Statement:

MEY presents its inaugural show, Between You and Me, a group exhibition featuring recent works by Kevin Douillez, Mia Weiner, Aryana Minai, Thérèse Mulgrew, Eric Stefanski, and Ally Rae Peeples. 

A common idiom in the English language, “between you and me” is often used in dialogue to indicate that what is about to be spoken is meant to be kept secret.

Reflecting on the irony of this notion in a contemporary context, Between You and Me features work that illustrates how today the most intimate parts of ourselves are reflected everywhere—in the conversations we have with ourselves, the spaces we share with our partners, and the streets of cities both near and far.///

Operating within and against varying degrees of intimacy, the pieces presented are dialogues between the artists and themselves, their artworks, and their viewers. 

Between You and Me features a variety of mediums, including works on canvas, paper, panel, and thread.

In Kevin Douillez’s raw abstractions, subjects that permeated the artist’s adolescence—such as dragons and rainbows—can be found. Entrenched in the concepts of childhood, family, and sexuality, artworks such as Dread of Spectres (2022) are conversations between an artist and himself about the building blocks of identity.

Eric Stefanski’s paintings, which allude to the absurdity that is inherent in the pursuit of love and greatness, simultaneously point outward to contemporary culture and inward to the artist’s personal experiences. Works such as You Dont Deserve Me and I Want To Exist (both 2022) distill this duality into signature snarky and romantic phrases, resulting in a dialogue between artist, canvas, and viewer.

Thérèse Mulgrew’s cinematic paintings like Together (2022) explore the complications of love and intimacy. Her work, both sensual and existential, invites viewers into shared moments of vulnerability.

Mia Weiner’s woven pieces are intimate explorations of identity, gender, and the psychology of human relationships.

Amanda and Nayara (2021) illustrates the way in which Mia places human bodies in close proximity to each other, capturing both the possibilities and the boundaries of intimacy.

Ally Rae Peeples’ dreamlike oil paintings and drawings visualize the ways in which trauma and technology can distort the experience of time. In works such as Untitled (2022), an onlooker’s view of a city street is warped, resulting in the gravitational pull of the viewer into the painting, and thereby into that stranger’s physical and psychological world.

Aryana Minai’s paper-based sculptures are created from embossing salvaged objects into paper. Resulting from this process are textural and kaleidoscopic forms such as Sun Floor (2021), which speaks to the relationship between oneself and one’s heritage, current surroundings and past constructions, and the intimate renewal that can result from engaging with a disembodied object from another place and time.

Collectively, the works in this exhibition tenderly oscillate through the nebulous boundaries between you and me.