The Grenning Gallery is pleased to announce the second annual Solo Show for Darius Yektai, opening June 5th, at 26 Main Street, and on view through Father’s Day, June 20th.
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Darius Yektai (b. 1973) Southampton, New York) is an East End of Long Island painter with aboriginal roots in the Abstract Expressionist movement out here. Although at first glance, Yektai may seem like an outlier at the Grenning Gallery, he is exactly what we’ve been looking for: a bridge between our classically trained artists to the realm of dignified contemporary abstraction.
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Interestingly, Yektai has a degree in Art History, not painting. Unfettered by the constraints that years of traditional training may do to yoke an artist’s expression, Yektai is free to explore his subject matter and experiment with his materials. Every series is its own investigation and Yektai has demonstrated that he is both sincere in his inquiry and also unafraid of failure. His passion to understand great artworks from the past and integrate them into a contemporary visual language has landed Yektai on a curious and brave path which has, luckily, intersected with the Grenning Gallery.
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Ignited by Yektai’s own painting “Water Lilies: After Monet” 2013 -2018, this show demonstrates an artist in his prime, diving deep into a subject matter, and painting a rich and broad series. In the Persian Lilies group, we see an exciting coagulation of his many influences. Yektai’s personal heritage (his father was a Persian painter and poet) is mixing it up with his exposure to art history and the result is a painting with jewel like colors woven together, recalling the spirit of a magical carpet. The boldness of the color is matched by the supersized scale, as this sealed diptych reaches 10 feet up the wall. In order to see it in person, one will have to make an appointment to visit his studio here in Sag Harbor, which can be done by calling the Grenning Gallery at 631-725-8469.
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