New York-based artist Mira Valencia presents Between The Lines, her first solo exhibition in New York City, at Lichtundfire Gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, October 28 through November 7, 2026. The exhibition brings together abstract paintings that continue Valencia’s personal exploration of color, line, and space, informed by Color Field painting, Lyrical Abstraction, and the broader traditions of modern and contemporary abstract art.
At first glance, Valencia’s paintings appear to consist of elongated, gently undulating lines moving across narrow vertical canvases. Their surfaces suggest simplicity, even minimalism. Yet closer examination reveals an intricate arrangement of pigments, tonal variations, and subtle transitions that complicate the initial impression. The lines are not entirely lines. Colors are not always what they first appear to be. What seems straightforward gradually becomes ambiguous. And perhaps that is precisely the point. Valencia’s work raises a deceptively simple question: How much do we actually see when we look?
The elongated canvases support subtle, wavering lines composed of numerous hues, created through the application of pigments in soft, often muted palettes. These lines move vertically or horizontally across the painted surface, establishing delicate relationships between color and space. With sustained observation, what initially appears to be a continuous line begins to separate into minute fields of color, seemingly hovering above the canvas. These subtle transitions create a visual experience that changes as the viewer’s attention moves across the composition.
Color has occupied a central position in the development of modern and contemporary painting. From the emotional intensity of Abstract Expressionism to the expansive chromatic environments of Color Field painting, artists have continually investigated color’s capacity to communicate beyond representation. Valencia approaches this history with an awareness of its traditions while pursuing a distinctly personal visual language. Her paintings employ restrained compositions, unconventional proportions, and subtle variations in pigment to construct visual experiences that unfold gradually.
Unlike paintings that depend upon dramatic contrasts or sharply defined geometric divisions, Valencia’s work often operates within a narrow chromatic range. Individual colors appear to dissolve into neighboring tones, producing relationships that resist easy identification. A pale blue may lean toward lavender. A muted pink may suggest warmth without becoming overtly expressive. A gray may contain traces of green, violet, or another hue that only becomes apparent through comparison. These relationships are fundamental to the paintings’ construction.
One of the most distinctive characteristics of Valencia’s recent paintings is their elongated vertical format. These unconventional proportions immediately distinguish the works from the familiar rectangular dimensions of traditional easel painting. The narrow surfaces establish a particular relationship between the artwork and the viewer. Rather than encouraging the eye to move broadly across an expansive pictorial field, the compositions direct attention along a more concentrated vertical passage. Lines descend, rise, bend, and shift. Their movements are gentle but persistent. The resulting compositions suggest rhythm without establishing a rigid pattern. Although the lines may appear parallel, their irregularities prevent them from becoming mechanical repetitions.
Valencia has long been fascinated by the ways in which lines define and determine space, and how subtle visual relationships invite careful observation. Her paintings reflect an interest in ambiguity and the possibilities of discovering what is not immediately apparent.
As Valencia explains, “I am drawn to ambiguity and subtlety, to the infinite range of unnamed feelings, states, colors, shapes, and experiences that resist precise definition. To me, there is a particular pleasure in discovering what is not immediately visible…”
This fascination with the undefined and the unexpected is central to her artistic approach. Rather than presenting a fixed image or recognizable subject, Valencia creates compositions that encourage viewers to investigate the relationships between colors, lines, and the spaces they occupy. The paintings invite an experience of looking that is both visual and perceptual, allowing subtle differences to emerge through continued observation.
Originally from Argentina, Valencia’s artistic vocabulary is rooted in a tradition of abstraction closely associated with New York, where formalism and lyrical expression intersect. Her work draws upon a history in which Abstract Expressionism, Color Field painting, and Minimalism developed distinct yet interconnected approaches to the possibilities of painting.
The gallery’s presentation places Valencia’s work in conversation with artists such as Mark Rothko, whose expansive and oscillating fields of color explored the emotional and perceptual qualities of painting, and Clyfford Still, whose dramatic chromatic forms helped expand the visual language of Abstract Expressionism. References to Pat Steir’s investigations of paint, gravity, and movement, along with Sol LeWitt’s extensive exploration of lines and their spatial relationships, further illuminate the artistic traditions informing Valencia’s work.
These historical connections provide a context for understanding Valencia’s paintings without defining them entirely. Her work engages with established approaches to abstraction while developing its own formal relationships between color, line, and space. The resulting compositions reflect an artistic practice that is informed by tradition but remains open to experimentation and individual discovery.
Valencia’s paintings establish a direct relationship with the viewer through their understated visual complexity. What appears simple from a distance becomes increasingly intricate upon closer examination. The subtle changes in pigment and the movement of lines across the canvas encourage viewers to look again, to reconsider their initial impressions, and to discover the relationships that exist between the visible elements of the composition.
Born and raised in Argentina, Valencia studied ceramics, sculpture, and graphic and industrial design. Her artistic development has been shaped by an international experience that includes living in six countries. During an extended period in Panama, she exhibited extensively, becoming part of the country’s contemporary art community. Her work entered numerous local collections, including that of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Panama.
Valencia has also participated in exhibitions in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the United States. More recently, she continued her artistic education at the Art Students League of New York, where she studied with painter Pat Lipsky. Her background across several artistic disciplines and cultural environments provides a foundation for a practice that continues to investigate the fundamental elements of visual expression.
Her first solo exhibition in New York City represents another chapter in this artistic development. Within a city whose history is closely connected to the evolution of modern abstraction, Valencia introduces paintings that engage with established artistic traditions while presenting a personal interpretation of their possibilities.
Between The Lines is presented by Lichtundfire, a Lower East Side gallery established in 2015 with a program emphasizing nonrepresentational, conceptual, and abstract art. Its exhibitions encompass Minimalism, Abstract Expressionism, Lyrical Abstraction, Color Field painting, geometric abstraction, and process-based practices across various media.
Beyond its visual arts program, Lichtundfire seeks to encourage dialogue between artistic disciplines, including poetry, literature, philosophy, and critical theory. The gallery’s commitment to connecting contemporary artistic practices with broader cultural and social discourse provides a fitting context for Valencia’s investigations into perception and abstraction.
Through Between The Lines, Valencia invites viewers to experience painting as an ongoing process of visual discovery. Her compositions ask us to consider how colors interact, how lines organize space, and how subtle variations can transform our understanding of an image. Rather than providing immediate answers, the paintings encourage an openness to interpretation and the possibility of discovering something unexpected.
The exhibition’s title reflects this approach. What exists between the lines may be as significant as the lines themselves. In Valencia’s paintings, the spaces, transitions, and subtle chromatic relationships become essential to the experience of the work, reminding us that what is not immediately visible may ultimately be what gives an image its meaning.
About Lichtundfire:
LICHTUNDFIRE was established in 2015, with a visual program emphasizing nonrepresentational, conceptual, and abstract art; especially minimal, expressionist painting, lyrical abstraction, color field, geometrical, straight edge, abstract and process work in all media, as well as abstracted, conceptual representation. Through its exhibitions, Lichtundfire’s program is dedicated to developing and nurturing an acuvue, engaged, progressive, and emancipated community that addresses cultural and social realities as expressed through visual arts. Beyond its carefully curated visual program, Lichtundfire, with its accompanying events, seeks to actively connect with other parts of the creative community, especially in the field of poetry, literature, philosophy, and Critical Theory.
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Lichtundfire: 175 Rivington Street NY NY 10002
Comact. Prinska Juschka, info@lichundfire.com Phone: 917.010.1835
Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 12 – 6 pm, or by appointment
