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SEFA is pleased to announce the opening of
The Haunting, November 11, 2009-January 3, 2010
The Haunting opens with a gallery reception on Wednesday, November 11, 6-8 pm.

The exhibition features photographs by Carolyn Monastra and paintings by Fernando Molero that explore the phantasmal, mysterious nature of storytelling.

Molero draws from his childhood memories of Granada, Spain, filtered through his experiences living in Europe and the US. Molero sets many of his paintings in an imagined place he calls Buveria, rendered through a subtle and masterful application of paint to bring out gradations of color and light. These works reveal hints of the architectural ruins of southern Spain in the background, with romanticized characters in the foreground, beckoning us to enter these supernatural spaces.

Monastra weaves narratives from a combination of fictional stories, classic fairy tales and observations of the landscapes of the artist residencies she has participated in
throughout the American northeast and, most recently, in Iceland. Like Molero's paintings, Monastra populates many of her photographs with lone figures. These characters are pensive, surprised and often in awe of their surroundings. And sometimes, they display a whimsy that belies their haunted qualities.


ABOUT THE ARTISTS

FERNANDO MOLERO
Molero, born in Granada, Spain, studied at the University of Barcelona, 1980-83.
He lived in Brooklyn from 1997-2008, and recently returned to Spain, where he resides in Barcelona. Molero’s work has been featured in many galleries in Spain, including Artur Ramon Contemporani, Galeria Tertre and Casa Golferichs, as well as in New York City at Studio Facchetti. The Haunting is Molero’s second solo exhibition at SEFA, following Painted Veils/Invented Realms (October 2007). Additionally, Molero’s work was shown in Edges of Light at the Landmark Gallery, Tarrytown, NY (Feb 2008), and
at various art fairs in New York and Miami with SEFA.

CAROLYN MONASTRA
Monastra, born and raised in Cleveland, OH, received a BA in English Literature from Fordham University in the Bronx and an MFA in photography at Yale University, where she studied with Gregory Crewdson, among others. Monastra has exhibited her work in many galleries including Artspace, New Haven, CT, the Patchogue Arts Biennial, NY, Context Gallery, Ireland, as well as Julie Saul, Capsule and Exit Art in NY. This is her second exhibition with SEFA, following the spring show Eley curated at the Prince George Gallery, NY (2007). Monastra has also participated in numerous national
and international art fairs, including four with SEFA in NY and Miami.