UNIX Gallery is excited to again be participating in Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, presented by Art Miami, to be held from January 11 - 15, 2018 at 825 S. Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach. Works by Peter Anton, Ellen de Meijer, Desire Obtain Cherish, Yibai Liao, C. Michael Norton, KwangHo Shin and Llewellyn Xavier will be on view at the gallery's booth.
Best known for his series of oversized boxes chocolates and ice cream bars, Peter Anton puts an emphasis on confectionery products. Anton’s artistic style employs humor, scale, irony, and intensity to transform ordinary, common foods into pleasing and often seductive objects of desire. Moreover, the devil is in the details: Peter works different materials including wood, wax, wire, clay, fiberglass, acrylic, ceramic, and resins to make his work as luscious and realistic as possible.
William Bradley’s work begins with abstract gestural watercolors, which are then manipulated into a calculated arrangement. These resolved designs are then repainted in oil on canvas. His work can be described as “abstract art about abstract art” with an underlying concept that explores the communicative disconnect between artist and viewer that is specific to the pure abstract language. Bradley constructs a language of references or quotes from mostly Abstract Expressionists including Motherwell, Still, Gottlieb, De Kooning, while maintaining his own distinctive approach.
Extending a new body of work that features large-scale paintings and photography — a significant departure for the object-oriented artist — Los Angeles based artist Desire Obtain Cherish challenges the decision-making process humans undergo while chasing the elusive state of happiness. Whether happiness is understood through finances, beauty, sex, or intelligence, Desire Obtain Cherish, is fascinated with the pursuit and decisions involved in such a journey.
Ellen de Meijer’s paintings tend to give the viewer a unique feeling of sympathetic tension and pathos, simultaneously. Her portraits show figures of successful repute, yet vulnerable with empty gazes. Ellen de Meijer’s figures are armed with digital gadgets such as Google Glasses or iPhones, which refer to our zeitgeist of access to information and power. This proliferation of technology becomes a point of dependency while our human instincts docilely move to the background.
Yibai Liao creates hand-welded stainless steel sculptures that continuously question today’s skewed concept of value by depicting China’s rags-to-riches story of material obsession. The oversized ostentatious sculptures of watches, rings, handbags, and high heel shoes confront the multitudes of popular brands and logos and their overwhelming presence in today’s society. The artist’s works illustrate the challenges he faced during childhood ­ and his paralleled fascination with American culture. The work examines this increasing obsession with opulence and luxury goods while discrediting and glorifying it simultaneously.
C. Michael Norton’s paintings thrive on a balance between vibrancy and neutrality; between the organic and the geometric. The works begin as bare linen canvas taped to the floor to collect random markings picked up from works in progress. Relying then upon his intuitive reactions to what has been collected, Norton masterfully utilizes a number of methods of paint application to create energetic and surprising compositions.
Korean artist KwangHo Shin employs intense and vibrant colors to depict the individualistic expression of emotion and a sense of self. He applies charcoal and oils in thick brushstrokes to distort and exaggerate the subject’s facial features. His technique confronts the viewer with an emotional impact, affecting our understanding of the human form. Whether it is the external pose of the subject, unique color combinations, or abstraction or layered texture, Shin is able to document the psychological changes and clashes that arise in us all.
Christian Voigt is a German photographer, known for his impressive images created using large-format cameras. Voigt has photographed great libraries, museums, landscapes and temples. Through his lens, Voigt captured mankind’s extraordinary buildings and architecture. The artist offers an illuminated tenor, delivering with his photography an inescapable sense of history and verve.
Renowned for using brilliant colors to reflect the light and life of the Caribbean, Llewellyn Xavier’s art serves a multiplicity of functions; philosophical as well as aesthetic. Drawing inspiration from contemporaries of American Abstract Expressionism, Xavier’s bold daring vision and grandiose gestures manifest in a boundless energy of sheer force of purpose and power. His artwork is free of restrain, creating a pure vision that is both relevant and immediate.

mpefm USA fair art press release