Opening Reception: Wednesday, September 9, 6–8 pm
Derek Eller Gallery is pleased to present Curtsy, an exhibition of new paintings by Antone Könst. In this series, Könst examines the expressive and symbolic potential of the curtsy, proffering the pose as a vehicle for contemplation, imagination, and emotional resonance.
The figures in Könst's paintings stand mid gesture in an atmosphere of unknowns, their expressions responding to the potential of an uncertain resolution. At times defiant and resolute or curious and coy, they resist fixed narratives. In one painting titled Spinner, the subject appears unyielding, perhaps rebelling against the diminutive gesture. The cylindrical perspective pushes her gaze upwards, but at whom is she gazing? A mirror, an unseen presence, or perhaps the viewer? Her arms are uncannily outstretched to the ends of her dress, displaying a flowery mix of pastels with dapples of pale yellow spiraling out from the center.
Könst describes his paintings as “Rube Goldberg machines”, assembled from an unpredictable accumulation of symbols, gestures, and conditions which coalesce into a clear form. This interplay between intention and improvisation extends to the garments as well. Dresses become stages where formal, symbolic, and painterly concerns converge, blurring the line between spiritual abstraction and whimsy. Can a dress be a fire, a bed of pearls, or an inversion of logic while remaining an act of pageantry? Guided by both rigorous attention and intuitive freedom, Könst allows each painting to unfold according to its own internal logic, balancing speed and deliberation, illusion and fact, specificity and genre. "They are batteries of my attention," Könst says, "and hopefully are a power bank for viewers.”
Antone Könst (b. 1987, New Haven, CT) received his BFA from CalArts in 2011 and his MFA from the Yale School of Art in 2014. Könst was a recipient of the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Grant in 2017. Recent solo exhibitions include Counterpoint, CASTLE Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2026); Subjects, Each Modern, Taipei, Taiwan (2026); In a Sea of Nothing, Tilton Gallery, New York, NY (2023); and Cuttings, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, NY (2022). Könst has won Public Art Commissions from Lighthouse Works, New York and Socrates Sculpture Park, New York. This will be his first solo exhibition with the Gallery.
Derek Eller Gallery is located at 38 Walker Street between Broadway and Church Street. Hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 10am to 6pm, and by appointment. For further information please contact the gallery at 212.206.6411 or visit www.derekeller.com.