W.E.S.T. #83 Court Lurie Solo Exhibition "Intersection"

Artist Court Lurie—whose solo exhibition entitled "Intersection" closes Sunday after participating in the West Austin Studio Tour—will tonight offer a free yoga class with artist talk in the gallery at Lytle Pressley Contemporary. The artist's yoga practice has greatly influenced her work and aims to share that experience and perspective with the public. The exhibition is comprised of a new series of large, powerful abstract paintings, and original photography.

The public is invited for gentle yoga followed by an artist talk, OR they may come for the talk at 8:30 and bypass the yoga. There will be three segments of yoga, all beginner friendly, shared by three different amazing instructors, so you can join in at any point. Participants should feel free to join the activities or just come look at art at any point between 7:00 and 9:00 pm. 

The yoga Instructors will be Lance Westendarp, Catherine Luna, and Shilpa Bakre

Lurie’s bold and colorful geometry, whimsical gestural pencil work, and color fields rich in texture and depth suffuse each canvas with intuitive, experimental mark making, and intentional, carefully crafted imagery. Lurie says, “This complex, ongoing conversation between medium, composition, and color, transforms into unpredictable, raw meditations on letting go.” 

 

Court Lurie is a contemporary abstract painter and photographer from Chicago, now based in Austin, Texas. She has been exhibiting nationally for over fifteen years and has lived in Savannah, Georgia, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Kfar Hanasi, Israel, San Francisco, Europe and the Middle East. 

 

The exhibition runs through - May 20 and is an official stop on the West Austin Studio Tour (May 19 & 20) at #83.

About Court Lurie

Court Lurie comes from Chicago, and now resides in Austin, Texas. She has been exhibiting nationally for over 15 years. She is a full time, professional artist who has enjoyed consistent success in her burgeoning career. Her work has been featured in many design and lifestyle magazines, on television, and in several industry publications. She has been commissioned for many public and private installations, and has shown in galleries and museums around the country. Her work exhibits a sophisticated, refined aesthetic, yet is raw and powerful in its intensity and energy. She generates and manipulates a beautiful tension where chaos meets control, and her compositions contain both spontaneous bursts, as well as intentional balance. This dialogue creates a unique visual language. 

Having served on an advisory committee at Art Alliance Austin, been the Program Manager for the Albuquerque Art Alliance, and been the education and volunteer coordinator for a prestigious non-profit arts organization in New Mexico, she has spearheaded collaborations with other artists, organizations, and community government for the past two decades, to advance support and dialogue around issues regarding arts and culture. Now in its third year, she created a collaborative yearly open studio event, Springboard, with Big Medium and Pump Project, and continues to spearhead the production efforts. She is genuinely invested in making art accessible. She draws on her experience as a leader and a passionate arbiter of change to facilitate effective communication between diverse groups of people and organizations. She mentors young artists, has interns and apprentices that work directly with her in her studio, volunteers in many capacities within the arts and health care communities, and is committed to sharing her experience, knowledge and gifts with others.

Her recent abstract body of work evolved from whimsical, surreal, collage pieces that were responses to the world around her. In her twenties, she worked in environmental and social justice realms. During this stage of her development, her visual art grew from a place of story telling, to communicate provocative ideology that carried messages of reconciliation, hope, responsibility, spiritual exploration, and personal evolution.

After years of personal and spiritual growth, her work transformed into unpredictable raw meditations on letting go. The emphasis grew more towards trusting the unfolding of paint on surface. More attention was assigned to “how” she interacted with the materials, rather than on the strategic placement of line and form. Therefore, the imagery changed drastically from carefully planned and crafted reflections of inner dialogue, to free and open abstract pieces with infinite depth and detail.

Guided by intuition, she moves deliberately and experiences each new transition as an unfoldment of the sacred in her life. Her work is born from this place. She works from a place of trusting that which we so often doubt, the ubiquitous presence that is alive and woven in all of life. Her intention is to respond to this presence, creating form from the formless realm.