High Priestess Project is thrilled to announce that we will be exhibiting at the Affordable Art Fair NYC Spring, booth A16. The event will take place in the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W 18th St, New York, NY 10011, March 22nd through the 28th, 2023.

Featured in our Spring 2023 exhibition at the Affordable Art Fair NYC are eleven outstanding artists, including nine ASMP NY members; Shelley Lipton, Roberta Ruocco, Tracy + David, Robb Hohmann, Matt Gunther, Sarah Gerard, Denise Cummings, Dolly Faibyshev, Ted and Nune, Eileen Lerner and Liam Alexander. For complimentary tickets, please visit this link.

The ambient-beauty captured in Robb Hohmann’s A Crack in Everything brings to mind the French phrase "Je me souviens" or "I remember." Here we see a still-life arrangement consisting of a bowl of tangerines, house plant and a vessel of water bathed in a triangle of light cascading down from an unknown source. The vivid colors of each object are contrasted against a heavy black background that recalls the classic chiaroscuro technique of artists like Caravaggio. The residue of domestic-life is hinted at, lurking in the shadows, just out of view. Themes of the eroding American Dream are further evoked in a second work of Hohmann’s: Replacement Behaviors, a black and white image of a dilapidated liquor store advertising drive-in service. Overhead, a stark white sky is cut into pieces by the looming power lines above.

Matt Gunther expands upon this theme; forsaken scenes of a roadside motel and the facade of a police precinct capture an uncanny moodiness. The desolation and noir-inspired color palette of ’s Taghkanic Motel and Probable Cause evoke iconic turn-of-the-century urban scene’s painted by Edward Hopper, with a 21st century twist that adds layers of visual meaning to the genre of narrative photography. The charged settings of both images only serve to add layers of meaning left open for the viewer's interpretation and amplify the voyeuristic experience of these captivating works.

The arresting quiet of Hohmann and Gunther’s work are juxtaposed against the sublime dreamscapes of Roberta Ruocco’s Echoes of Silence and Lines of Latitude series. Ruocco’s unique style of medium format photography combines long exposure-times that elongate the landscape of the ocean with a slight panning of the camera-body. The resulting images capture the luminous motion of the waves, a bioluminescent dance of water— as if painting upon a canvas of sea-meets-sky with a brush dipped in resplendent light.

*Untitled #1478*, from the series “Echoes of Silence”
**by Roberta Ruocco**

Ted & Nune are a photographic team whose images document the grandeur and scars of the man-made world. Featured are works from the series’ Urban Currents — the energy of the city is presented as a chorus of luminosity; individual lights converge, firing gossamer traces of information from one point to another. Buildings forged from concrete and steel are transformed from once distinct structures into a singular organism, interconnected and dynamic.

*Cathedral of Transportation* by Ted & Nune

Tracy + David’s Umbrellas series offers a different perspective of the ocean, from high above. These playful sun-drenched images deliver a slice of summer-vibes that, alongside Eileen Lerner’s dreamy Mermaid Shadow in the Shade and Dolly Faibyshev’s Classic Ride in Red and White, conjure a contrasting side of the American Dream, still alive and well, it would seem, in candy-soaked color.

Sarah Gerard is a collage-based artist who creates work with a sharp sense of humor and a surreal sensibility. Each piece is a world unto itself, where cabin cruisers surf the waves of the desert and girls' night out takes place on the surface of the moon. Denise Cummings, too, works in the medium of collage. A former model, Cummings was heavily influenced by the fashion industry from a young age. Her artworks are at once elegant and sensual, consisting of abstract forms that appear as both anthropomorphic figures and organic florals. On view this spring are never-before-seen works in the artists’ Audrey-Cinema series, inspired by the life and work of Audrey Heburn.

*Audrey in Her Garden* by Denise Cummings

Like Cummings’, Shelley Lipton finds botanicals to be an endless source of artistic-inspiration. Both artists engage themes of the divine feminine— Lipton through the medium of photography. An avid gardener, she grows a variety of flora from carefully selected seeds that she herself cultivates. Her striking close-up portraits of flowers engender novel perspectives of the wonders of the natural world.

Liam Alexander also works in the medium of collage, using his own photographs as subject matter and source for inspiration. Alexander’s beguiling Private Collection series features portraits of women whose faces and bodies are strategically concealed by vintage floral-patterned wallpaper that recalls Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s classic short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, an early work of feminist literature whose themes of patriarchal oppression provide intriguing fodder for the viewer’s analysis. The Private Collection works’ simplistic compositions are deceiving; alluded to in exquisite subtlety are the dueling concepts of the male gaze and the feminine art of seduction.

About the Affordable Art Fair NYC:

The Affordable Art Fair NYC is the ideal family day out or creative evening out with friends, offering an inspiring, friendly atmosphere where attendees are invited to browse thousands of original contemporary paintings, sculptures, photographs and prints showcased by a myriad of local, national and international exhibitors. With contemporary artwork by hundreds of established artists and rising stars, and price points ranging from $100 to $12,000 – there is something to suit every taste and wallet whether you are a first-time art buyer or a seasoned collector.

About High Priestess Project:

High Priestess Project, a subsidiary of Essential Artists LLC, conceives of curatorial projects and visual interrogations. We represent a robust list of emerging artistic talent at the nexus of the fine art market and commercial photography industry and are dedicated to spreading joy through the experience of art because we believe that art is for everyone. It is the very essence of any civilization. When Creativity thrives, we all prosper.

About ASMP NY:

ASMP is a trade organization of media creators founded in 1944, currently with over 4000 members worldwide. ASMP is guided by the following values; that Creators have the right to own their work, and we will fight for that right. That we are stronger together. That images are a vital form of communication and visual literacy is invaluable to our entire culture. That successful creatives are successful entrepreneurs. That the art and business of photography changes constantly, and we will evolve with it.

Our core mission is to advocate, educate, and provide community for image makers — fostering thriving careers, a strong sense of professional ethics, and an unshakable belief in the power of images.

Creativity is your passion and your livelihood — and ASMP and its membership will stand beside you to help you live your best creative life.

High Priestess Project at the Affordable Art Fair NYC

THE OCEAN AS MUSE