"SELECTED WORKS" - 522 W 19th Street, New York

SLAG&RX New York is pleased to invite you to view Selected Works, an exhibition featuring Tamara Kostianovsky in the first gallery room, alongside works by Chaz Guest, Edyta Hul, Hermann Nitsch, Sergiu Toma, Dan Voinea, Christopher Yockey, and Dumitru Gorzo presented in the second room and the patio.

About Tamara Kostianovsky

Tamara Kostianovsky (b. 1974) is an Argentinian-American artist based in New York whose work explores themes related to the environment, violence, and consumer society, using discarded clothing to create visceral yet delicate installations and sculptures. Through alternating softness and aggression, her work identifies the nuances of violence that exist between a personal encounter and its normalization on a social and ecological level, hinting at the culture's all-too-comfortable intimacy with violence toward all living species. 

Kostianovsky's "carcasses," represent on what the artist calls a "botanical revolution of the flesh." These works serve as a personal reinterpretation, where clothing acts as a second skin, negotiating the dualities of horror and beauty, vitality and mortality, and highlighting the complex terrain of embodied experience. The integration of carnal imagery and waste culture informs her artistic voice, where analogies between slaughtered animals and violence toward the female body emerge poignantly. Through the repurposing of her own wardrobe, she expands the legacy of feminist artists who incorporated bodily narratives into their work, while engaging critically with factors of gender-based violence and the climate crisis. 

Tamara Kostianovsky received her BFA from the Prilidiano Pueyrredón National School of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, US. 

Her work has been exhibited at institutions such as the Royal Academy, London, UK; Brooklyn Museum, NY; Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris, FR; Cheekwood Museum, TN; the Baker Museum, FL; the Denver Botanic Gardens, CO; Smack Mellon, NY; the Fuller Craft Museum, MA; Ogden Contemporary Arts, UT; UMOCA, UT; El Museo del Barrio, NY; The Jewish Museum, NY; The Nevada Museum of Art, NV; The Musée du Textile et de la Mode, FR; The Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff, Alberta, CA; Newport Art Museum, RI; Kunsthalle Trier, DE; Les Franciscaines Art Center, FR; the Staten Island Museum of Art, NY, among others.

Kostianovsky is the recipient of distinguished awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the Virginia A. Groot Foundation, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, and the Puffin Foundation. Selected residencies include Yaddo, L'AiR Arts, Wave Hill Gardens, LMCC, Socrates Sculpture Park, and Franconia Sculpture Park.

Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Art in America, The Boston Globe, WBUR, The Village Voice, Marie Claire, La Repubblica, El Diario New York, Colossal, Hyperallergic, Connaissance des Arts, Le Quotidien de L'Art, and numerous other international publications. Kostianovsky currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY

Currently, Kostianovsky is exhibiting her works at the Chicago Architectural Biennial, IL; and at the 21C Museum in Cincinnati, OH. 

Upcoming, Kostinaovky's work will be exhibited the Mauritshuis Museum, Hague, NL (2026), Fondazione MDG II Palazzo Valier, Venice, IT (2026), the Brandywine Art Museum, PA (2026), ArtYard, NJ; (2026); and the Musée des Confluences in Lyon, FR (2026).

About Chaz Guest

Chaz Guest (b. 1961, Niagara Falls, NY) is an important figure in contemporary art, lauded for his exploration of cultural narratives and identity through an expansive visual language. He holds degrees from Southern Connecticut State University and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), New York, NY, which serve as a foundation for his multifaceted approach to artistic expression.

Guest's oeuvre has been presented in a multitude of exhibitions, including notable venues such as Les Molières Palais Royal, Paris, FR; Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD), San Francisco, CA; and Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA. His works can be found in significant public and private collections, including the Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, KS; and the Zuzeum Art Centre, Riga, LV, reflecting the profound impact of his artistic voice. In 2024, Guest was invited to demonstrate his figurative painting technique inspired by Japanese indigo dyeing at Atelier Jolie in New York.

His art has received commendations in prominent publications such as The Guardian, The New York Times, National Portrait Gallery, and Los Angeles Magazine, attesting to its resonance within the broader cultural discourse.

Residing and working in Los Angeles, CA, he operates from a studio affectionately dubbed "the cave," a site of creative alchemy where he meticulously creates his works. In an era where art serves as a pivotal lens through which to examine societal dynamics, Chaz Guest stands as a vital voice, weaving together personal and collective histories into a compelling tapestry of visual storytelling. 

Upcoming, Guest will present his work recently completed during his residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in an exhibition at the Fondation Florence, as well as a solo exhibition at RX&SLAG Paris.

About Hermann Nitsch

Hermann Nitsch (b. 1938, Vienna AT; d. 2022, Mistelbach, AT) was a seminal figure in contemporary art, and recognized as a founder of Wiener Aktionismus (Viennese Actionism). 

During his academic training, Nitsch took a particular interest in Expressionism and religious art. Recognized worldwide as the master of Austrian performance art, he created a total art of boundless sensuality—Dionysian and demonic. His commanding mastery of all artistic genres (visual art, theater, music...) highlights spiritual, philosophical, aesthetic, and social value systems, forming the foundation of his monumental body of work.

Nitsch's oeuvre has been presented in major exhibitions and prestigious institutions worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, FR; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, SE; Leopold Museum, Vienna, AT; Albertina Museum, Vienna, AT; and Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, ES. In January 2025, the Centre Pompidou acquired three large-scale paintings and fifteen drawings, further cementing his international recognition. 

His work is also held in the permanent collections of numerous leading institutions around the world, including the MoMA, New York, NY; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Tate Modern, London, UK; Museo Hermann Nitsch, Naples, IT; Museo Capodimonte, Naples, IT; Nationalgalerie, Berlin, DE; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, DE; Kunstmuseum, Bern, CH; and Leopold Museum, Vienna, AT. His legacy is further preserved through dedicated institutions such as the Hermann Nitsch Museum in Mistelbach (est. 2007), the Museo Archivio Laboratorio per le Arti Contemporanee Hermann Nitsch in Naples (est. 2008), and the Nitsch Foundation in Vienna (est. 2009). The Estate of Hermann Nitsch is represented by Pace Gallery.

Upcoming, a large-scale retrospective will be dedicated to Nitsch at the Belvedere Museum, Vienna, followed by a solo exhibition and Aktion performance at the Antoni Tàpies Foundation in Barcelona. 

About Edyta Hul

Edyta Hul (b. 1986, Dobre Miasto, PL) is a Warsaw-based visual artist, celebrated for her innovative approach to oil and enamel on canvas. A distinguished alumna of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk, Poland (2012), Edyta has made a significant impact in the art world both domestically and internationally. Her exhibitions span across Poland, Italy, Germany, Hungary, and Denmark, showcasing her unique multi-layered paintings that serve as personal and intimate reflections of her life experiences.

In 2023, Edyta achieved a prestigious milestone, winning the Grand Prix at the 46th Biennale of Painting, Bielska Jesien, PL. Her artistic journey includes notable residencies such as the Artist in Residence program Q21 at Museums Quartier, Vienna, AT (2019); and the Pienków Artist Residency, PL (2018). Edyta's contributions to the arts have been recognized with scholarships from Poland's Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (2020). Among her recent achievements is a solo exhibition at the Zacheta National Gallery, Warsaw, PL.

About Dan Voinea

Dan Voinea (b. 1970, in Brasov, RO) is a Romanian painter living and working in Craiova, known for psychologically charged figurative works. His dreamlike paintings exhibit the past and present in works that are at times alienating, at times disorienting, and at times foreboding but always powerfully rendered; the result is a body of work that is both ominous and nostalgic. Voinea blends traditional and contemporary practices in his emotional pieces—building scenes by staging live models, taking pictures of various of their moves and interactions, then painting using an old master's technique. At a first glance there is an eerie tone underpinning these works, yet the longer one's gaze lingers on these ambiguous surfaces, mysterious depths and bold perspectives herald a life-affirming uplift.

Voinea graduated from the National University of Arts in Bucharest, RO, with a Bachelor in Arts in Painting. He has exhibited widely at major institutions, including the National Museum of Art, Timisoara, RO; the Brukenthal Museum, Sibiu, RO; the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO; Les Cordeliers, Romans-sur-Isère, FR; and S.A.N., Sénart, FR. Most recently, Voinea presented his solo exhibition, Between Seconds: A Choreography of a Fall, at Borderline art Space in Iasi, RO. 

About Sergiu Toma

Sergiu Toma (b. 1987, Baia-Mare, RO) is an artist working and residing in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, known for his oil paintings rendered in a representational visual language, marked by an investigation of the medium of painting an sich. Toma is inspired by theatricality, renaissance and baroque – to name a few – which is reflected in his dynamic imagery, playful approach towards light and shadow or his quest for paintings' mysterious qualities. Dream-like scenes and everyday life find their way to the canvas in Toma's studio, balancing between fiction and reality, everyday life and fantasy, memory and oblivion.

Having studied at the Accademia Albertina delle Belle Arte in Torino, Italy, and the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Sergiu Toma achieved his MA in the Department of Painting in 2011, followed by a residency at the Romanian Academy in Rome, Italy.

Toma has presented his work at Galleria Doris Ghetta in Ortisei, IT, and Galerie Fravi in Domat/Ems, CH. He participated in the group exhibitions The Wanderers: Contemporary Painting from Cluj at Taittinger Gallery in New York, NY, curated by Maria Rus Bojan and Richard Taittinger; Romanian Scene at Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton in Paris, FR; and European Travellers: Art from Cluj Today at the Mucsarnok Kunsthalle in Budapest, HU. Sergiu Toma's work is collected by national and international private collections.

About Christopher Yockey

Christopher Yockey (b. 1976, Detroit, MI) is a sculptor who currently lives and works in New York City. Yockey received his Master of Fine Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a Bachelor of Arts from Elmira College. Yockey has participated in exhibitions in Beijing, China; The Peace Tower at The Whitney Museum of Art, New York, NY; Frederick Meijer Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI; Grand Rapids Art Museum, MI; and through the New York City Parks Department. Yockey is currently an artist-in-residence with the Athena Foundation, a volunteer at Socrates Sculpture Park, and an artist assistant to Mark di Suvero.

Through his work with Mark di Suvero, Yockey has developed his practice using scrap steel and off-cuts from di Suvero's studio to construct his forms. His work emphasizes pattern, structure, and the natural irregularities inherent in hand craftsmanship. Notably, Yockey uses washers as stencils, repeating their circular shapes across the steel to build intricate patterns. Ultimately, his sculptures reflect both a larger shared history within the material and a commitment to transforming what exists into something new.

About Dumitru Gorzo
Dumitru Gorzo (b. 1975, Ieud, RO) is a Romanian artist based between Brooklyn and Bucharest. Gorzo's work defies strict categorization, moving between genres, platforms, and media. Gorzo received a BA and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Advanced Studies in Painting from the National University of Arts in Bucharest, RO, and is one of the founding members of 'Rostopasca', an influential contemporary artistic movement in Romania.

Gorzo has shown in solo exhibitions at the National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC), Bucharest, RO; The Museum of Recent Art (MARe), Bucharest, RO; the New Jersey Museum of Contemporary Art (NJ MoCA), New Jersey, NJ; the Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu, RO; and the Kunstverein Viernheim, Viernheim, DE, Borderline Art Space, Bucharest, RO; Arsmonitor Gallery, Bucharest, RO, as well as in art galleries and not-for-profit art institutions across the US and Europe. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions at prestigious art venues such as the 2001 Venice Biennale (Romanian Pavilion), Venice, IT; the Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, TR; the Marina Abramovic Institute, San Francisco, CA; Kunsthalle, Budapest, HU; MODEM, Debrecen, HU; Museum Küppersmühle, Duisburg, DE; and Boulder MoCA, Boulder, CO, among others. 

Currently, MARe/The Museum of Recent Art, Bucharest hosts Dumitru Gorzo's solo exhibition, "INWARDS/OUTWARDS", a visual and conceptual dialogue between personal and public space, between the body and the urban landscape, between material reality and subjective fiction.