NEW YORK, NY.- Friedman & Vallois is presenting for the first time Russian-born British artist Yuri Kuper from 14th November to 10th January 2015 , « Cups » a series of thirteen teacups created in 2014.

Preeminent artist Yuri Kuper was born in 1940 in Moscow, Russia. This artist of international renown expresses his talent through sculpture, painting, illustration, theater costumes, writing or set design but also ceramics. The artist has had over 50 one-man exhibitions at the world’s most prestigious art venues, galleries and museums in France, Israel, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Japan, USA and Russia. His work is included in the permanent collections of many prestigious museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of New York, The Museum of Modern Art of New York, The Boston Fine Art Museum, the Puskin Museum in Moscow, the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and the Fonds National d’Art Contemporain in France to name a few.

The meaning of this exhibition, Yuri Kuper sums it up himself in one word : « Pompei ». Indeed, these works appear ageless as if discovered from excavations; broken and burnt by the flames and destruction of a devastating earthquake. Buried under the rubble, throughout centuries, time has eaten away at them while they were slumbering under lava and rubble. To achieve this, Kuper prepares his works through renderings and sketches and the pieces are put through various progressions where Kuper’s hands tear, torture and alter each piece.

He adds surface inclusions, sanding and scraping accompanied by surface oxidations and a very complex and difficult glaze and enamel application. In the end, each piece undergoes a raku technique of ceramic-making involving three successive firings to achive the desired results.

In these works, Yuri Kuper put all of his artistry, his heart and his strength with a dose of inventiveness through this very difficult process.

This Pompeian work becomes part of the creation of everyday objects, currents, forgotten by time...