HEROES
September 12 - December 05
ZAROLAT is proud to present HEROES; the 12th curation of the gallery, now open in DUMBO Design District. Curated by ZAROLAT founder Zeynep Arolat, the group exhibition brings together 12 artists and designers from the gallery’s international community, presenting one-of-a-kind and limited edition works of furniture, lighting, sculpture, objects, and artworks, exploring the ways we create, celebrate and influence.
HEROES takes its cue from Don Perlis’ painting Epstein Dreaming of his Heroes, which marks the artist’s first presentation at the gallery. The show considers ‘the hero’ not simply as a figure of admiration, but as a reflection of the values, ambitions, and contradictions of the world that creates them. In today’s world, who do we call heroes?
HEROES embraces this tension by challenging ideas of power and identity, while looking toward art and design as a form of agency — where the act of creating becomes a way to question, resist, and ultimately push back against structures of power. “In a world increasingly shaped by greed, excess, and the pursuit of control, we want to remember Nietzsche’s words, which I keep going back to: “We have art in order not to die of the truth.” For us artists, designers, and makers, to create is to imagine beyond what is given — to introduce something unexpected, to question what has been accepted, and to insist on another possibility.” says the founder and curator Zeynep Arolat. The pieces at the show become expressions of that impulse, each carrying the potential of transformation through the simple and radical act of bringing something into being.
In keeping with the gallery’s usual approach, the curation places a particular emphasis on craft and materiality, celebrating the intelligence of the hand and the boundaries of diverse materials. It also plays with the idea of power not only conceptually, but through light and bold colors that run throughout the show.
Bringing together artists and designers from different backgrounds and cultures, HEROES reflects on our distinct histories and experiences as a strength, and our responsibility as artists, to question and activate. In this sense, each work is a small refusal: a gesture against passivity, against sameness, and against a world defined solely by power and profit. To create is to resist, and within itself, a necessary act of rebellion.
FEATURING THE WORKS OF:
DON PERLIS
NATURAL URBANO
FENA STUDIO
MATT BYRD
DANIEL ARMITANO
HEIDI HUNDSETH HART
NANCY MONA RUSSELL
LEONARD URSACHI
STEFFI STRÖM
HUGO FALAISE
MICHELE SIMONETTI
LISA SACCO
ZAROLAT STUDIO
Please email gallery@zarolat.com for all press inquiries and to request a priced catalogue.