Dedicated to covering the visual arts community in Connecticut.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

City Gallery opening on Saturday afternoon

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
CITYFRIENDS
May 1—31, 2009.
Opening reception: Sat., May 2, 4—7 p.m.

Press release

City Gallery is presenting CITYFRIENDS, a group show featuring work by artist-guests of each Gallery member from May 1-31, 2009. The show promises to be eclectic and exciting, bringing together fresh faces and new ideas. The Opening Reception is on Sat., May 2, from 4—7 pm. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 12 to 4 pm, or by appointment. Admission is free.

Arts Council of Greater New Haven offering public speaking workshop on May 7

Press release

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven presents "Great Presentations: A Workshop for Artists and Organizations," on Thurs., May 7, from 5—7 p.m., at ACES Educational Center for the Arts, 55 Audubon St., New Haven.

Led by public-speaking coach Debbie Fay, founder of bespeak presentation solutions, this workshop will be geared toward helping artists and arts administrators communicate with audiences.

Visual artists are often called upon to talk about their work, just as composers are asked to discuss their compositions, performers are asked to talk about repertoire they're performing, and writers are asked to talk about their poetry or prose. Likewise, arts administrators are frequently asked to talk about their organizations' missions, programs, services, and events. Debbie Fay is an expert at easing the anxieties that can accompany public speaking. By providing valuable presentation tools and fostering confidence, Fay helps make presentations engaging, compelling and successful.

bespeak presentation solutions, based in Fairfield, Conn., teaches effective public speaking skills and offers a range of services including small group seminars, project-specific presentation planning, presentation and visual-aid editing, one-on-one coaching, and executive interview coaching. Fay also speaks professionally on topics related to presentations.

Fay earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, as well as her secondary education certification, from Michigan State University, where she majored in history and minored in English. She also holds a Train the Trainer certification, and is pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Communication and Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University.

This Arts Council-sponsored workshop is open to the public. The cost to attend is $15 for Arts Council members, $20 for non-members. For more information and to register, call (203) 772-2788.

Benefit Exhbition Preview of historic protest photos at Jennifer Jane Gallery this Friday

Jennifer Jane Gallery
838 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 494-9905
May Day: 1970
Through May 1—31, 2009.
Benefit Exhibition Preview: Fri., May 1, 6—9 p.m. (Suggested $25 donation)

Press release

There will be an benefit exhibition preview this Friday evening for May Day: 1970, an exhibition of photos by Tom Strong and John T. Hill documenting the historic protest on the New Haven Green. The preview will feature live music by Moki Jam, cocktails and hors d'œuvres. Guest speakers will share brief recollections of the rally. Proceeds are to benefit future programming and exhibitions at Jennifer Jane Gallery. A $25 suggested donation is appreciated.

May Day 1970 in New Haven coincided with the country's political turmoil, anti-war protest, student strikes, and civil rights awareness. To tighten the focus, there was the murder trial of the Black Panther leader, Bobby Seale, which was underway in New Haven. Contrary to the response of most universities under political pressure, Yale opened its doors to provide support in the form of first aid stations and counsel.

Around the central themes of Free Bobby Seale and general political repression, there were other interests attached to the occasion—such as proponents of anti-war, women's liberation, legalization of pot, and animal rights. While for many this was a day of vital political issues, for others it appears to be more a casual day on the New Haven Green; a day to visit with friends, enjoy the spectacle in the sun.

Tom Strong and John T. Hill were two of many photographers who documented this event. Their photographs exhibited at the Jennifer Jane Gallery give a glimpse of the time and place— showing many of the leading participants, the banners, and general atmosphere of the event.

Art opening at Wesleyan's Zilkha gallery this Friday

Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University
238 Washington Ter., Middletown, (860) 685-3355
Global Warning: Artists and Climate Change
Apr. 28—May 24, 2009.
Opening reception: Fri., May 1, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

Global Warning: Artists and Climate Change explores pressing environmental issues through the lens of visual artists. Although a number of the artists have collaborated or consulted with scientists and other experts, the aim of Global Warning is to increase awareness of climate change through challenging, often evocative, content that is laced with poetry and aesthetic power. Included in the exhibition are works by Marion Belanger, Nancy Cohen, Lenore Malen, Eve Mosher, Katie Shelly, Frances Whitehead, and students from Wesleyan University's Architecture Research-Design-Build Studio taught by Elijah Huge.

The exhibition is curated by Nina Felshin, Zilkha Gallery's Curator of Exhibitions, and organized in conjunction with Feet to the Fire, Wesleyan University's 18-month climate change initiative.

Global Warning: Artists and Climate Change runs from Tues., Apr. 28 through Sun., May 24, 2009. The public is invited to attend the opening reception on Friday, May 1 from 5—7 p.m., with a curator's talk at 5:30 p.m.

About the Exhibition
Chicago artist Frances Whitehead has formulated a new site-specific project entitled "Wesleyan University PhenoLilac." She proposes to "repurpose" the mature lilac bush just outside the gallery as a phenologic observation point to measure long-range climate change.

Lenore Malen's "Harmony as a Hive" consists of a traveling science museum and library located within a large sculpture, whose structure mirrors the geometry of the beehive. The work examines the ancient relationship of bees to human society in view of recent threats to the world's bee population by globalization and climate change.

Elijah Huge, assistant professor of art, is the guiding hand behind the collaborative project "SplitFrame", a site-specific and sustainable bird-viewing platform commissioned and built for a nearby sanctuary in 2008. The project, represented in the exhibition by a model and documentation, was conceived and executed by students in Professor Huge's Architecture Research-Design-Build Studio.

Eve Mosher is represented by a video and documentation of her 2007 interactive and performance-based public artwork "HighWaterLine" on the New York City waterfront, which created an immediate visual and local understanding of the effects of climate change.

Made of handmade paper, Nancy Cohen's lyrical sculptural installation "Estuary: Moods and Modes" is an evocation rather than a re-creation of her encounter with the vast quiet landscape of the Mullica River and Great Bay Estuary in New Jersey's Pine Barrens.

Marion Belanger's "Landfill," landscape photos printed on translucent fabric, was commissioned by Wesleyan's Center for the Arts and Environmental Studies program for the Feet to the Fire Festival in 2008.

"Bottled," by Wesleyan student Katie Shelly '09, is a site specific installation that uses recycled perfume bottles to comment on challenging personal and social questions raised by the environmental movement and the activism that surrounds it.

Related Events:

Seeing Green: Artists Tackle Climate

Saturday, May 23, 2 p.m.
Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery
This panel discussion examines how art that delivers challenging content with aesthetic power can be a major force in raising public consciousness. Panelists include Wesleyan Assistant Professor of Art Elijah Huge, and Global Warning artists Lenore Malen and Eve Mosher. Nina Felshin will moderate the panel. It is free and open to the public.

• About the Feet to the Fire project at Wesleyan

Feet to the Fire: Exploring Global Climate Change from Science to Art, is an eighteen-month project which includes: research opportunities for a team of students and faculty to explore first-hand the effects of global warming, fieldwork studies in art and science, performances, pedagogical exchanges in existing courses, commissioning of artists, and convening of experts. The project is funded in part by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program, a component of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. It is one of only eight grants given to challenge campus-based performing arts presenters to integrate their programs more organically within the academic environment. Visit http://www.wesleyan.edu/feettothefire for more information about the project.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Friday night opening at New Haven Lawn Club

New Haven Lawn Club
193 Whitney Ave., New Haven, (203) 777-3494
Liz Pagano: Tiny Infinities
Apr.20-May 31, 2009
Opening reception: Fri., Apr. 24, 5-7 p.m.

Press release

There will be an opening this Friday night at the New Haven Lawn Club of an exhibition of new work—layered plexiglass constructions/paintings—by Liz Pagano. The opening will last from 5—7 p.m. The show will be up until May 31, 2009.

"House Project" in Westport this weekend

Westport Arts Center
51 Riverside Ave., Westport, (203) 222-7070
House Project
Sat., Apr. 25, 10 a.m.—5 p.m., Sun., Apr. 26, 10 a.m.—7 p.m.
Free opening reception: Sat., Apr. 25, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

In conjunction with Westport Arts Center 's fortieth anniversary and the exhibition Home, Westport Arts Center Director of Visual Arts, Terri C. Smith, and Visual Arts Assistant Maura Frana are curating an exhibition event called House Project.

The art exhibition will take place in an unoccupied home at 54 Bayberry Lane over the weekend of April 25 and will include individual artworks and installations as well as a handful of ephemera and objects from nearby collections. There will be a $5 admission at the door for non-members; admission is free for members of the Westport Arts Center. There will be a free opening reception Saturday evening from 5—7 p.m.

The artists in the exhibition are cross-generational -for example, veteran photographer Larry Silver and Yale MFA student/photographer David Bush are both exhibiting work.

The show will take on the feeling of a project space that embraces fluidity and energy by creating relationships between artworks, crafts associated with home (including Denyse Schneider's quilts and Frances Palmer's vases), and the architecture of the house itself. Straddling a traditional gallery installation, a studio situation, and home staging, House Project hopes to expand the idea of how home can influence, enrich, and perhaps complicate the artistic process.

Sub-themes include: studio as home for creativity (Joe Fucigna will create a version of his studio in one room), how the meaning of sentimental objects can shift when inserted in a new context (stylized photos of family members that conjure specific eras, the abstracted drawing of a turkey by an artist's child, a Yale MFA student's conceptual graph about her family's Thanksgiving dinner, etc.), and the transformation of materials associated with home through the creative process (a hollow core door becomes a sculpture, a toilet seat becomes a painting, a broom are co-opted and transformed into sculpture). The associations, like the installation, are loose and improvisational, giving each viewer the room to incorporate his or her own perspective about how the works might allude to or question domestic spaces and experiences. The exhibition is sponsored by Connecticut Cottages & Gardens and FineHomesUSA.

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Photo scavenger hunt in Westville this Saturday

Jennifer Jane Gallery
838 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 494-9905
Film Speed Photo Scavenger Hunt
Sat., Apr. 25, 2009.

Press release

Four years running this unusual photography event has drawn more and more photo fans, enthusiasts and pros. This year the hunt will begin at noon on April 25 at the new Jennifer Jane Gallery located at 838 Whalley Avenue in Westville Village, New Haven.

Participants are given a list of topics, a one-time-use camera and a map of Westville Village in New Haven with points of interest and historical sites marked. Players have up to four hours to creatively interpret the topics on film and return their camera to complete their entry. The topics remain secret until they are received at each of the meeting points! Meeting points are located within the Village area and are easy to get to on bike or by foot. One exposure per topic, in the order given, needs to be turned it at the last meeting point at 4 p.m. that day.

Points are given for the most creative interpretation of the topics, shooting all of the topics and in the order they are given, over-all interpretation of the 24 topics and speed of getting to the meeting points, checking in, and reaching the finish line to complete the entry.

This event has been a great way for people of all ages and photography backgrounds to get out and explore New Haven. Since Film Speeders are focused in and looking for the most unique way to capture the topics it allows them to stop and smell the roses in the bustling, busy city. Participants that live in New Haven have found the event opened their eyes to a new view of the Elm City. Visitors to the area have found a place to adore and revisit.

More info is available by visiting the website at JenniferJaneGallery.com

All are welcome to participate.
Individual participants and groups of one adult and child under 10, $25
Groups of two adults, $30
The entry fee covers one disposable camera, map, developing and 4x6 prints and negatives that are yours to keep, snacks and refreshments at each of the meeting points.

Winners will be announced on May 9th during The Westville Village Annual ARTWALK. Three overall winners will be chosen based on points scored along with a selection of the best entries from each. These winning images will be on exhibition in Jennifer Jane Gallery during Artwalk, May 9, 11—7 p.m.

Image from Film Speed 2006. Topic: "Light as a Feather" by Charlene Lancel and Jeremi Szaniawski.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Real Art Ways opening tomorrow night

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Emma Wilcox: Salvage Rights
Through June 14, 2009.
Opening reception: Thurs., Apr. 16, 6—8 p.m.

Real Art Ways presents a solo exhibition by Emma Wilcox, titled Salvage Rights. The opening reception is on Thurs., Apr. 16, from 6—8 p.m. during Creative Cocktail Hour.

Wilcox, who writes giant texts on rooftops and vacant lots and then photographs them from a miniature helicopter, will give an artist talk on Thurs., Apr. 30 at 6 p.m. Admission to the opening reception is $10, $5 for Real Art Ways members. Admission to the exhibition after Thurs., Apr. 16, and to the artist talk, is free.

"For several years I have been writing texts, in 12-foot high letters, on rooftops and vacant lots throughout Newark, New Jersey, and photographing them via helicopter," Wilcox writes in her artist statement. "Initially, this was a solitary act, inspired by the conceptual function of eminent domain as instant blight, as well as by the widespread, false assumption by many Internet users that Google Earth functions in real time. I began with my own house, which I was about to lose. With Salvage Rights, I am interested in the chemical and textual memory of a landscape and the multiple, sometimes contradictory significances of place. In forensics, the absence of something can signify its presence, and scale is subject to continual reexamination."

Emma Wilcox is a photographer, writer and co-founder of Gallery Aferro, a Newark, NJ alternative space. She is the recipient of a 2007 NJSCA Fellowship for photography, and will be in residence at the Newark Museum in 2009. Selected as a Core Participant for Night School at the New Museum in 2008, she will be part of AIM at the Bronx Museum for 2009.

Emma Wilcox is one of six selectees from our 2008 open call, Step Up. The Step Up exhibition series seeks to provide emerging artists in our region an exhibition and publication opportunity at a critical moment in their careers. Step Up was made possible with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

The lay of the land

Guilford Art Center
411 Church St., Guilford, (203) 453-5947
Seduced: the Relevance of Landscape in the 21st Century
Through May 8, 2008

Seduced: the Relevance of Landscape in the 21st Century is a finely organized show at the Guilford Art center. Guest curator Samantha Pinckney, with the art historical importance of landscape art in mind, has selected a group of artists whose work all references nature. The 21st century twist here is that they view nature through the prism of its present ecological fragility.

The contemplative stance is not one of attempting to reproduce—or conjure—a vision of the sublime. Rather, the work acknowledges beauty insomuch as it us under threat. The encroachment of development, technology, climate change and other environmental stressors on nature is foregrounded. And yet—here is where Pinckney's choices have been particularly astute—these works warn at the same time as they warm the viewer, hence the relevant "seduction." The effect reminds me of a conversation I had with painter Jerry Saladyga, whose work addresses similar themes. "In some ways," Saladyga told me, "desolation becomes beautiful."

"Beautiful" is certainly an appropriate word to use for many of these pieces. Leila Daw's (Web) mixed media paintings and drawings, particularly the multi-panel "Doesn't Stand a Chance" and "Could Have Been a Great City," depict imaginative environments scarred by deforestation, with just trickles of blue water and patches of greenery. This is forbidding terrain, the life sucked from it. The layering of imagery and use of text suggests that the stress on these lands is human-made. Still, there is the seduction Pinckney refers to, the way the viewer is drawn in by metallic overlays, by the print-like staining of the canvas, by the selective use of glitter.

The seduction in Diane Burko's oil paintings comes through the buttery swirls of paint. Side by side, the paintings "1907, Okpilak Diptych After Ernest Leffingwell" and "2004, Okpilak Diptych After Matt Nolan #2" offer a comparison of the same mountainous region, revealing a snow and ice covering in retreat. This ecological fact, with all the dire portents it implies, is signaled by Burko's pigment choice. Whites swirl with violets and blue in the former, browns and blacks dominate in the latter.

Karen Glaser's (Web) large pigment prints—photographs shot in the springs and swamps of Florida—document vibrant ecosystems that are under threat. That threat is felt viscerally in the two "Fire in the Swamp" photos, where a haze of smoke envelops a stand of scrub pine and palm trees. It is implied in "Green Gator," a compositionally stark image depicting an alligator floating with a couple of turtles swimming away from it. From right to left, the water the ancient reptile floats in is banded deep emerald, aquamarine and then a luminous yellow green. The latter tint suggests the noxious presence of algae mixed with industrial chemicals. Perhaps most portentous is "Dust Storm," an image shot under shallow water. The swamp floor is muddy and something has stirred it up. Dirt, mud and small twigs are tossed as in a windstorm in a threatening light. Amid the agitated debris, small fish look like refugees fleeing war or a natural disaster.

Larry Schwarm's three photos deal directly with a human impact on the environment: controlled burnings on the Kansas prairie. These burnings represent, in effect, humans taking the torch from nature. Where fires long a natural part of the prairie ecosystem—clearing out invasive plants and encouraging new growth—agricultural industry has sought to systematize and domesticate the process. Fundamentally, though, whether naturally occurring or born of human intervention, this is destruction in the service of creation. Schwarm's photos speak to that duality. "Breathless-Southern Edwards County" is an explosion of flaming fury while "Smoldering Pasture at Sunset, North of Empire, Kansas," captures a meditative horizon in the aftermath of a fire.

Several of Joseph Saccio's large sculptures are shown in this show. As I have noted in writing about Saccio's work previously-including about the specific pieces shown here-he also deals in metaphors of death and rebirth that pack an ecological subtext. (I've written about Saccio here, here and here.) In works like "Once a Tree" and "Memorial: From the Fire" Saccio uses a mix of found natural, processed and manufactured materials.

Natural materials (leaves, twigs, branches, bone) mix with plaster and glass in Joy Wulke's cautionary sculptures (Web). In "Wave From the Future to the Past," a twisted vine-like piece of wood splitting into two grasping branches is imprisoned in a glass display mounted on a glass pedestal. The piece evokes thoughts of extinction, of humanity walled off from nature both by physical barriers and by time.

Joseph Smolinski is also branching out in his work. His three small pencil drawings and the large archival inkjet print "Satellite" were inspired, if that's the proper word, by the profusion of cellphone transmission towers (and the occasional attempt to fob them off as mutant "trees"). While there is a wryness of approach in Smolinski's drawings, they raise serious questions about the intrusion of technology on the natural environment. These questions raise issues of aesthetics—the "Franken trees" are ugly—as well as environmental issues (might these proliferating transmissions have an impact on health?).

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Poetry reading Thursday evening at Broad Street Books

Poetry is off-topic for Connecticut Art Scene. But I wanted to make an exception to put in a plug for a poetry reading by Charlotte Currier this Thursday, Apr. 9, 7 p.m. at Broad Street Books in Middletown. Under her imprint Trefoil Arts, Charlotte has just published Shadow and Light: a Retrospective. The poetry collection is a "kid of memoir" of 50 years of writing and teaching the writing of poetry. In an email to me, Charlotte noted that the book, which was designed by New Haven designer Daphne Geismar, "is an 80th birthday gift to myself." Charlotte, I might add as a visual arts connection, is the mother of New Haven photographer Matthew Garrett.

I make this exception because I took a Creative Journalism course taught by Charlotte in the 1990's as part of my studies in Wesleyan University's Graduate Liberal Studies Program. If not for her encouragement, I doubt I would have continued to pursue writing with any seriousness.

Broad Street Books is located at 45 Broad Street in Middletown. The phone number is (860) 685-7323. The store can be found on the Web here.

Collage show opens at Hull's One Whitney Thursday evening

Hull's One Whitney
1 Whitney Ave., New Haven, (203) 907-0320
Significant Form: Works in Collage
Apr. 9—May 26, 2009.
Opening reception: Thurs., Apr. 9, 5—8 p.m.

Press release

Two area artists, Eugene Healy and Rex Prescott Walden will exhibit their works in collage at an upcoming show at Hulls Fine Framing & Gallery located at One Whitney Avenue in New Haven. The show is open to the public and will run Apr. 9 through May 26. An opening reception is scheduled for Thurs., Apr. 9, from 5—8 p.m. The Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m.—6 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Eugene Healy's collages have been essayed by Peter Hastings Falk: "He is one of the few abstract painters today who have clearly grasped "significant form" that is, the orchestration of lines, shapes, and colors into certain combinations and relationships so that the completed work evokes an aesthetic ecstasy. They move us. It's just that simple . . . yet so immensely difficult to pull off. Many of Healy's paintings are abstractions of shore scenes, being places that have evoked particular moods and feelings in the artist. And it is those feelings that he so effectively materializes with paint, sand, fragments of printed fabrics, even pieces of window screens."

Rex Prescott Walden succinctly expresses his work as "the making of art is nothing but a series of highs and lows. It is the search for the highs that enables the painter to continue. There is nothing more beautiful, or frightening, than the minimal perfection of a white canvas. Each mark one makes is a risk. The elusive and sometimes forgiving attributes of any medium coax me to continue. Keeping paint friendly is my goal. I know it can turn on me at any moment."

The term, "significant form" was likely best explained by British art critic, Clive Bell in "Art and Significant Form," (1913). The idea that we can view art with interest and admiration yet not be moved by it. Bell supposed that our aesthetic emotions remain unprovoked unless we "connect" with the art. That is to say, the art must communicate the ideas and information suggested by its forms rather than the form itself.

"This show is intended to demonstrate how these two artists have explored achieving significant form in their collages," commented Barbara Hawes, Gallery Manager. Hulls Fine Framing & Gallery is a part of the Hull's Art Supply & Framing family of suppliers based in New Haven since 1947.

Monday, April 06, 2009

Student thesis show to open at Wesleyan tomorrow

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Sunday opening at Kehler Liddell Gallery

Kehler Liddell Gallery
873 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 389-9555
Breaking the Surface: Painting and Sculpture
Through Apr. 25, 2009
Artist Reception: Sun., Apr. 5, 3—6 p.m.

Press release

This exhibition looks at the marine environment through the eyes of three New England artists. New York Times Bestselling author/artist James Prosek will exhibit paintings of real and imagined marine creatures. His images are finely rendered in watercolor, color pencil and graphite, and he is well known for his natural science art as well as childrens' book illustration.

A lifetime of diving with father and pioneer underwater filmmaker Stan Waterman inspires Susannah Waterman's painted fish on wood panels and beach combed crustacean assemblages, as well as New Haven sculptor Gar Waterman's luscious forms of shells, nudibranchs, and squid carved in marble and onyx.

A percentage of the artwork sold from this show will be donated to the Penobscot East Resource Center, a nationally recognized marine and fisheries conservation group that works to balance sustainable fishing with the environment.

EVENTS:

• Artist Reception: Sun., Apr. 5, 3—6 pm
Join the artists, Kehler Liddell Gallery members and community in celebrating this exhibition. Gallery Admission and Reception are free.

• Westville Wednesday Film: Apr. 15, 7:30 p.m. The Man Who Loves Sharks,
A Discovery Channel Special about the remarkable life of underwater film maker Stan Waterman, his family, and the underwater world that has inspired him for over 60 years. Call to pre-reserve seats 389-9555. Free.

• Artist Talks:
Gar Waterman - Sculptor: Artist Dialogue, Sun., Apr. 19, 2:30pm
Meet the artist and join the conversation!

Storytime and Boxed Dinner with New York Times Bestselling Author-Artist, James Prosek. Wed., Apr. 22, 6—5:30p.m.
James will read his aloud and sign copies of his new children's book Bird Butterfly Eel. $22/participant for signed book and delicious gourmet boxed dinner. Paid pre-registration required as space is limited. Call to register/ more info: 389-9555

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Artspace opening weds lively art and personal relationships

Artspace
50 Orange St, New Haven, (203) 772-2709
(un)spoken
Apr. 2-June 6, 2009

I stopped by the opening for the new set of shows at Artspace this evening. Or, perhaps it's more accurate to say new show. Guest curator Jessica Buckley enlisted three married couples—artists times two—to not only show the work they create individually but also to produce some collaborative work. Each of the artists is represented with a showing of their personal work, which includes painting (Christopher Mir, Karen Dow, Jesse Lambert, Maggie Michael) and sculpture (Dan Steinhilber and Linda Ganjian). The main gallery showcases the collaborative efforts. It's a lively selection all around, one I hope to return to in more detail in the near future. But for now, a sampling of images from this evening:

Chris Mir and Karen Dow with their collaborative painting:

Dan Steinhilber and Maggie Michael discuss their photo display:

Linda Ganjian and Jesse Lambert with one of their colorful sculptures:

Ganjian and Lambert's "Stack and Squeeze":
Linda Ganjian's "Maldive":Jesse Lambert's "Twisted Garden Spoils":Maggie Michael's "To Heaven and Back":

Dan Steinhilber's untitled wall collage:Karen Dow's "April":Chris Mir's "Death Is An Illusion":

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Group show opening at No Regrets in Naugatuck Saturday

No Regrets Tattoo Studio
195 Rubber Ave., Naugatuck, (203) 729-3115
April's Fools
Opening reception: Sat., Apr. 4, 6—10 p.m.

Press release

So we took a break for the snowy months and have come back with new events...

On Saturday, Apr. 4, the show April's Fools opens in the gallery at No Regrets Tattoo Studio in Naugatuck. The group show features artists Dave Estes (Web site), Craig Medeiros (Web site), Micheal Shapcott (Web site), Rick Beaupre (Web site) and Tom Drew (Web site). The Opening reception will be held at the No Regrets Tattoos and Art Gallery on Sat., Apr. 4, from 6—10 p.m.

No Regrets Art Gallery is a Gallery space in conjuction with No Regrets tattoo studio in Naugatuck. We're looking to support both new up and comers as well as established artists. Past showing artists include Nick Baxter, Sket one, Chris Uminga, Rob Gramlich, Miha Tanaka, L3mn, Phil Young, Eric Merrill, Joe Capobianco, Gene Guynn, Jaz7, Alana Lawton, Silas Finch, Dana Milton, Tim Harris, David Nielsen, Harley Carrera, George Pfau, Peter Thompson, etc... Artists contact Dave Nielsen or Rob Gramlich about displaying work. Noregretsartgallery [AT] yahoo.com

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Opening at Artspace tonight

Artspace
50 Orange St, New Haven, (203) 772-2709
(Un)spoken
Apr. 2-June 6, 2009
Opening reception: Thurs., Apr. 2, 6-8 p.m., with artist talks at 6:30 p.m.

I happened to notice while reading the Cal of the Hartford Courant this morning that a new series of shows are opening this evening at Artspace in New Haven. I haven't been receiving press release emails from Artspace since last fall despite my email request to Communication Director Jemma Williams that I be added (back) onto the press list. At any rate, I copied this info from Artspace's Web site:

(Un)spoken is a group exhibition that explores the boundaries of collaboration and artistic production within the context of a marital relationship. Linda Ganjian and Jesse Lambert, Karen Dow and Christopher Mir, and Maggie Michael and Dan Steinhilber are artists-couples with children and professional arts careers living and working in the Eastern United States. Unlike other contemporary artists-couples, such as Jeanne-Claude and Christo, the six artists included in (un)spoken have worked to create art individually, but never collaboratively. For this exhibition, Artspace and curator Jessica Buckley, have asked each of these couples to create new collaborative works that will be shown in Gallery 1 through June 6. Each artist will show individual works in Galleries 27 through May 9.

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Photo show opens at City Gallery this Saturday

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Phyllis Crowley: Field of Vision
Apr. 2—26, 2009.
Opening reception: Sat., Apr. 4, 3—6 p.m.

Press release

City Gallery is presenting Field of Vision, a photography exhibit by Phyllis Crowley from Apr. 2 through Apr. 26, 2009. The Opening Reception is Saturday, April 4, 3—6 pm.

The horizon is our basic orientation in this world. It tells us what is up and what is down. When there is no horizon and only earth, we know that we are focused on the land and there is a feeling of firmness and solidity. When there is no horizon and only sky, we are pointed up into the air, and experience a feeling of lightness, weightlessness, and ascendancy. The placement of the horizon affects our perception and emotions.

These Cape Cod landscapes are part of Crowley's everyday life in the summer. In their simplicity, orientation (up, down, or straight ahead), and rich color, she finds a tranquil response to the daily violence and turmoil that have become part of our everyday lives. One knows where one is, with feet on the ground and head on the shoulders.

The opening reception will be held from 3-6 p.m. on Sat., Apr. 4.

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"Home" opens at Westport Arts Center on Friday, April 3

Westport Arts Center
51 Riverside Ave., Westport, (203) 222-7070
Home
Apr. 3—June 1, 2009
Opening Reception: Fri., Apr. 3, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Press release

The Westport Arts Center will launch the start of its 40th anniversary year with an exhibition entitled Home, curated by Eric Aho. The show is on view from Fri., Apr. 3—Mon., June 1. Home will open with a public reception on Fri., Apr. 3, from 6:30—8:30 p.m.

Westport Arts Center's exhibition Home features more than one-dozen paintings and drawings that touch on the mental, physical and emotional connections to home. According to Aho, "These artists point out that the range of our associations with 'home' is as wide and varied as our own unique circumstances. Through their work we are reminded that the notion of home is seldom a fixed idea. Instead, it is as conditional as our memory and vulnerable to change without notice."

The drawings and paintings Aho selected for the exhibition range from the 1920s to the present, highlighting artists' perennial interest in and the shifting attitudes toward the topic of home.

The imagery and aesthetic attitudes of the works in Home range from traditional to confrontational, comforting to disquieting. Themes include the familiarity and alienation of the suburbs, domestic interactions of family, and the psychological (even dreamlike) symbolism of domestic interiors. Many of these artists can be found in major collections around the world, including the Tate (London), The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington, DC), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), The Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of Art (New York), and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Works include a watercolor by American art icon Charles Burchfield (1893-1967); the keenly observed work of Edwin Dickinson (1891-1978) seen in the exquisite rendering Provincetown studio; the spare, symbolic houses and windows painted by Lois Dodd (b.1927); the remembered landscapes of Icelandic native Lousia Matthíasdóttir (1917-2000); George Nick's (b.1927) effulgent renderings of domestic interiors; and the simplified and searching line of a Fairfield Porter (1907-1975) drawing.

Emerging and mid-career contemporary artists are in the mix as well, including a dreamlike interior by Debra Bermingham (b.1953); Quentin Curry's (b. 1972) abstracted psychological landscapes; the chunky oils, spray paint, and hard-edge surface of Kim Dorland's (b.1974) suburban-scapes; landscape architects Soren (b. 1975) and Rayna deNiord's (b.1978) drawings; a pre-World War II England themed painting by Duncan Hannah (b.1952); Kristine Moran's (b.1974) expressionistic renderings of psychic spaces; the hazy, black-and-white suburban drawings of Charles Ritchie (b.1954); Shane Neufeld's (b.1982) take on home, which stylistically reflects his twentieth-century predecessors; and the inventive architectural constructions of Devin O'Neill (b.1971).

Exhibition programming includes a curator talk by Eric Aho on Thurs., Apr. 9 at 7:00 p.m., Art in Context talk by WAC's Director of Visual Arts Terri C. Smith on Thurs., May 7 at 7:00 p.m. and a book discussion of "The House on Mango Street" led by Professor on May 19 at 7:00 p.m. There will also be a literary program titled "Writing Home" opening with a reception on Apr. 5 from 4—6, and an exhibition event that will take place at 54 Bayberry Lane during the weekend of Apr. 25. According to Westport Arts Center's Executive Director Kathy KnappNancy Heller, "WAC has had multiple 'homes' during its forty-year history. So the theme of this exhibition is timely as we celebrate an important milestone and pave the way for the next 40 years."

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Lewitt's "Wall Drawing 978" in Willimantic

Akus Gallery
Shafer Hall

Eastern Connecticut State University

83 Windham Street
Willimantic, 860-465-4659

Taking Shape: Selections from the Collection
of Eastern Connecticut State University
March 19 – May 7, 2009
Reception & Unveiling of Sol LeWitt's Wall Drawing 978: April 9, 5 – 7 p.m.








Four students from Eastern Connecticut State University are in the process of creating a Sol LeWitt mural, “Wall Drawing 978.” Located in the Akus Gallery on Eastern's campus, the mural is part of “Taking Shape: Selections from the Collection of Eastern Connecticut State University,” a group show curated by gallery director Elizabeth Peterson. Stop by before April 3rd to watch Lewitt assistant Jesse Good and Visual Arts students Christina Ciacci, Hanna Shea, Patrick Donahue, and Katherine Riotte meticulously mask and paint a vibrant blue pyramid on a sea of eye-popping red. The work, which has never been created in the U.S. before, is on loan to Eastern courtesy of the Estate of Sol LeWitt. Keep track of their progress here.

Also included in “Taking Shape” are selections from Eastern’s permanent collection including screenprints by Ilya Bolotowsky and Manuel Facal; ceramic macquettes by Dorothy Mayhall; and the Sol LeWitt, “Pyramid #5,” 1986, a sculpture gifted by the artist to Eastern in 1993. The show runs from March 19 through May 7, and will include “Shape Up!”, an interactive area for preschool children. The Akus Gallery collaborated with Eastern’s Child and Family Development Resource Center to present “Shape Up!” a fun corner for the preschool set. Children ages 2 to 5 find and identify shapes and colors in the exhibition and create geometric designs.

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