Traveling over 7,000 miles from Shanghai, Kevin Berlin's exhibit Double Happiness makes its U.S. debut at the Mark Miller Gallery in the Lower East Side. Berlin's large-scale oil paintings examine "the search for happiness in the dynamic east-meets-west city of Shanghai," (from show's press release). The 45-year-old Rochester, New York-born artist spent some time in Shanghai and studied the bustling city's residents and their quest for happiness. As the artist states, "Shanghai and New York have a lot in common: We all want the same things -- love, cash, sex, status, something satisfying to eat, a friend, to live in a beautiful place, to be a part of the future... My job as an artist is really just as a witness, to simply say - this is what I saw."
Berlin's works featured in Double Happiness are divided into three groups—"Steamed Buns and Double Happiness" shows not particularly happy-looking Shanghai residents selling or consuming steamed buns; "Cigarettes and Cash" shows meticulous recreations of Chinese currency and cigarette packets; and counterfeit "Bags" shows oversized and detailed recreations of the fake designer handbags that used to sell like hot cakes (or maybe steamed buns) in the markets of Shanghai. Berlin's canvases depicting people are composed in hazy, dreamlike black-and-white, while his paintings of money, handbags, belts, and cigarette packaging are colorful, vibrant, and life-like. His various takes on the packaging of Peony and Panda brand cigarettes are so vivid and appealing, they almost make me want to take up smoking again! Berlin's descriptive, narrative paintings illustrate the constant consumerism and consumption of a city where people seem to believe that happiness can be bought. Learn more at Markmillergallery.com and at the aritst's website Kevinberlin.com. Through December 15th.
Peony, 2009
Steamed Buns #2, 2009
Plada In Red, 2009 (top) - Bottom row, left to right: Da Qian Men (3 Cigarettes), Da Qian Men (Closed), Da Qian Men (Open), all 2010
East Meets West, 2009
Lesser Panda (left), 2009, Double Happiness (right), 2009
Panda (One), 2010, Panda (Two), 2010
Peony (Study), 2010, Peony Cigaretts, 2010
Clockwise from top right: Guccinissimi, J'Adore, It Bag, Not A Prada, 2009
Steamed Buns, 2009
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