Russell Floersch
Elana Herzog
Ian McMahon

Catskill Art Space (CAS) is pleased to present a three-person exhibition featuring Russell Floersch, Elana Herzog, and George McMahon, on view from May 2 through June 20, 2026. Working across painting, sculpture, and installation, the exhibition brings together three artists whose practices engage material, memory, and the physical experience of space in distinct yet resonant ways.

Russell Floersch’s paints at a modest scale, emphasizing a direct relationship between viewer and object. His canvases often incorporate loop-like relief elements derived from analog recording technologies, such as cassette tapes and film mechanisms, referencing the fragile processes of capturing and preserving memory. Themes of loss and degradation permeate the work, from cropped photographic imagery to the fading fidelity of sound. His recurring “broken chairs” motif are drawn from silent film, and introduce a subtle narrative of failure and absence, underscored by the conspicuous lack of sound.

Elana Herzog engages material culture through the lens of textiles, using found fabrics to create labor-intensive, site-responsive installations and sculptural works. Her practice operates as a form of “domestic archaeology,” excavating histories embedded in cloth while exploring themes of migration, entropy, pleasure, and pain. Through accumulation and juxtaposition, Herzog reveals unexpected relationships between disparate materials and motifs, challenging hierarchies of taste and class. Her visually dense compositions transform architectural space, inviting multiple readings shaped by cultural memory and global exchange.

Ian McMahon creates large-scale, temporal installations that blur the boundaries between sculpture, architecture, and performance. Using theatrical and architectonic strategies, his works embed themselves within specific sites, transforming location into stage. Through intensive labor, material experimentation, and engineered construction, McMahon produces immersive environments that prioritize experience over permanence. His practice questions traditional notions of preservation, instead presenting transient encounters that evoke physical, sensory engagement and collective memory.

About the Artists

Russell Floersch received his MFA in Painting from the University at Buffalo in 1983 and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to West Berlin at the Universität der Künste. He has exhibited extensively since the 1980s, including at Civilian Warfare Gallery and Stux Gallery in New York. A recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, Floersch has also taught at City College, CUNY, and Hastings College. He currently lives and works in Roxbury, NY.

Elana Herzog received her BA from Bennington College and MFA from Alfred University. Her recent survey at Koffler Arts in Toronto received critical attention from major publications. She has been awarded numerous honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, NYFA Fellowships, and grants from the Joan Mitchell Foundation and the Tiffany Foundation. Herzog has participated in residencies such as Yaddo, MacDowell, and the Joan Mitchell Center, among others. She lives and works in New York.

Ian McMahon received his MFA in Sculpture and Extended Media from Virginia Commonwealth University and his BFA in Ceramics from Alfred University. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum and Suyama Space. He is the recipient of the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship and multiple NYSCA/NYFA Fellowships. McMahon is currently based in Newburgh, NY.