New York—Two current exhibitions presented by The Nohra Haime Gallery celebrate the work of Sophia Vari (1940-2023), the Greek artist known internationally for her polychrome paintings, collages, and sculptures. Married to the Colombian sculptor Fernando Botero, Vari died in May 2023.
Throughout her career, Vari explored color, form, and volume, interrogating the construction of space and the relationship between object and viewer. The artist cited influences ranging from Cubism, to classical Greek sculptures, to Olmec artifacts.
Sophia Vari: A Retrospective showcases a collection of sculptures, watercolor paintings, and assemblages from four decades of the artist’s career. This exhibition contains works from the 1980s, including Dryades (1985), an example of how during this decade Vari mostly limited sharp angles and colors, concentrating on fluid and organic lines. The exhibition shows how she then began implementing distinct angled curving lines and later including color, adding another dimension to her works. Temps Suspendu (1999), for example, demonstrates her consideration of the harmony between the flat and voluminous.
Presented in collaboration with The Sculpture Committee of The Fund for Park Avenue and the NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program, Sophia Vari: A Tribute, Twelve Monumental Sculptures displays twelve monumental bronze sculptures on Park Avenue between 54th and 62nd Streets. These have previously been shown in public art exhibitions around the world, including in Paris, Rome, Montecarlo, Pietrasanta, Madrid, Athens, Cartagena, Baden-Baden, Geneva, Beijing, and London.
Born in 1940 in the small Greek village Vari, from where the artist took her name, Sophia Vari trained at the Heathfield School in London and then the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Following her first exhibition in London in 1969, she showed her work in museums, galleries, and public art installations around the world, including at The Ludwig Museum, Kombletz; the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence; the Palazzo Bricherassio, Torino; and the Pera Museum, Istanbul. Her work is represented in public collections around the world, including: National Museum and Alexandros Soultzos Museum, Athens; National Pinacotheca, Athens, Museum of Modern Art, Andros, Greece; Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon; Fundación Botero, Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, Bogota; Museo de Medellín, Medellin, Colombia; Museo de Ponce, Puerto Rico; museum Beelden aan Zee, The Hague; Benaki Museum.
Exhibition details for Sophia Vari: A Retrospective
Location: The Nohra Haime Gallery, 500A West 21st Street New York
Reception: Thursday September 7, 6-8pm.
Dates: August 7 – September 30, 2023.
Opening hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10am-6pm. Monday by appointment.
More information: https://www.nohrahaimegallery.com/sophia-vari-a-retrospective-2023.html.
Exhibition details for Sophia Vari: A Tribute, Twelve Monumental Sculptures
Location: Park Avenue, between 53rd and 62nd Street
Dates: May 20th to November 5th, 2023
More information: https://www.nohrahaimegallery.com/sofia-vari-on-park-avenue-2023.html.
About The Nohra Haime Gallery
The Nohra Haime Gallery opened in New York City in 1981. Since its inception the gallery exhibits an eclectic variety of contemporary American and International paintings, sculptures, works on paper and photography. The gallery is devoted to promoting the work of unique artists who are not part of movements or trends, but who have a voice of their own. Work by contemporary and modern masters is also available. The gallery has been a member of the Art Dealers Association of America since 1990. See more at https://www.nohrahaimegallery.com.
