Morgan Lehman is thrilled to present “By Fire”, Audrey Stone’s second solo exhibition with the gallery.
Audrey Stone
By Fire
Audrey Stone: By Fire
Head-Image
Audrey Stone
By Fire, 2020
Flashe on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_070
sold
Audrey Stone
By Water, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_074
$ 6,000.00
Audrey Stone
By Fire 2, 2020
Flashe on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_071
$ 6,000.00
Audrey Stone
By Hand, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_072
$ 6,000.00
Audrey Stone
By Darkness, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_069
sold
Audrey Stone
By Heart, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_082
$ 6,000.00
Audrey Stone
By Breath, By Air, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_083
sold
Audrey Stone
By Sunshine, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_075
$ 6,000.00
Audrey Stone
By Night, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_076
sold
Audrey Stone
By Stone, 2020
Flashe on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_091
$ 6,000.00
Audrey Stone
By Fire 3, 2020
Flashe on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_087
$ 6,000.00
Audrey Stone
By Slip, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_081
$ 6,000.00
Audrey Stone
By Brave Assent or High Ordeal, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_086
sold
Audrey Stone
By Sleep, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_089
$ 6,000.00
Audrey Stone
By Solitude, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_073
sold
Audrey Stone
By Morning, 2020
Flashe on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_084
sold
Audrey Stone
By Song, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_090
$ 6,000.00
Audrey Stone
By Six, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40h x 30w in
101.60h x 76.20w cm
ASt_088
$ 6,000.00
Audrey Stone, By Fire, Flashe on canvas, 40 x 30 inches, 2019
“By Fire” is a series of eighteen abstract paintings first set in motion following the loss of the artist’s mother in 2019. Stone found herself thinking frequently of Leonard Cohen’s song, “Who by Fire,” a modern interpretation of the ancient Hebrew liturgical poem, “Unetaneh Tokef,” which is recited each year during the Jewish High Holy Days. Both the song and the poem muse on the question of who will live and who will die, (and how), in the year to come.
Stone’s paintings are equal parts phenomenological, referential, and emotional. Her frequent use of color gradients is a process of marking time, each color becoming a signifier of slow, methodical labor. In some paintings, each new color band represents a single day of work. Using the structure of the rectangle and the words of the poem as guides, the artist explores new ways of building and manipulating pictorial space, creating vibratory color environments that play with the viewer’s perception. In some works, vacant areas of canvas left ‘blank’ are an expression of absence. Always working in series, Stone decided to conclude “By Fire” at 18 paintings because in Judaism 18 is the numerological equivalent of the word, “chai,” – life. After addressing so much loss, it felt important to the artist to reconnect to the living.
Though inspired by personal events, Stone’s “By Fire” series also speaks to larger notions of loss: the sociopolitical, economic, ecological, and medical tragedies that have challenged humanity of late. The three eponymous “By Fire” paintings are at once a reference to a fire in Stone’s father’s home and to the devastating wildfires that have ravaged California and Australia. The painting, “By Breath, By Air,” came together as the world learned that Covid-19 is transmitted primarily through the air, but also reflects upon the horrific death of George Floyd, whose last breaths were forcibly stolen from him. “By Six” records the six people that the artist recently lost and echoes the words of the epidemiologist who predicted that we would each know six people who died from Covid-19 by the time the pandemic was over. The 18th and final painting in the series, “By Stone,” refers to the line, “Who by stoning?,” in the Hebrew poem, speaking to the back-and-forth throwing of stones that has come to dominate our national discourse and the news cycle. Of course, in a touch of levity, it’s also a wink to the artist herself, and her very personal act of creation.
I have been occupied with line and color for some time; subtle color gradients have recently become a prominent element in my work. Observing shifting color and light in nature is an ecstatic experience for me. I find myself experiencing simultaneous excitement and calm, producing a desire to bring this dynamic opposition into my work. In my current paintings, I use the boundaries between broad and narrow bands of adjacent colors to generate visual vibrations. I am intrigued by the way the eye and brain process these transitions between colors, informing the viewer’s emotional and physical response to the work.
-Audrey Stone, 2018
Additional Works Available
Audrey Stone
Slow But Sure, 2020
Flashe on wood panel
20h x 16w in
50.80h x 40.64w cm
ASt_080
$ 2,800.00
Audrey Stone
Slow But Sure 2, 2020
Flashe on wood panel
20h x 16w in
50.80h x 40.64w cm
ASt_077
$ 2,800.00
Audrey Stone
Strange Comfort, 2020
Flashe on wood panel
20h x 16w in
50.80h x 40.64w cm
ASt_068
$ 2,800.00
Audrey Stone
Strange Comfort 2, 2020
Flashe on wood panel
20h x 16w in
50.80h x 40.64w cm
ASt_092
$ 2,800.00
Audrey Stone
Shadow Valley, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
17h x 14w in
43.18h x 35.56w cm
ASt_102
$ 2,800.00
Audrey Stone
Shadow Valley 2, 2020
Flashe on canvas
20h x 16w in
50.80h x 40.64w cm
ASt_100
$ 2,800.00
Audrey Stone
Shadow Valley 3, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
20h x 16w in
50.80h x 40.64w cm
ASt_079
$ 2,800.00
Audrey Stone
Shadow Valley 4, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
20h x 16w in
50.80h x 40.64w cm
ASt_101
$ 2,800.00
Audrey Stone
No Touching 2, 2016
Flashe on canvas
20h x 16w in
50.80h x 40.64w cm
ASt_098
$ 2,800.00
Audrey Stone
No Touching 3, 2020
Flashe and acrylic on canvas
20h x 16w in
50.80h x 40.64w cm
ASt_099
$ 2,800.00
Audrey Stone
Center Flow, 2018
Flashe on canvas
50h x 40w in
127h x 101.60w cm
ASt_078
$ 8,000.00
Audrey Stone received her MFA from Hunter College and her BFA from Pratt Institute, both in painting. She also studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and was selected for the Artist in the Marketplace program at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. Her work has been exhibited widely across the United States, as well as in Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, England, France, and Japan. Recent exhibitions include a 2018 solo exhibit of her paintings at Morgan Lehman Gallery, a two-person show at Muriel Guepin Gallery in 2015, and a solo exhibit of a thread-based installation on Governor’s Island in 2014. She has shown in group exhibitions at the Andy Warhol Museum, the Arkansas Art Center, the Columbus Museum, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Jeff Bailey Gallery, Kentler International Drawing Space, ODETTA Gallery, Schema Projects, and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Her work is in the collections of New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, Credit Suisse, Fidelity Investments and the Amateras Foundation in Sofia, Bulgaria. Stone lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
(the artist in her studio, 2020)