Melhop Gallery°7077 is very excited to be partnering with Trotter & Sholer NYC to present works by Stewart Francis Easton and Alex Stern at Future Fair this May. Trotter&Sholer and Melhop are young galleries, with similar guiding philosophies. The directors of both galleries work cooperatively with artists and other partners.

We feel that we are strongest when working in teams and strive to build close, dynamic relationships. Participating in Future Fair feels like an extension of this ethos. The fair’s model allows us to build strong partnerships with other galleries which helps to generate new ideas and possibilities. Our presentation of Alex Stern and Stewart Francis Easton brings together two artists who value repetition, focus, and levity. Stewart Francis Easton is a London, UK Based artist whose work emphasizes the need to create using the hand and focussed mind. His pieces are meditative hand stitched embroideries consisting of abstract shapes and colors, made through a process of removing narrative and deliberately slowing down. Easton’s work, though utterly meticulous, also has an air of lightheartedness at its core.

Alex Stern is a LA based artist whose mixed media works interrogate corporeal experience. His works confront issues of social friction, and methods of maintaining control and bodily autonomy in the face of dependency. His works connect themes of excess and restraint to larger cultural practices of consumption and consumerism. Despite their serious concerns, many of Stern’s works deal in humor. ` We are very excited to work with Trotter&Sholer NYC to bring these two artists’ work into conversation. This is our second time participating in Future Fair and we look forward to reconnecting with people we met the first time and to meeting new ones.

Stewart Francis Easton (b. 1976 ) is breaking the traditional boundaries of craft by fusing together hand embroidery, sonic art and music. Drawing upon and using folk song, story and social history as a starting point Easton works with the space and weight of story to create large scale wall-based pieces which record and commemorate the passage of time within a single panel. Easton emphasizes the need to create using the hand, as it is in this process that a connection is made with the story - allowing a slowing down and immersion in the moment. Most recently Easton has been exploring the connection between the process of hand embroidery / expansion of awareness / and abstract forms into a body of hand stitched works documenting a daily practice of stitching meditation. Easton has exhibited his work in solo and group shows both in the UK and USA, including the Tate Modern in London. His work is in private collections both nationally and Internationally. Stewart Francis Easton lives and works in London, UK.