Valeri Larko: Hidden in Plain Sight

Valeri Larko: Hidden in Plain Sight

January 6 - February 12, 2022

Sugarlift Is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of new paintings by Valeri Larko. Larko is a New York-based artist best known for her densely painted landscapes of urban fringe which she paints on location. She is attracted to the decaying and abandoned structures that populate the outskirts of America's urban centers.

"Valeri Larko’s paintings are contemporary in the truest sense of the word, reflecting the uniquely 21st century urban landscape of liminal places. Her subjects are spaces we live with on a day-to-day basis but rarely linger on with deeper reflection. Each describes a place with a layered story to tell. At their most elementary, the paintings’ hyper-realist style reveals minutely detailed factual information about the urban fringe: its streets, sidewalks, architecture and urban planning. On deeper consideration, the works’ essence is an observation on contemporary American society. While there are no people in the work, what we build, what we value, what we maintain, speaks to who we are as a civilization. Most intriguingly, the work draws attention to the myriad of ways we communicate with one another in the urban landscape." -Sean Corcoran, Curator of Prints and Photographs, Museum of the City of New York