Ana Cristea is very pleased to present a group show featuring the work of Zsolt Bodoni, Josef Bolf, Daniel Pitín, and Alexander Tinei. The gallery is extremely proud to have introduced all four of these talented Eastern and Central European painters to New York over the course of its inaugural 2009-2010 season. This show provides an opportunity to exhibit important new work and to celebrate the gallery’s successful first year.

Zsolt Bodoni (b. 1975), a Hungarian artist who grew up in Romania, has become well-known for his beautifully-painted and highly dramatic canvases. Often composed on a grand scale, these evocative paintings wrestle with the legacy of Communist rule. Ana Cristea Gallery introduced Bodoni to a New York audience with a solo show in October of 2009. That same year, Bodoni was named one of the top 100 emerging artists by Flash Art International. The new work in this show, characterized by exuberant use of color, represents an exciting new direction for the artist.

Josef Bolf’s highly personal and emotionally wrenching work is just now coming to the attention of an American audience. Born in 1971 in Prague, Bolf’s artistic practice revolves around his haunted childhood. The paintings included in this exhibition are class-photo-like-images of former schoolmates to which he has added devilish accoutrements. Bolf will be one of the artists included in Decadence NOW! at the Galerie Rudolfinum in Prague (Fall – Winter 2010), which will also feature the work of greats such as Damien Hirst, Cindy Sherman, and Andres Serrano.

Photographic and filmic images provide Daniel Pitín with a point of departure. Inspired by footage and stills from 1970s-era TV series, he has created canvases in which vague figures move within stage-like settings. Born in Prague in 1977, Pitin was the recipient of the Mattoni Award for the best new young artist at the Prague Biennale 3 (2007) and was chosen to curate the Czech section of the Prague Biennale 4 (2009). Ana Cristea gallery plans to have a solo show with Daniel Pitin during the 2010-2011 season.

The work of Alexander Tinei (b. 1967 in the Republic of Moldova) is immediately recognizable. His idiosyncratic portraits depict people whose skin has been literally ‘marked’ by the weight of their experiences. In these newest works, his subjects’ markings are their only adornments—they are emotionally as well as literally naked. Following a solo showing of Tinei’s work at the gallery during the first part of 2010, Ana Cristea was invited to present a solo show of the artist’s work at the March 2010 edition of VOLTA New York. Tinei was also recently nominated for the Sovereign European Art Prize (2010).

All four artists will be included in After the Fall, an exhibition showcasing young Eastern and Central European talent organized by the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill, New York and opening in September 2010.