118 // NEW BEGINNINGS
Freshly relocated to Little Haiti, the Emerson Dorsch gallery wows this month with eye-catching new paintings by Elisabeth Condon.
FRESHLY RELOCATED FROM WYNWOOD TO LITTLE HAITI, THE EMERSON DORSCH GALLERY WOWS THIS MONTH WITH EYE-CATCHING NEW PAINTINGS BY ELISABETH CONDON.
“It’s weird to be shocked by a flower or a bird, but it works!” laughs gallerist Tyler Emersondorsch. The shock she’s referring to is bound to be a common reaction to the latest series of paintings by Elisabeth Condon, which will be shown in a new exhibition called “Unnatural Life” at the gallery Emerson Dorsch.
Over the past decade, Condon has garnered a devoted following for her sprawling abstract canvases, but suddenly (and surprisingly) figuration has emerged in her work—a small bird or a patch of beguiling flora amidst her usual otherworldliness.
“She is completely committed to the art of painting, to the very materiality of paint itself,” says Emerson-dorsch. “There’s something a little familiar there to an art historian, something I can immediately grab on to. Yet she’s always pushing her own boundaries to go into new territory.”
Condon’s new work is both familiar and wonderfully different—a tag that could apply just as well to Emerson-dorsch’s gallery, which she and her partner (and husband), Brook Dorsch, recently moved from Wynwood to Little Haiti.
They remain devoted to a roster of primarily Miami-based artists—including sculptors Robert Thiele and Frances Trombly and painters Jenny Brillhart and Mette Tommerup—but their neighbors are definitely new: an artfocused bookstore launched by Exile Books’ Amanda Keeley and a letterpress print shop run by artist Tom Virgin, as well as Panther Coffee and Clive’s Cafe. Says Emerson-dorsch, “It’s going to be a little hub.” “Unnatural Life” opens February 11 at Emerson Dorsch, 5900 NW Second Ave., Miami, 305-5761278; emersondorsch.com.