Anthony HADEN-GUEST, Peter TUNNEY and
Shira TOREN
Dec 9-Jan 1, 2017
by Jen Dragon

WORD COUNT with Anthony HADEN-GUEST, Shira TOREN and Peter TUNNEY is a group show of artists who work with the meaning of symbols, letters, and phrases. The playful brushwork of Anthony-Haden-Guest’s hand-colored prints present profound quotations with a slightly ominous whimsy. Peter Tunney’s painted and screened over collages of old book pages create contemporary clarity over layers of cultural memory. And Shira Toren’s graphite numbers evoke the count down at the start of old black and white films as well as the anticipation of what a count down can bring: everything from a rocket launch to an anticipated microwave dinner. All three artists’ consider the impact of symbols, from the meaning of the phrase to the actual shape of letters and numbers as enigmatic compositions of symbols, abstract shapes and evocative phrases
About the Artists
Anthony Haden-Guest: Anthony Haden-Guest is a writer, journalist and cartoonist. As a magazine writer he has covered war, crime and the various social orders and disorders of celebrity culture for the Financial Times, Vanity Fair, The New York Observer, Paris Review, Esquire, GQ (UK) and The New Yorker. In the tradition of the great British 18th caricaturists George Cruikshank, James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson, Anthony Haden-Guest’s ink drawings serve as a wry commentary on celebrity, hubris and tweaked maxims.
Peter Tunney: Peter Tunney uses billboards and media as one of many vehicles for his optimistic slogans and phrases. In his glorification of the commonplace, Tunney is often compared to the Pop artists of the 60s and 70s. However, Peter Tunney is also a messenger whose use of language both proclaims and commands hope and encouragement and his images incorporating vintage ephemera evoke a sense of collective memory. More about Mr.Tunney: http://www.
Shira Toren: Born in Tel-Aviv, Shira Toren moved to New York City to study fine art and design receiving her BFA from the Pratt Institute and an Associate Degree in Art Therapy from The New School. Ms.Toren is a recipient of The Henry Matisse Estate Scholarship and attended the New York Foundation for the Arts Bootcamp in 2011. Shira Toren maintains studios in New York City and Great Barrington. More about Shira Toren: http://www.shiratoren.