Press Release
Leo Koenig Inc. is pleased to announce an exhibition entitled “As Time Goes By”, a very special and unique showing of works by some of the worlds foremost contemporary artists juxtapositioned with consummate examples of ancient art. For this exhibition, Leo Koenig Inc has collaborated with Gordian Weber Kunsthandel, a much respected dealer of antiquities from Cologne.
“…As Time Goes By” is the brainchild of Leo Koenig and Gordian Weber, and is years in the making. Each dealer had long wished to work on a collaborative presentation because of the intense admiration for the other’s respective field. Gordion Weber is an avid follower and collector of contemporary art, and Mr. Koenig has always possessed a keen interest and love of ancient art. This show is the result of a unique friendship, and an ongoing professional and personal dialogue between the two colleagues.
Highlights of the exhibition will be inspired contemporary paintings that were either created specifically or carefully chosen for the exhibition, alongside such stunning examples of ancient art as a late Hellenistic, life-sized marble statue of a Priestess of Demeter from the 1st Century B.C. and other exemplary pieces. We are delighted and honored to announce that contemporary artists, Donald Baechler, George Condo, Peter Saul, Nicole Eisenman and Erik Parker have each made a work specifically for the exhibition.
The figure remains a central component in the exhibition, invoking various muses both anonymous and heralded, throughout the centuries. The humor, grace and elegance of the artists imaginative renderings give a glimpse into not so much on how our cultures have changed throughout the years, but instead how the most fundamental aspects of human depiction have endured. The thread of history, it’s conquests and failings, though ever-present, is a secondary, or rather complimentary consideration. It is the more fragile human qualities, compassion, affection, wit and admiration, that infuses the atmosphere surrounding all the works.
We are indebted to the following people and galleries for their kind assistance. Without their help, this exhibition would not be possible.