HISTORY OF VARGA Gallery

Christina Varga came to New York in the mid-nineties with degrees in Journalism and Communication and creatively applied her education at high-profile media entities and production companies including Miramax Films, MTV Networks, Viacom New Media, The New York Times and Joseph P. Kennedy Enterprises. Her first solo art exhibitions were in fashionable nightclubs and shops in Soho, Tribeca and the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Publicity, promotion and press and a direct link to artists proved integral to her pursuits - and she successfully organized exhibitions in city theaters, restaurants, and non-profit spaces.

In 1999 Christina Varga began a career-defining project that transformed three doors into neo-Byzantine life-sized depictions of Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed. The project took three years to complete and was displayed for the first time at LadyFest East in 2002. Since its completion in 2001 the work has toured through major public venues including at Bard College during the 2005 Resurgence Conference on Earth & Religion, at The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in the 2005/2006 winter season and a year long exhibition at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland in the "All Faiths Beautiful" exhibit from October 2007 through September 2008. The work was created with the vision of the triptych traveling the globe with a message of unity and it continues to draw interest from around the world. RAW VISION Magazine's Spring 2008 issue succinctly stated, "Christina Varga's triptych depicting Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed combines stylized church iconography with humble materials to create somber figures that plead for multi-theist reconciliation." (Jack Livingston, RAW Vision Magazine). The fourth work in this series depicts the "Woman Clothed by the Sun" from the Book of Revelations. The work is in progress at her studio in Woodstock.

Varga's work pushes the constraints of organized religion and professes a universal appreciation for all living beings transcendent of faith, race, sex, sexual orientation or creed. As testament to her reverence toward the universal Varga set on one significant task upon moving to Woodstock from Manhattan - to refurbish the Della Robbia Madonna & Child outdoor sculpture memorial to Byrdcliffe arts colony founder Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead in the Artists' Cemetery. The work had been repeatedly vandalized and suffered surface damage as well as cracks and holes in the ceramic. Her respect for iconography transcends borders though classical Byzantine i conography and mosaic work are large influences in Varga's style and emanate from her Hungarian heritage. Strongly independent, Varga's experience as a woman also boldly informs her work, and she produces a line of collages incorporating vintage erotica and iconography called the VARGA Girls. Described as insouciant digs at post-feminist archetypes of female sexuality, the series boasts broad appeal and collectors range from celebrities to beginning collectors.

Christina Varga opened the VARGA Gallery in Woodstock in June 2003 and since its inception each show has been conceived, planned, publicized and curated by Christina Varga, the creative force behind all events at VARGA Gallery. The gallery also serves as her studio, where she continues to create works while organizing group exhibitions. The gallery represents all aspects of the arts with works by emerging, visionary and outsider artists. Additionally, Christina Varga curates exhibitions in various locations outside the gallery including restaurants, coffee shops and vacant studio and warehouse locations with a focus on providing artists with exhibition space and a venue in which to sell their works. Varga's efforts are aimed at serving the artists who in turn serve their communities through their work.

Her latest creative venture - “Apocalypse VARGA” – an Arts, Culture and Media Variety show – airs each Wednesday night on Woodstock Cable Access and online at www.woodstocktv.org. The show serves as a showcase for artists represented at the VARGA Gallery as well as musicians and speakers and other creative industry professionals. Hosted by Varga, the show is a visual concoction of transitions, video effects and improvisation. The show has been in production since March 2007 and continues to garner an international audience. Varga's work has appeared in a wide range of regional, national and international publications. Credits include Raw Vision Magazine, Juxtapoz Magazine, Resurgence Magazine, the cover of Chronogram magazine December 2006, and most recently a review in “Raw Vision” Magazine as well as The New York Times, Woodstock Times, Poughkeepsie Journal, Daily Freeman, Albany Times Union and other regional, national and international publications.

Varga's work & gallery can be seen at www.VARGAgallery.com .

WORKS BY CHRISTINA VARGA

PIXELATIONS | PAINTINGS | unPOP | The VARGA Girls | BOWIE Works
|
Works in Progress | VARGA's Myspace |Varga's Bio| VARGA Manifesto

|Apocalypse VARGA | COMMISSION| SOLD WORK

The VARGA Gallery opened in the historic art colony of Woodstock, New York in June 2003. It galvanized Woodstock's art scene with flambouyance, controversy and drive and is a MUST-SEE for any art lover.

VARGA Gallery exhibits eclectic, innovative artists with unique works and uninhibited style. The VARGA Gallery serves as the studio and exhibition space of card-carrying visionary artist Christina Varga, as well as the Hudson Valley's finest art gallery of emerging and established visionary, outsider and self-taught artists. Since its inception, VARGA Gallery has hosted hundreds of exhibitions, countless performances and the most talented visionary and outsider artists in the area.

Christina Varga, founder and owner of VARGA Gallery, blazed the underground art arenas of New York City in the late 1990's. She organized and publicized her own guerrilla-style solo exhibitions in nightclubs, theaters, restaurants, small non-profit spaces and outdoor events.

Commissioned projects include extra-terrestrial themed works for the 1999 MTV Movie Awards at Barker Hangar in Los Angeles, California; a three room ceiling mural for the nightclub Chaos on East Houston Street in New York City;
a restaurant makeover at Asia Roma in Tribeca, NY; giant spores for a Travis Bass, Inc. celebrity event and many, many other projects.

In 1999 Varga began a tremendous work which transformed three doors into life-sized neo-Byzantine depictions of Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed (pbuh). The Triptych - a work in oil paint, hand cut wooden mosaics, sand, mica and varnish - is an homage to world religion.

It was displayed for the first time at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York for LadyFest East in 2002, and three years later at Resurgence Magazine's Conference on Earth & Religion exhibited at Bard College during 2005.

The triptych was on display for an audience of over 20,000 at The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine during the holiday season including the 2005 Winter Solstice Concert with Paul Winter and the 2005 World AIDS Day events with singer Roberta Flack and modern dance visionary Bill T. Jones.

The triptych of Buddha, Jesus and Prophet Mohammed was on exhibit at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland
in the "All Faiths Beautiful" through October 2008. The fourth work in this neo-Byzantine series by Christina Varga is a self-portrait depicting the artist as The Woman Clothed by the Sun, a biblical figure from the Book of Revelations. This work is in progress since 2002 and can be seen in detail in a series of documentary shots on this page.

Christina Varga is in the throes of "pixelation" a technique she describes as chopping various media of all sorts into rough squares and incorporating these squares into mixed media orchestrations much like mosaic on a grid. This technique includes materials such as canvas,
small mosaic tiles, corrugated cardboard, various papers, burlap, brocade fabrics and more. The "Pixelations" can be seen here.

To commission work by Christina Varga please contact: VARGA Gallery - 845.679.4005
www.myspace.com/VARGAgallery
gallery@vargagallery.com