Sarah Joncas "Taking Over" and Chris Haas "Waking the Dead" December 8, 2012

NEW YORK, NY (December 8th, 2012) —Last Rites Gallery presents Taking Over, new works by Sarah Joncas, in what will be her second solo show at the gallery and will feature fourteen paintings and one drawing.
Continuing her tradition of depicting lone figures in elusive narratives, Joncas embraces the darker side of life —themes of death, loss of control and becoming compromised—in her current exhibition. An air of transmogrification, sometimes embraced in submission while other times madness, traverses each portrait. Harnessing the mystical, mythological and natural, each figure maintains a symbiotic nature with his/her environment despite the dire consequences foreshadowed or present in each painting. Joncas' quintessential figures fall victim to themselves, nature, or the supernatural knowingly with a haunting beauty and grace. Her continued use of symbols in this body: snakes, butterflies, blue water lilies, mushrooms, skulls and apples, commonly refer to the cyclical and eternal nature of life and in the later two, the mortality of all living things. The evocation of these dualities reminds us of the ephemerality of being while at the same time, honor and beautify this stage in life, and begs the question of what's to come. Joncas' works have the tendency to act out ideas and feelings that concern her; in this body, she touches upon the universal and prolific shadow of death that looms over us all and inevitably crosses our path sometime or another.

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NEW YORK, NY (December 8th, 2012) —NEW YORK, NY—Last Rites Gallery presents Waking the Dead, new works by Chris Haas, in what will be his first solo show at the gallery.

Waking the Dead includes nine artistically and uniquely rendered animal skulls that even after death, transpose life and take on a newfound beauty and purpose. In this exhibition, Haas' skulls are wide-ranging species collected from various parts of the globe and decorated with thoughtful, revered precision resulting in an elegant homage to the animal itself and ever present, cycle of life. Using both found objects and handcrafted materials, this meticulous process entails many stages including preparing, designing, molding, painting and adorning; each skull is individually attended to and is given the gift of life once again as it embarks on another unique journey. Haas work reminds us of the transience of life and that even beauty and sacredness follow all living things beyond the material world.

Official Website: http://www.lastritesgallery.com