Lucky Girl
Murals and drawings by Silvia Russel

Louky Keijsers proudly inaugurates the gallery space in Chelsea with LUCKY GIRL: the unique presentation of new drawings by Silvia Russel and her first solo-show in NYC. On view will be a combination of large-scale drawings, smaller ones on newspapers and large murals transforming the entire gallery into an eccentric world with familiar but also unsettling scenes.

Thick, black lines and a single color of acrylic paint characterize Russel’s drawings. At times she draws extremely precise, showing the smallest detail, at other times she works loosely and free. The viewer, who will be carried away by the esthetics of the work, will simultaneously experience a slightly ‘discomforting’ feeling about the directness and openness of its content. The effect is inviting as well as disturbing.

With LUCKY GIRL the artist intents to transform the gallery into a world that places the viewer in a slightly befuddled position where there is an unease feeling of being forced to be a witness of mildly unsettling views of intimate scenes.
In her work Russel sets personages, often females, in sometimes bizarre and outlandish environments. She draws these scenes from her imagination and her own experiences, creating drawings that seem to be very private and illustrative for her personal drama and fear. Russel depicts these images with absurdism, self-criticism, and humor.
Looking at Russel’s world is as if one is looking at its own inner worries, dreams and strengths. It is this fascinating contrast of skill and subject that makes Russel’s work so extraordinary.

With thanks to the support of the Fonds van Beeldende Kunst, The Netherlands, the Mondriaan Foundation, Amsterdam, NL, and The Consulate General of the Netherlands, New York

Silvia Russel (1969), born in Nijmegen, the Netherlands lives and works in Amsterdam (NL). Her work has been exhibited at several art venues such as Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam, Suite 106 Gallery, New York and Museum Van Bommel Van Dam in Venlo (NL).
She has received numerous grants and awards from the Amsterdam Foundation for the Arts and The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture to name a few.