenthaler, and Tony Smith. After starting out as a hardedge geometric painter, Lewis spent the last 40 years freeing himself from those constraints and exploring his intuitive nature. His works are in collections across the United States and in the United Kingdom. Lewis has exhibited in New York, including in shows juried by curators from the Whitney.