Isabel Sullivan Gallery invites you to dive into the enchanting world of Pia Dehne in her upcoming exhibition, Faced with a Choice Do Both, featuring twelve captivating oil paintings. Celebrating two decades since her inaugural solo show in New York with Jeffrey Deitch, this marks Dehne’s debut with the gallery. Save the date for the opening reception on Thursday, March 13, from 6-8 PM at 39 Lispenard Street.
Returning to New York, Pia Dehne presents a series of visual enigmas that twist the conventions of traditional botanical painting. Her artistry melds precision with surreal juxtapositions, creating hyperrealistic portrayals of orchids in full bloom that are both mesmerizing and thought-provoking. But there’s more than meets the eye—upon closer inspection, viewers will discover hidden images interwoven in the floral compositions, including portraits of music legends, sinister hands at work, and nods to Renaissance artistry.
The exhibition’s title draws inspiration from Oblique Strategies, a card-based framework invented by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt in 1975, aimed at unlocking creativity. One particularly intriguing prompt, contributed by Dieter Roth, captures the essence of Dehne’s work: “Faced with a choice do both.” This philosophy resonates with avant-garde ideologies, inviting a departure from binary thinking and welcoming contradictions.
Dehne’s paintings serve as a seductive dance of themes—beauty, attraction, sexuality, femininity, and more. Petals unfold with sensuous abundance, and hands meld into the floral forms, personifying the orchids in their purest, most alluring state. Yet, beneath this allure lies a rich complexity. In Baby’s on Fire, inspired by a Brian Eno song, a vibrant orchid ignites against the profile of the iconic Donna Summer, merging passion and chaos, vitality and tranquillity. This juxtaposition challenges us to embrace life’s dualities—glamour and tumult, creation and destruction—proposing that opposing forces can indeed coexist.
Pia Dehne, born in Düsseldorf, Germany, has a rich artistic legacy spanning 30 years. Her early experiences in post-war Germany amidst the punk and new wave scenes have shaped her creative identity. An MFA graduate of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, she has showcased her work in numerous notable exhibitions in New York City and Berlin. Since 2011, Dehne has called the Catskills home, where she continues to explore the layers of her art.
Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with Dehne’s stunning visual narratives!
