FACE TO FACE
February 28-March 23, 2024
The Journey, Gouache on paper, 24 x 24 inches
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 29th, 6–8pm
FIRST STREET GALLERY is pleased to present “Face to Face,” a solo exhibition of oil, acrylic, and gouache paintings and graphite drawings by Michele Liebler. Featuring a series of work inspired by intimate observations of her two young adult children, husband, and others in her Brooklyn home during a global pandemic, the exhibition captures the range of emotions reticent in self-isolation.
Using bright and energetic colors, Liebler ironically draws out the anxiety of living in a self-enclosed space fraught with familiarity, seizing moments of melancholy, boredom, apprehensiveness, vulnerability, and warmth to evoke the unfamiliarity of a world once deemed ‘normal.’ Still lifes of shoes are given new purpose and vibrancy and portraits act as looking-glasses into the effects of self-isolation upon the bodies and souls of those coming of age.
Writer and art critic Farah Abdessamad writes, ‘These images sharply contrast with those of fleeing gazes, more oblique, melancholic, and subdued, in which the mother’s concern and care bleeds into the artist’s curiosity and studies. There, the artist lifts off a veil and almost intrudes. We discern an intention to capture authenticity in the sobriety of Liebler’s composition. Vivid backgrounds of generous blue, mauve and crimson draw us to the chromatic aura of her children and their feelings.’ Link to read full essay here.
Michele Liebler received her BFA from Purchase College and her MFA from Brooklyn College. She also studied at the National Academy Museum and School and in Europe. She has exhibited extensively on the east coast in solo and group exhibitions in such galleries and museums such as First Street Gallery, NYC; The Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY; Arnot Art Museum, Elmira NY; College of Notre Dame, Baltimore, MD; University of Pittsburgh, PA; National Academy Museum, NYC; The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown; OH. She has been invited to participate in over 40 group exhibitions and 15 solo exhibitions; this is a partial list. Liebler’s work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Star Ledger, and The Villager. She was interviewed on CNN and in the LINEA: Art Journal. Liebler’s work has been acquired in many private and public collections both in the U.S. and abroad. She has received numerous awards for her paintings including The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, the CUNY Graduate Investment Research Grant, Horlick Award for Painting, Ralph Weiler Prize, The Stefan Hirsch Award, The Edward Mooney Traveling Scholarship, The Arnot Art Museum Award for Painting, and The Charles L. Tenenbaum Award.
“Face to Face” will be on view at First Street Gallery from February 28-March 23, 2024. A public opening reception, honoring Women’s History Month, will be held on February 29, 2024 from 6–8 pm, and the artist will be in attendance.
For more information, please contact First Street Gallery
Wednesday–Saturday from 11am-6pm at info@firststreetgallery.org
Click here to see work by Michele Liebler or visit www.micheleliebler.com
