Interviews by Brainard Carey

• Elias Mung’ora

  At first glance, Mung'ora's work offers glimpses into everyday life in Nairobi, capturing moments ranging from bustling cityscapes to intimate portraits.Yet, upon deeper reflection, Mung'ora's canvases reveal a profound commentary on the fragmentation of urban landscapes, where physical and socialboundaries delineate diverse experiences from street to street. Through meticulously layered compositions, Mung'ora intertwines historical referenceswith modern-day scenes, highlighting the enduring imprints of past lives while emphasizing the disparities inherent in Nairobi's evolving environments. Mung’ora is a member of Brush Tu, a Nairobi-based artists’ collective, and has exhibited widely including: A Tapestry of Contemporary Africa, MoCaL.I., New York (2024); Common Ground, NCAI, Nairobi (2023); African Identities, AKKA Project, Venice (2022); Walking the Edge, Afriart Gallery,Kampala (2022); 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair, New York (2022); Fragments, Antoine Dupin, Rennes (2022); A Gathering of Small Fires, MontagueContemporary, New York (2021); Sacrifice Pasture, One Off Gallery, Nairobi (2021); Kikulacho, British Institute in East Africa, Nairobi (2018);Remains, Waste & Metonymy II, British Institute in East Africa, Nairobi (2017); Stranger Times, Circle Art Gallery, Nariobi (2017), among others. He was the winner of the 2016 Manjano Art Prize in Nairobi, a finalist in the 2018 edition of the Barclays L’Atelier competition, and a finalist in the 2020EPI competition.His works form part of many notable collections, including the I&M Bank Collection, MFA Boston (promised), New Orleans Museum of Art (promised),Rodney Miller Collection, Nicolas Jay Collection, Rift Collection, Sir John Rose Collection, among others. His work been featured in the Artnet, Art inAfrica, the New York Times, and the Nation, among others. Installation, ‘Song of Lawino,’ a solo exhibition by Kenyan artist Elias Mung’ora held at Indiana State University's Yang Gallery Installation, ‘Song of Lawino,’ a solo exhibition by Kenyan artist Elias Mung’ora held at Indiana State University's Yang Gallery Unplanned Move 2 2024 Mixed Media on Canvas 71 x 71 in Self Portrait 2024 Signed and Dated on Front Mixed Media on Canvas 71 x 71 in

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• Graham Marks

  Graham Marks produces exuberant, coil-built ceramics adorned with vibrant glazes, which combine functionalism with visual delight. Of late, Marks has embraced loose, sinuous forms from which coils of clay spill in dynamic and improvisatory compositions. His candelabras and flower vases contain a wild energy all their own, full of brash, linear abandon. In their merging of pattern and embellishment, they recall the intricate crafts of eighteenth-century France, bringing rococo flourishes to the timeless theme of utilitarian vessels. Marks taught ceramics at Kansas State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he was Head of Ceramics from 1986 to 1992. His work has been exhibited internationally and collected privately; it is held by numerous public institutions including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Yale University Art Gallery, Detroit Institute of Art, the Everson Museum, the Museum of Art and Design, the Cranbrook Museum of Art, the Stedelijk Museum, the Hermitage Museum, and the National Gallery of Australia. From 1992 to 1995, he studied acupuncture with J.R. Worsley, establishing a private practice which ran successfully for two and a half decades. In 2020, Marks returned to ceramics. He splits his time between Brooklyn and Alfred, NY. Graham Marks, Collection of Candelabras, 2023–24. Glazed stoneware, thrown, coiled, and pinched. Dimensions vary. Courtesy of Hostler Burrows. Photo by Joe Kramm Graham Marks, Pair of Candelabras, 2024. Glazed stoneware, thrown, coiled, and pinched. Dimensions vary. Courtesy of Hostler Burrows. Photo by Joe Kramm Graham Marks, Collection of Malinalco Candelabras, 2023. Glazed stoneware, thrown, coiled, and pinched. Dimensions vary. Courtesy of Hostler Burrows. Photo by Joe Kramm

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• Adam Erlbaum

  Adam Erlbaum received a BA in Mathematics from The Colorado College in 2002.  He has attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the University of the Arts, and the MFA program at the Vermont College of the Fine Arts. Erlbaum has exhibited in Philadelphia, Aspen, South Carolina, and St. Louis.  He paints at The Mill Studios in Philadelphia. Adam Erlbaum "Yellow Alleys," 2024 Oil on canvas. 24 × 30 × 2 1/2 in. Adam Erlbaum "Blue Break Vertical," 2024 Oil on canvas. 30 × 24 × 2 1/2 in. Adam Erlbaum "Yellow Over Blue," 2024 Oil on canvas. 30 × 24 × 2 1/2 in.

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• Emil Lukas

  Emil Lukas Infinite Edge 6 February – 15 March 2025 New York, NY – 9 January 2025: Sperone Westwater is pleased to present new work by Emil Lukas. His fifth solo exhibition at the gallery is comprised of paintings and works on paper utilizing materials which have characterized his practice: thread, acrylic, ink and larvae. Lukas’ circular thread paintings, Fuse and In Wave (each 60 inches in diameter) combine an actively painted reflector behind an accumulation of thread. The artist’s new series of lattice paintings, including Glass in Moving Water, explores what happens when we process two complementary paintings at the same time. The artist creates an underpainting on the canvas, then layers a second composition on a raised pattern of dots. The combined acrylic-on-canvas works engage the viewers’ position and distance in the surrounding architecture of the gallery. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1964, Emil Lukas has exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. Solo museum shows include “Emil Lukas: Connection to the Curious,” The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT (2005); “Emil Lukas,” The Weatherspoon Museum, Greensboro, NC (2005); “Things with Wings,” The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA (2005); “Moderate Climate and the Bitter Bison,” Hunterdon Museum, Hunterdon, NJ (2008); “Emil Lukas,” Morris Gallery at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia (2016); “Emil Lukas: Entre dos líneas tenues,” Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Atchugarry, Uruguay (2023) and “Emil Lukas: Four Modes,” Lafayette College Art Galleries, Easton, PA (2023). Emil Lukas, In Wave, 2024, thread over wood, plaster, aluminum frame with paint and nails, 60 x 60 x 6 inches (152,4 x 152,4 x 15,2 cm) Emil Lukas, 4.24 Light Years, 2024, ink on glass and paper with graphite and charcoal in painted frame, 15 x 12 x 2 inches (38,1 x 30,5 x 5,1 cm) Emil Lukas, Dendrite, 2025, acrylic on canvas over wood panel, 55 x 79 x 3 inches (139,7 x 200,7 x 7,6 cm)

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• Stephanie H. Shih

  Stephanie H. Shih in the studio, Brooklyn, NY, 2025. Photo: Robert Bredvad Stephanie H. Shih (b. 1986, Philadelphia, PA) renders outdated consumer goods as trompe l’oeil sculptures that reveal the tensions within American domestic life. Turning everyday items—a Thighmaster, a self-help book, many pantries’ worth of condiments—into intricately painted ceramic objects transforms each into a permanent artifact. Seen together, the works play with notions of timelessness and obsolescence, nostalgia and disillusionment. Shih has exhibited work at James Cohan, New York, NY; Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, CA; Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Alexander Berggruen, New York, NY; Cantor Arts Center, Stanford, CA; Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA; Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA; Bradbury Art Museum, Jonesboro, AR; and the American Museum of Ceramic Arts, Pomona, CA. The artist has also been the recipient of numerous awards and residencies including the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, New York, NY; residency at The Corporation of Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY as well as many others. Community work is central to Shih’s practice, and since 2017, she has used her art and platform to raise over half a million dollars in direct aid for victims of state violence. Want to help? Click here. She is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Works from Stephanie H. Shih’s solo show Domestic Bliss (January 22-February 26, 2025) at Alexander Berggruen, New York. All works: 2023-2024, ceramic. Copyright the artist. Courtesy of the artist and Alexander Berggruen, NY. Photo: Robert Bredvad Stephanie H. Shih Filet-O-Fish, 2023 ceramic 5 1/2 x 5 x 5 1/2 in. (14 x 12.7 x 14 cm.) Copyright the artist. Courtesy of the artist and Alexander Berggruen, NY. Photo: Robert Bredvad.  Included in Stephanie H. Shih: Domestic Bliss (January 22-February 26, 2025) at Alexander Berggruen, NY. Stephanie H. Shih Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, 2024 ceramic 7 x 4 1/2 x 1 1/2 in. (17.8 x 11.4 x 3.8 cm.) Copyright the artist. Courtesy of the artist and Alexander Berggruen, NY. Photo: Robert Bredvad.  Included in Stephanie H. Shih: Domestic Bliss (January 22-February 26, 2025) at Alexander Berggruen, NY.

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