“We will not be forgotten”: a multidimensional experience by Richard Masters

HUMANSCAPE, a solo exhibition by Richard Masters curated by Yun Jung Rhee, opened at New York Art Residency and Studios (NARS) Foundation, 201 46th Street, on Friday, April 10, and remains on view through May 8. The show fills the gallery with commanding black-and-white portraits of Manhattan residents, including the unhoused, inviting viewers into quiet, deeply human encounters.

The Main Gallery and Project Space are filled with Richard Masters’ large-scale oil-based paint and ink portraits, each commanding attention while inviting viewers to linger and creating a quiet, serene atmosphere.

In the Main Gallery, audio recordings of Masters’ subjects play overhead, deepening the exhibition’s intimate, raw and honest atmosphere while drawing visitors further into the lived experiences behind each portrait.

Visitors from New York’s contemporary art community described the exhibition as emotionally powerful and reflected on its themes of privilege and access.

Attendee Joanna Stevenson said, “Being in this space is immersive and beautiful. Richard’s art is something people don’t want to miss.”

Masters is a nationally and internationally exhibited artist and designer, known for both his fine art and coin designs for the U.S. Mint. A professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, he holds an MFA from the University of Iowa and moved to New York City in 2015 with his spouse, MeeWha Alana Lee, to pursue independent careers in the fine and performing arts.

“The black and white portraits were inspired by my son Alan, who died by suicide 11 years ago. He was 22 years old,” Masters said. “He showed a great deal of empathy, including toward the homeless.”

This personal and thematic depth is supported by the NARS Foundation’s new Invitationals initiative, which amplifies artists whose work has been historically underrecognized within New York’s art community.

“What the NARS Foundation is doing, spotlighting different artists here, is amazing. Seeing creatives of all ages incorporated during the invitational initiatives is incredible to witness,” attendee Mark Solis said.

While Masters brings a deeply personal perspective to the work, curator Yun Jung Rhee shapes the exhibition’s broader thematic direction.

Rhee is a New Jersey-based curator, director, artist and arts educator whose practice bridges contemporary art, community engagement and international cultural exchange. That ethos informs the exhibition’s atmosphere. Like issues of sustainability, homelessness and inequity are societal problems, not individual ones.

This reflection initially drew her to Masters’ work, pointing to the urgency and importance of featuring unhoused people in New York.

“We have to first acknowledge them. This is what this HUMANSCAPE exhibition is doing,” Rhee said.

Man-Ling Cheng, exhibitions and events coordinator at the NARS Foundation, was also pleased with the event’s turnout and effect on participants. By overseeing exhibitions, public programs, and artist and community engagement, she helps shape how visitors experience exhibitions like HUMANSCAPE, ensuring the artist’s vision and audience interaction come together in a dynamic, absorbing way.

“This program is very special to NARS. We are looking to promote artists that are based in New York, giving them the recognition we think they deserve,” Cheng said. “Being able to hold certain exhibitions here at NARS really is meaningful, trying to get to more local communities.”

As visitors move through the space, HUMANSCAPE offers a quiet yet powerful encounter with the humanity captured in each portrait. Through Masters’ work, Rhee’s curatorial vision and the NARS Foundation’s dedication to uplifting underrecognized artists, HUMANSCAPE highlights connection, creativity and the act of seeing and acknowledging one another.

The exhibition runs through May 8.