I received a lovely review of my recent exhibition of drawings from the Duino Elegies series at Holly Johnson Gallery in Dallas by Laura Neal of Southwest Contemporary:
“Good Grief: Theresa Chong, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Repositioning Grief,” March 7, 2022
I hope you enjoy it. Thanks!
~~ Theresa
I’m pleased to announce that drawings from my Duino Elegy body of work will be exhibited in a solo show at Holly Johnson Gallery in Dallas, TX, this month.
November 20, 2021 - February 13, 2022.
Duino Elegy (2020)
12 x 12 in
#4 Duino Elegy
11.75 x 11.5 in
PRESS RELEASE:
Holly Johnson Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Theresa Chong: Duino Elegies, an exhibition of works on paper inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s, the Duino Elegies. The exhibit will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with an essay by David Brody. An open house will be held on Saturday, November 20, from 5 to 8 p.m. The exhibition continues through February 13.
Chong’s delicate works on handmade paper convey a sense of rhythm and lyric beauty. The ephemerality of the paper, the meticulousness mark-making, and the clarity of line, prevents oversimplification, offering viewers a range of psychological and aesthetic experiences.
The artist recently expressed - “Rilke, his dedication to truth, his celebration of beauty in very ordinary things was my inspiration in expressing what is timelessness beauty through simplicity in choice of materials and execution. These drawings were done during a challenging time dealing with a terrible personal loss and coping with life changing experiences. Rilke’s writings and his poems were my inspiration to my work."
The Duino Elegies is a collection of ten elegies written by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) while a guest of Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis (1855–1934) at Duino Castle, near Trieste on the Adriatic Sea. Acknowledged as Rilke’s finest achievement, the Duino Elegies has inspired generations of artists, providing a direct launching point as well as informing broader ruminations on humankind’s fleeting moments of contact with transient, sublime beauty.
“Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels’
hierarchies? and even if one of them
pressed me against his heart: I would be consumed
in that overwhelming existence. For beauty is nothing
but the beginning of terror, which we still are just able to endure,
and we are so awed because it serenely disdains
to annihilate us. Every angel is terrifying. ”
For more information, please visit Holly Johnson Gallery.
Thank you!