HILARY PECIS AT ROCKEFELLER CENTER
Presented in partnership with Rockefeller Center at Rockefeller Center
Press Release
ROCKEFELLER CENTER & ART PRODUCTION FUND PRESENT ART IN FOCUS PUBLIC ART PRESENTATION BY PAINTER HILARY PECIS OPENING JULY 6
PECIS’ INTIMATE SCENES OF DOMESTIC SETTINGS TO BE PLACED IN JUXTAPOSITION WITH ROCKEFELLER CENTER’S ART DECO ARCHITECTURE IN MULTIPLE LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE CAMPUS
NEW YORK, NY - Rockefeller Center and Art Production Fund will continue their Art in Focus partnership with a site-specific public art presentation by Los Angeles-based painter HILARY PECIS. Presented in multiple public locations throughout the Rockefeller Center campus, Pecis’ presentation will begin on July 6, 2021.
Pecis is known for her vibrant acrylic paintings that depict the intimate spaces around her. Using vivid colors and textures, Pecis transforms her domestic settings into rich and memorable scenes that immediately captivate the viewer. Much of her influence is drawn from the light and landscape experienced in her life in New York City and Los Angeles. At Rockefeller Center, the iconic art deco architecture is juxtaposed with Pecis’ vibrant painting, creating an eye-catching visual dialogue between the two unique aesthetics.
The history of painting and still lifes are also considered in Pecis’ work. Pecis explores traditional motifs, while utilizing modern color techniques and unexpected perspectives. The combination of contemporary practices and classical art history gives each work an added dimension, simultaneously feeling both familiar and incredibly fresh and new.
The images Pecis presents in the vinyl mural spaces (located at 10 Rockefeller Plaza, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 50 Rockefeller Plaza and the street and concourse levels of 45 Rockefeller Plaza, as well as outside on Rockefeller Plaza) feature a variety of intimate still lifes including flower arrangements, various fruits, pets at home and more, as well as stunning natural landscapes featuring mountain ranges and local Los Angeles flora and fauna.
The site-specific mixed-media installations in the vitrine spaces (located in the lobby of 45 Rockefeller Plaza) combine elements of Pecis’ painting and installation work to create three unique immersive environments. Original paintings will be installed on colorful backgrounds, with fabric hand-painted by Pecis alluringly installed below. Additional painting elements will be applied to each glass window, adding dimension and drawing the viewer further into the three dimensional space.
“I am thrilled to share my work and images of my paintings, which are primarily inspired by and are interpretations of my life in Los Angeles. After a year spent mostly indoors, I’m grateful to have the opportunity to bring the intimacy of these arranged vignettes - floral arrangements, small sculpture and the various personal items that make up my still lifes into such a public venue.” - HILARY PECIS
“As you stroll through Rockefeller Center, you’ll visit with some old friends you might’ve missed, like Prometheus and Atlas, but then you’ll come across Hilary’s work that draws you into her own world and a new and exhilarating friendship is formed – this is what New York is all about.” - EB KELLY, Tishman Speyer Managing Director overseeing Rockefeller Center.
“We have been following Hilary’s career for some time and her referential and often domestic still life scenes feel deeply resonant given the last year of our lives. We can’t wait to see her vibrant work come to life across the campus.” – MICHAELLA SOLAR-MARCH, Tishman Speyer Managing Director and Global Head of Marketing
“The 2021 Art in Focus program continues with its presentation of artists who consider domestic environments in their practice. Pecis’ colorful paintings offer a contemporary interpretation of classical stilllife painting, and we look forward to transforming Rockefeller Center’s iconic spaces with Pecis’ vibrant work.” - CASEY FREMONT, Executive Director, Art Production Fund
HILARY PECIS (b. 1979, Fullerton, CA) earned a BFA and MFA from the California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA. Now living and working in Los Angeles, Pecis has become known for her acrylic paintings of interiors, still lifes, and landscapes, each imbued with the characteristic light of Southern California. Framed by an intimate perspective, Pecis constructs portraits of friends and family members through collections of personal objects or the details of a specific space. Ultimately, her paintings offer entry points for contemplation of the space we occupy and how we overlap with our surroundings. Pecis has had solo exhibition at venues including Timothy Taylor Gallery, London, UK; Spurs Gallery, Beijing, China; Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York, NY; The Crisp-Ellert Museum, St. Augustine, FL; Halsey McKay, East Hampton, NY; The Pit, Los Angeles, CA; Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA; among others. Pecis has participated in numerous group exhibitions, at venues such as David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; The School, Kinderhook, NY; Karma, New York, The Nassima-Landau Project, Tel Aviv, Israel; the GANA Art Center, Seoul, South Korea; Brand Library & Arts Center, Glendale, CA; Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA; University of Texas, San Antonio, TX; Dominican University of San Rafael, San Rafael, CA; and Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA, among others. Pecis was the 2008 recipient of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Murphy and Cadogan Fellowship and is a co-founder of Binder of Women, a collective of female artists based in the Los Angeles area. Her work is in the public collections of the Berezdivin Collection, Puerto Rico; Yuz Museum, Shanghai; Zhuzhong Museum, Beijing; and the JNBY Museum, Hangzhou, China.
Hilary Pecis is represented by Rachel Uffner Gallery in New York.
ART IN FOCUS is a multidisciplinary program established in 2018. The public art initiative showcases site- specific installations by artists inspired by contemporary life and set within the landmark New York City landscape at Rockefeller Center. Artists featured in the series will have their work displayed in a number of prominent and unexpected public locations throughout the Rockefeller Center campus. Art in Focus is presented in partnership with Art Production Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences, and expanding awareness through contemporary art. Past Art in Focus artists include Joana Avillez (Rockefeller Center Holiday Map, December 2018), Hein Koh (Braving the Cold, January-April 2019), Portia Munson (Pink Projects, April- July 2019), LaKela Brown (July-September 2019), Lucy Sparrow (Lucy’s Delicatessen on 6th, September- November 2019), Angelica Hicks (Rockefeller Center Holiday Map, December 2019), Vanessa German (The Holiest Wilderness if Freedom, January-April 2020), Ryan Flores (Low Lifes: An Upside Down Love Letter, June-September 2020), Genevieve Gaignard (September-November, 2020), Oliver Jeffers (Rockefeller Center Holiday Map, December 2020); Hiba Schahbaz (In My Heart, January-May 2021), and Sanford Biggers (May-July 2021).
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