Curated by
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May 8, 2026
Friday, May 8, 6-8 PM
Artist Talk: 6:15-7 PM
NARS Main Gallery, 4th Floor
As part of our Art in Dialogue series, NARS Foundation is pleased to present a closing reception and artist talk featuring Richard Masters in conversation with curator Yun Jung Rhee, discussing his solo exhibition, HUMANSCAPE. The talk will be followed by a brief Q&A with the audience and a reception.
This program offers a final opportunity to engage with the exhibition, on view through Friday, May 8. Visitors are welcome to arrive early to view the exhibition.
HUMANSCAPE brings together 11 large-scale black-and-white portraits of individuals Masters encountered throughout New York City, many of whom live on the margins of urban life. Rendered with extraordinary precision using oil-based paint and ink, each 50 x 50 inch portrait confronts viewers with an enlarged human face that is impossible to ignore. At first glance, the works resemble photographs; upon closer inspection, their meticulously hand-drawn surfaces reveal a sustained commitment to observation, time, and presence.
This exhibition includes themes of mental illness and suicide that may feel sensitive or difficult for some viewers. Please take care while engaging with the work and move at your own pace.If you or someone you know is struggling, support is available. Consider reaching out to a trusted person, a mental health professional and or call the suicide and crisis lifeline at 988.
About the artist:
Richard Masters is a visual artist based in New York, whose work explores portraiture, urban expe-rience, and social visibility through painstakingly detailed drawing and painting practices. Working primarily in black and white, Masters combines oil-based paint and ink to create large-scale por-traits that blur the boundaries between drawing, painting, and documentary image-making. His work is rooted in sustained observation and direct human encounter, emphasizing empathy, pres-ence, and lived experience. More information and selected works from HUMANSCAPE may be viewed at: https://richardalanmasters.com/portfolio/.
About the curator:
Yun Jung Rhee is a New Jersey–based curator, director, artist, and arts educator whose practice bridges contemporary art, community engagement, and international cultural exchange. She is the director of Gallery Marie (“Making Art Reach Infinite Eyes”) and serves as the exhibition curator for the Jersey City Poetry Festival. Rhee is also the founder and director of Creativemind Art at the Museum of International Art, where she has developed exhibitions and educational initiatives since 2009.
NARS Foundation Galleries are open to the public from 12pm - 5pm, Monday - Friday. Please contact info@narsfoundation.org with any other inquires.
Support for NARS exhibition programs is generously provided by:
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