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Claudia DeMonte’s exhibition, Hidden
Paradise, a series of small, intimate paintings on paper that
explore women as memory keepers and cultural narrators, will open at
the June Kelly Gallery, 166 Mercer Street, on May 15. The opening is
Thursday, 21 May 2026, 5 pm-7 pm. The gallery is open Tuesday
through Saturday, 11 am to 6 pm. The works on paper will be on
view through June 23.
DeMonte, a person of great imagination with a
vision that enables her to see what is possible, however often
improbable, and whose art, according to the late Tom Sokolowski,
former director of the Andy Warhol Museum, “has always found fertile
soil in a woman’s recall of the moments witnessed and in questions
of women’s identity.”
In each painting titled Hidden Paradise,
Demonte offers a vibrant depiction of nature's richness, featuring
spirited small nude figures that symbolize both the artist and all
women. This marks a departure from the stereotypical feminism
often associated with her renowned sculptures, which have focused on
women throughout her nearly forty-year career. The partially
concealed figures playfully become integral to the human form,
sometimes incorporating heads with the artist’s signature ponytail.
Through these elements, Demonte weaves autobiographical narratives
that capture moments of joy, reflecting the same vibrancy as her
portrayal of nature's bounty.
For more than four decades, DeMonte, who has
traveled to over 100 countries, has been intensely engaged with
self, culture, and humanity, fascinated by women’s roles globally,
and repeatedly addressed her chosen themes across a wide array of
media. With “the sense of a vibrant, concerned, empathetic
soul in them all,” she had become increasingly aware of the way that
objects act as surrogates for important issues in women’s lives.
Both playful and intriguing, the colorful
shapes and undulating forms reflect DeMonte’s incessant curiosity
about people and cultures, and her own joyful appreciation as she
travels to the world’s stunning landscapes, from the famous gardens
of Kashmir to the home of Roberto Burle Marx on the outskirts of Rio
de Janeiro.
Feminist and quirky, her paintings on paper
prove that charm and meekness can go a long way toward inspiring
people to muse. DeMonte lives and works in New York and Miami
Beach, FL. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of
Notre Dame of Maryland in Baltimore and an MFA from the Catholic
University of America in Washington, DC. DeMonte’s work has
been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions both
nationally and internationally. Her work is part of many
public and private collections, including the Brooklyn Museum, New
York; Bass Museum, Miami, FL; Flint Institute of Arts, MI; Hood
Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; Mississippi Museum of
Art, Jackson, MS; Lowe Museum, Miami Beach, FL; New Orleans Museum
of Art, LA; Indianapolis Museum of Art; University of Maryland,
College Park; Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA;
Portland Museum of Art, ME; Contemporary Art Museum, Villa Rufolo,
Ravello, Italy; Warsaw Museum of Modern Art, Poland; and University
of Oldenburg, Germany.
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