Emil Lukas

Interviews by Brainard Carey

Emil Lukas Infinite Edge 6 February – 15 March 2025 New York, NY – 9 January 2025: Sperone Westwater is pleased to present new work by Emil Lukas.

His fifth solo exhibition at the gallery is comprised of paintings and works on paper utilizing materials which have characterized his practice: thread, acrylic, ink and larvae. Lukas’ circular thread paintings, Fuse and In Wave (each 60 inches in diameter) combine an actively painted reflector behind an accumulation of thread.

The artist’s new series of lattice paintings, including Glass in Moving Water, explores what happens when we process two complementary paintings at the same time. The artist creates an underpainting on the canvas, then layers a second composition on a raised pattern of dots. The combined acrylic-on-canvas works engage the viewers’ position and distance in the surrounding architecture of the gallery.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1964, Emil Lukas has exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. Solo museum shows include “Emil Lukas: Connection to the Curious,” The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT (2005); “Emil Lukas,” The Weatherspoon Museum, Greensboro, NC (2005); “Things with Wings,” The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA (2005); “Moderate Climate and the Bitter Bison,” Hunterdon Museum, Hunterdon, NJ (2008); “Emil Lukas,” Morris Gallery at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia (2016); “Emil Lukas: Entre dos líneas tenues,” Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Atchugarry, Uruguay (2023) and “Emil Lukas: Four Modes,” Lafayette College Art Galleries, Easton, PA (2023).

Emil Lukas, In Wave, 2024, thread over wood, plaster, aluminum frame with paint and nails, 60 x 60 x 6 inches (152,4 x 152,4 x 15,2 cm)

Emil Lukas, 4.24 Light Years, 2024, ink on glass and paper with graphite and charcoal in painted frame, 15 x 12 x 2 inches (38,1 x 30,5 x 5,1 cm)

Emil Lukas, Dendrite, 2025, acrylic on canvas over wood panel, 55 x 79 x 3 inches (139,7 x 200,7 x 7,6 cm)