BEVERLY HILLS, CA.- Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Beverly Hills presents works by Nathan Slate Joseph in an exhibition entitled Spices & Silk. The exhibition opens with a cocktail reception on Saturday, May 31, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm and runs through June 30, 2008.

Nathan Slate Joseph’s work has been heavily influenced by the colors characteristic of countries along the Silk Road – Morocco, India, China, Indonesia, and Mongolia. The exhibit consists of steel and pigment reliefs and vessels. The process entails treating metal plates with pigments and acid, which are then left outdoors for the elements to oxidize. Joseph solders the pieces together to form abstract compositions.

This tension between the industrial and the natural is just one of the many contradictions inherent in Joseph’s work. Curator Sundaram Tagore explains, “Nathan’s work is a mix of East and West, and although he has been a serious part of the fabric of New York City’s art scene for many years, his work has a universal element to it.”

Born in Israel, Nathan Slate Joseph moved to New York in the 1960’s and began studying at the Art Student’s League, the New School for Social Research and Pratt Institute. Joseph was a compatriot of such influential artists as Larry Rivers and John Chamberlain. Most recently, Joseph was awarded the prestigious Lorenzo il Magnifico Award at the Florence Biennale 2007. The artist’s work is included in the following museum and private collections: the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn; Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo; Butler Institute of Art, New York; Mitchell Art Museum, Illinois; Johnson and Johnson Collection, Illinois; the Larry Rivers Collection, the John Chamberlain Collection, as well as the Joni Mitchell and Kevin Kline Collection.