Dedicated to covering the visual arts community in Connecticut.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

City-Wide Open Studios Weekend 2 agenda, with "Artspace Underground" on Saturday night

Artspace
City-Wide Open Studios
50 Orange St, New Haven, (203) 772-2709
City-Wide Open Studios
Oct. 2—3, 2010: New Haven Neighborhoods & Artspace Underground

Press release

Artspace celebrated its 13th City-Wide Open Studios with a kickoff bash on Friday, Sept. 24. More than 500 people were in attendance, including Mayor John DeStefano and State Representative Cam Staples.

The second weekend of City-Wide Open Studios runs from Oct. 2—3. The weekend will take visitors through studios across the New Haven area, with an emphasis on the west side of New Haven on Sat., Oct. 2, and the east side on Sun., Oct. 3. More than 100 artists will be opening their studio doors this weekend.

This year's City-Wide Open Studios features more interactive demonstrations by artists, and the second weekend is no exception. On Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 2 and 3, Artspace's neighbor Project Storefronts will hold demonstrations in hooping, weaving, and reading knitting patterns from 1—4 p.m. at their 71 Orange Street location. At Project Storefronts on Sun., Oct. 3, DETRITUS will host a chapbook-binding workshop from 3—4 p.m. The event will be led by local authors Beth Anne Royer and Edgar Garcia. Also on Sun., Oct. 3, Creative Arts Workshop will host ongoing demonstrations in sculpture, painting, drawing, and printmaking from noon—5 p.m. at their 80 Audubon Street location.

Visitors can explore studios and demonstrations on their own, or participate in guided bike tours led by the Devil's Gear beginning at 12:30 p.m. and leaving from their new location at 151 Orange Street, in the rear of the 360 State Street building. Studios will be open from noon—5 p.m. on both days, and a complete map and PDF guide are available on the City-Wide Open Studios website.

Artspace has also recruited a full slate of bloggers to document their City-Wide Open Studios experience, among them: participating artist Elizabeth Antle, Devil's Gear owner Matthew J. Feiner, returning artists Caitlin Foster and Destiny Palmer, Beth Anne Royer, and novelist Brian Francis Slattery. Their diverse perspectives can be found at http://cwos2010.wordpress.com.

We look forward to exploring and celebrating the creativity that makes New Haven's neighborhoods so vibrant!

On Oct. 2, Artspace will host the first Underground of the school year from 8—11 p.m. The Underground brings alternative music, experimental time-based art, and cutting edge-performances to the gallery. This Saturday's Underground features performances by Fake Babies, a New Haven-based indie rock band fast gaining national prominence for their brand of “dirty soul,” and If Jesus Had Machine Guns, the lo-fi solo project of up-and-coming independent filmmaker Jimi Patterson. Local sculptor Silas Finch will perform a live build, and DJ Booty Beats (Nathan Rose of EULA) will spin tracks. Curated by Madison Moore, with drinks by 116 Crown, the event is $5 for attendees and guests are encouraged to dress to impress.

DiGiovanni painting show opens Sunday at Da Silva Gallery in Westville

Da Silva Gallery
899 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 387-2539
Steve DiGiovanni
Sept. 30—Oct. 29, 2010
Opening reception: Sun., Oct. 3, 3—6 p.m.

Press release

There will be an opening for a new show of Steve DiGiovanni’s oil and acrylic paintings this Sunday from 3—6 p.m. at Da Silva Gallery in Westville. The show will be up through Oct. 29, 2010.

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Opening at Kehler Liddell this Sunday during CWOS

Kehler Liddell Gallery
873 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 389-9555
Keith Johnson and John Harris
Sept. 30—Oct. 31, 2010
Opening reception: Sun., Oct. 3, 3—6 p.m., with Artist Talk at 3 p.m.

Press release

Kehler Liddell Gallery is pleased to present a two-person exhibition of new works by painter John Harris and photographer Keith Johnson. This will be Harrisʼs debut at Kehler Liddell Gallery, and Johnsonʼs third show.

John Harris isolates and exaggerates forms, colors and sequences found in nature. His large-scale, photorealist paintings take months to complete, as he meticulously works to recreate various environmental complexities from photographs and memory. His process begins with mapping out large shapes of color on his canvas, the paint is allowed to dry and then details are added. The repetition of this careful glazing technique results in the dramatization of hundreds of translucent layers—a visual effect that is conceptually harmonious with its subject: water.

Harris is most interested in exploring waterʼs physical properties-- reflection, turbidity, rhythm, pattern, that make up its unique viewing experience. He addresses these issues by isolating a moment in time in various bodies of water, painting from a birds-eye view. The result is a series of hypnotic and fleeting images, in which water is disguised as tree canopies and the skies above.

Keith Johnson photographs environments with the control and excitement of an anthropologist excavating a new civilization. Johnson is captivated by the hidden language of images, and makes photographs to explore 1) the intrinsic meaning of images, 2) how and why these meanings change over time, and 3) how position, context and presentation affects their meanings.

Johnson photographs a wide range of subject: landscapes, cityscapes, waterscapes, interiors, isolated forms, aerial panoramas. The exhibition will feature new work from his Grid Series and Extended Landscape Series, in which Johnson presents multiple photographs as one work. His presentations vary from involved grids of 4 images across by 4 images down, to simpler triptychs of 3 large images across. The works challenge the traditional notions of photography by implying that sometimes a single photograph does not aptly describe the idea.

There will be an opening reception for this show this Sunday from 3—6 p.m. during City-Wide Open Studios.

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Crowley photography show opens at City Gallery Sunday

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Phyllis Crowley: Thinking Twice
Sept. 30—Oct. 24, 2010.
Opening reception: Sun. Oct. 3, 3—6 p.m.

Press release

City Gallery is presenting Thinking Twice, photographs by Phyllis Crowley, from Sept. 30 through Oct. 24, 2010.

Crowley takes a close look at what we eat, transforming meat and fish bought at the daily market into abstract landscapes or visual fields. Crowley is interested in the aesthetic and painterly qualities of subjects that also have repugnant associations.

“The idea for this series originated with trips to markets in Mexico, where I saw meat cut and displayed in a manner which I had never seen before. Sheets of beef were hanging from wires above the vendor, lit from behind. They looked like paintings.”

The Opening Reception is Sun., Oct. 3, from 3—6 pm.

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CWOS Erector Square conversations

Last weekend was the first weekend of this year’s City-Wide Open Studios. It kicked off with a crowded opening at the Festival Exhibition Friday night. Saturday and Sunday if this first weekend were devoted to Erector Square studios in Fair Haven. I had family obligations on Saturday but spent several hours at Erector Square on Sunday talking with artists.



Below are some vignettes from my conversations.

•••

Anna Broell Bresnick was showing mostly drawings. Images of birds—some from sojourns to the Peabody Museum, some from photos taken by herself. Bresnick's drawings were done with graphite on museum board and the imagery was augmented burst of spray paint on mylar.

Bresnick said she has been working with bird imagery for a while.

"Birds are something that are a very powerful element of nature. The one species that can actually get off earth and our relationship to them is often one of envy," Bresnick told me. "I like using them because they can do things that other animals can't do."

"I'm originally a sculptor and there is something about the fact that they can move through space without [regard to the] horizon line," said Bresnick.

Bresnick also incorporated some photographic imagery into these drawings, rotten apples photographed on her kitchen table. She explained that apples are symbolically "the fruit of paradise and the fact that they are rotten is a comment on our culture today."

I asked Bresnick why she incorporated the element of color spray paint on mylar in several of the pieces.



"I come from a German Expressionist background. I've always been very expressive. I like abstract expressionism and neo-expressionism," Bresnick said. "I really like combining something in control and something out of control."

Adding the use of spray paint adds risk-taking, Bresnick said. It affords her the chance to make gestural marks. Additionally, working with collage elements taps into her experience as a sculptor, moving pieces around in search of the right placement.

•••

Jane Lubin trained as a doctor—she practiced eye surgery—and medical textbooks provide much fodder for her anthropomorphic collage creations. Lubin said she "loves body parts and putting them together in different ways." It is mix and match time as human parts get juggled with parts from insects and animals. They are playful pieces, mostly small, almost miniatures, with pastel-like background colors.

Lubin, M.D. told me that she finds that her best collages are the ones that "come without thought," from the subconscious, "grabbing images that appeal to me at the moment and putting them together while trying not to think too much."



There are elements of painting and drawing in the works, too. Lubin cuts up her old acrylic paintings for her backgrounds. A painter for 20 years, Lubin has been doing the collages for about two years, but says "this seems to be where I want to be."

"They're really fun. I love doing these. I can't wait to get to my studio and do it," Lubin said.

Her eye surgery background "probably accounts for the small size of these," Lubin said, laughing, "I'm used to working in small spaces. I love the detail of these little images, which you don't get if you blow them up."

•••

Zachary Keeting was showing a wall's worth of vigorous abstract acrylic paintings on paper. He said he generally began by watering paint down to the consistency of cream, making calligraphic marks or pouring some of the paint and then pushing and wiping the paint.

"As the layers build up the surface change," said Keeting. "I try and make them energetic, so they look like living, the tension of daily breathing."

All the paintings he was showing were done over the past several months. Keeting titled them by the month and the number "so when I get away from them I can see the trajectory, see myself mutate and become more brave." (Artwork shown on Keeting's Web site is arranged chronologically.)

I asked him what he meant by "becoming more brave."

"It means bringing in more variables, being less calculated and safe," Keeting explained. "That could change and there could be a time when I feel I need more structure."



Keeting has been working more on paper the past year.

"When I first experimented, I realized I couldn't quite control it as much. It buckles, it can tear, [the paint] puddles in unexpected ways," said Keeting. "I liked the initial results so I put the canvas aside to concentrate on this for a while."

"Acrylic wants to do something very flat on the surface. In order to integrate it into other areas, you have to tweak it," Keeting told me. "All this scraping, wiping, pouring and shaking is a way of trying to make acrylic less dead. You have to tussle with it to get it to look more sexy."

•••

Artists Rashmi Talpade, Debbie Hesse, Insook Hwang and Steve Olsen (I didn't get a chance to speak with Olsen) chose to share a space so their work could play off each other.

Talpade was dressed in black and white, in keeping with the color theme of her "three-dimensional drawings." Talpade said she was seeking to realize her black and white ink drawings—raucous collages of household objects—in sculptural form.

She used everyday items: Styrofoam packaging, children's modeling clay, little plastic bottles, white frames for slides.



"It's basic still life. The purpose is not the object itself but how the line travels. If you were to draw this, you would expect the line to travel," said Talpade. A viewer can approach the work closely and see that "this is x" and "that is y" but should step back and take it in as a whole.

"Once you do something, the juices flow. I wanted to work bigger. Eventually, I want to make a whole room where you walk into the drawing," Talpade told me.

"Lawn.Turf," Debbie Hesse's sculptural installation complemented Talpade's work (and vice versa), utilizing lots of white but substituting a profusion of green for Talpade's basic black.

"It's a topographic, futuristic dystopic landscape," explained Hesse, "combining—as in a lot of my other works—synthetic and natural forms."

A commentary on the industrialization of agriculture, "Lawn.Turf"—the third in a series of works—juxtaposes both live, growing grass and the simulacrum of such, Astroturf. Hesse also created artificial lichen using magnets and colored iron shavings.

"I like the fact that you have to think about what's real and what's not and I like the fact that one riffs off the other," Hesse said.



Hesse explained that she is using the live grass as both painting and drawing tools. By staggering the planting of the grass, the rates of growth vary in each of the planters (the painting tool). Changes in the way the blades of grass orient themselves to the light function as a drawing tool. Hesse said she plans to make a time-lapse video of the project, noting that "a whole piece of it changes so much during the day."

Insook Hwang integrates her digital technological facility with her painting and sculptural knowledge to create a "kind of talisman."

"I'm trying to send out good and positive energy to people," said Hwang. "I'm creating an illusionistic space, combining the effect of drawing and three-dimensional sculpture."

Her wall installation meshes hand-drawn imagery on fabric with imagery created in the computer and made into lenticular prints. In a PDF artist statement on her Web site, Hwang wrote, "The imaginary creatures created by combining multiple images of monitors, curve pipes and tubes symbolize our contemporary, Internet-based society moving, affecting and evolving itself."

Her creations look like microscopic organisms evolving from single cells of digital monitors and tubing. They have a cartoon-like innocence to them. But—and this may not be an intention of Hwang's—they also suggest a virus, that this evolving technology might be something very unhealthy.



She analogizes her collage technique to cellular reproduction. Both the collage and the use of fabric and lenticular prints gives the works some depth; Hwang said "I want it flat but not flat."

"I want to create a magic that attracts people," said Hwang. "The medium I use is very scientific but I have this painterly technique."

•••

Martha Lewis was living in southern California and making artwork based on the way the highway system altered the landscape. But then she moved to Oxford in England and freeways somehow seemed less relevant in her new environment. Lewis happened upon a trove of old machine diagrams and drawings and was inspired to develop a body of work based on that encounter.

Using simple materials—paper, watercolor paint, pencil—Lewis conjures "hybrid machine/construct/plans." She uses a lot of source material, referring to blueprints and technical drawings. Lewis sketches the composition on one piece of paper and then transfers that sketch onto the surface of another paper.

"The basic thing gets laid in there and then I keep adding things. I like to keep as much drawing in there as possible," said Lewis. She likes art where the "method of production" reveals itself. "It keeps things alive because it is possible to make very shiny, technically savvy dead paintings."

Her paintings are the antithesis of "dead." Filled with color and detail, they reference landscape and technology, the past and the future.



The use of simple materials, Lewis believes, counterbalances the intricacy of the imagery, keeping it "from becoming too fussy or precious or too slick and impersonal."

"I wanted to combine certain elements like Oriental carpets, star charts, mandalas and things about belief, faith and desire with things more seemingly pragmatic," said Lewis. "But with machines, you're always talking about the future." And talking about the future, Lewis said, inevitably involves engaging with the concepts of faith, desire and belief.

Lewis said that she generally has an idea when starting a work but they "get richer as the piece goes on. I like a fairly improvisational approach."

"Paintings are like conversations and oftentimes they're like arguments," said Lewis, chuckling.

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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Saturday opening at Windsor Art Center: Nathan Lewis & Lea Ann Cogswell

Windsor Art Center
40 Mechanic St., Windsor, (860) 688-2528
Nathan Lewis & Lea Ann Cogswell
Sept. 25—Nov. 6, 2010.
Opening reception: Sat., Sept. 25, 5—7 p.m.
Artist Talk: Sat., Oct. 9, 1:30 p.m.

Press release

An exhibition of work by Nathan Lewis and Lea Ann Cogswell will open on Sat., Sept. 25 with a reception from 5—7 PM. There will be a preview for members only starting at 4:30.

Nathan Lewis is a California born painter and installation artist. He received his MFA from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He also studied at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy and in St. Petersburg, Russia. His work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally in museums, galleries, and universities. His work is in private collections in New York, CT, MA, CA, Russia, and India. Lewis' paintings have been on the cover of numerous books and journals and his work was included in films shown at the Cannes and Sundance Film festivals. His work has been published and reviewed by the Boston Globe, the New York Press, International Artist, The New Haven Register, The New Haven Advocate, Big Red and Shiny, and the New York Times. He is currently a tenure track Assistant Professor of Art at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.

Lea Ann Cogswell holds a BFA University of Texas, Austin in Sculpture and Drawing. She has taught privately at FVAC and as Artist in Residence, NBAL. She has received national awards for sculpture and drawing. Her work is in the permanent collection of the New Britain Museum of American Art. Lea Ann is on the board of directors of the CT Society of sculptors and teaches at the West Hartford Art League.

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Thursday opening at Atticus Bookstore/Cafe: Liz Pagano

Atticus Café
1082 Chapel St., New Haven, (203) 776-4040
Liz Pagano: Little Infinities
Through Oct. 31, 2010
Opening Reception: Thurs., Sept. 23, 2010, 6:30 p.m.

Press release

For the month of October, Atticus Bookstore/Café presents Little Infinities, a show of multimedia works by New Haven artist Liz Pagano.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT:
Accidental beauty inspires me. I am interested in textures and how they reveal a history. I search for unexpected possibilities, using layers of seemingly unrelated pieces. My work magnifies moments, capturing movements, sometimes reactions or fusions. My process is about exploring interactions of chance and control, coincidence and intent. I am interested in the visual change that takes place with form and light.

ABOUT ATTICUS BOOKSTORE/CAFE
Atticus is an independent bookstore and cafe, serving downtown New Haven for over 30 years. Atticus offers fresh bread, coffee, sandwiches, soups, salads, and desserts, as well as a selection of fine books and cards. For more information, see the Atticus website at www.atticusbookstorecafe.com.

There will be an opening reception for Little Infinities on Thurs. evening, Sept. 23, at 6:30 p.m.

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Blog for Warhol-related show at Housatonic Museum of Art

Housatonic Museum of Art
900 Lafayette Blvd., Bridgeport, (203) 332-5052
In the Company of…Andy Warhol
Through Oct. 15, 2010.
Special Event: Thurs. Oct. 14, 4 p.m.: Trisha Baga performs Madonna y El Niño

Press release

Curator Terri Smith has created a blog for In the Company of, a show that places the works of Jeremy Kost, Rashaad Newsome, Billy Sullivan, and Andy Warhol (as well as other artworks and pop culture materials) in the company of each other. In doing so, the exhibition explores some ways in which artists include their social circles as a subject or as a medium in their work. In 2008, the Andy Warhol Photographic Legacy Program donated a collection of 158 photographs by Andy Warhol to the Housatonic Museum of Art.

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Closing event Sunday at City Gallery for Bloom/el-Yasin show

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Meg Bloom & Howard el-Yasin: Out of Line
Through Sept. 26, 2010.
Closing Event: Sun., Sept. 26, 5:30 p.m.

Press release

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Thursday opening at Parachute Factory Gallery at Erector Square

Parachute Factory
Erector Square, 319 Peck St., Bldg. 1, New Haven, (203) 772-2788
The Seven Billionth Person Project
Sept. 23, 2010—Jan. 31, 2011
Opening reception: Thurs., Sept. 23, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

In the next 1,000 days, the seven billionth person will be born … What would you tell him or her about the world we live in?

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, in partnership with The Parachute Factory, Proof: Media for Social Justice, and the Yale World Fellows Program, presents The Seven Billionth Person Project. It has been estimated that the seven billionth person will be born somewhere in the world in October 2012. The Seven Billionth Person Project, a participatory exhibition curated by Valerie Belanger and Leora Kahn, asks: What would you tell him or her about the world we live in?

The exhibition will be on display at The Parachute Factory, Erector Square, 319 Peck St., Bldg. 1, New Haven, from Sept. 23, 2010 through Jan. 31, 2011, with special City-Wide Open Studios hours on Sat. and Sun., Sept. 25 and 26, from 1—5 p.m. A reception is scheduled for Thurs., Sept. 23, from 5—7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

The genesis of The Seven Billionth Person Project was Ali Hakan Altinay’s essay “1000 days to the 7th Billion Human: What Do We Tell Her?” which was published by The Huffington Post in Oct. 2009. Altinay was the 2009 Duncan Greenberg World Fellow at the Yale World Fellows Program and is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Belanger, director of programs and admissions at the Yale World Fellows Program, said her long-term goal in putting together The Seven Billionth Person Project is to build interest in the question: What would you tell him or her about the world we live in? and to collect submissions — answers — from around the world to “share” with the latest human arrival.

The Seven Billionth Person Project is presented by The Parachute Factory (a collaboration of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health, and Community Services Network of Greater New Haven), Proof: Media for Social Justice, and Yale World Fellows Program.

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Thursday night opening at Middlesex Community College

Middlesex Community College Pegasus Gallery
100 Training Hill Road, Chapman Hall, Middletown, 1-800-818-5501
Paul Gobell: Floral Menagerie
Middlesex Community College The Niche
100 Training Hill Road, Founders Hall, Middletown, 1-800-818-5501
Michael Donovan: Sculptural Apparatus
Sept. 13—Oct. 21, 2010.
Opening reception, Thurs., Sept. 23, 5:30—7:30 p.m. in the Pegasus Gallery

Press release

Sculptor Michael Donovan creates quasi-mechanical implements that momentarily suspend muscular operations of expansion and contraction. In works like “construction for flexure,” considerable physical tension is enacted on the skeletal form where danger lurks in its potential for spontaneous motion. Donovan’s contraptions exploit the visual, associative and inherent physical properties of his chosen materials. Warm strips of wood are contorted against gray planes of structural steel by welded and fastened springs, cables and pulleys. These sculptural works are expressions of momentary action and embody the imaginary and inventory spirit of the da Vincian tradition.



Donovan is a Cheshire resident and M.F.A. Graduate of the University of Connecticut. He has exhibited his work in Connecticut and New York.

Paul Gobell’s floral series paintings portray dream like worlds that mediate both intimate and monumental botanical scales. In works like “Annabelle on the Hudson,” the pristine, closely framed and truncated rose is treated with the figurative significance and moralizing precision of a Baroque vanitas still life. The background landscape vista is expansive as if to reference the compositional order of Romantic period expressions of the picturesque. Surreal spatial effects are evoked by these dramatically staged figure ground relationships that delight in as much as disorient specific interpretations of time and place. Gobell's vision of coexisting cultivated and wild topographies draw the mind deep within his compositions where still life and landscape traditions blend to celebrate the intrinsic beauty of nature.

Gobell is a Middletown Artist Cooperative resident and B.A. graduate of Central Connecticut State University. His works have been shown at the Renana Gallery, The William Benton Museum, New Britain Museum of American Art and are included in several private collections.

There will be an opening tomorrow, Thurs., Sept. 23, from 5:30—7:30 p.m. in the Pegasus Gallery.

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City-Wide Open Studios starts this weekend; opening Friday night

Artspace
City-Wide Open Studios
50 Orange St, New Haven, (203) 772-2709
City-Wide Open Studios
Sept. 25—26, 2010: Erector Square
Oct. 2—3, 2010: New Haven Neighborhoods & Artspace Underground
Oct. 9—10, 2010: Alternative Space
Gallery 1 & 2: Festival Exhibit
Gallery 3: Bernd Krauss: Hortus Conclusus
Gallery 4: Meredith Nickie: Deploy Black
Gallery 5: Ilona Anderson: Dwell
Gallery 7: Taryn Wells: Inbetween Worlds
Sept. 24—Oct. 23, 2010
Opening Reception and CWOS Festival Kickoff Party: Fri., Sept. 24, 5—8 p.m.

Press release

This year's Open Studios promises exciting events and interactive demonstrations, plus the return of the Alternative Space!

This Fri., Sept. 24, from 5—8 p.m., we'll be kicking things off the right way with an opening bash for our Festival Exhibit at Artspace, 50 Orange Street, New Haven!

Wine and light refreshments will be provided, and DJ Nate Dizzy of EULA will provide a soundtrack as eclectic as the works and installations on display. We're especially grateful to our reception sponsor, the Opici Wine Company of Connecticut.

The Festival Exhibit features representative works from over 200 participating artists. It will be on display in Galleries 1 and 2 through Oct. 23.

Also opening that night will be four exciting gallery exhibits.

In Gallery 3, Bernd Krauss (Web)has constructed his Hortus Conclusus, a situational site-specific installation comprised of materials culled from our basement. Gallery 4 contains Deploy Black, a new series of works by Meredith Nickie (Web) exploring scenes of subjugation. Dwell by Ilona Anderson is a series of drawings assembled into fragmented wall installations intended to simultaneously disorient and engage the viewer; it is on view in Gallery 5. Finally, in Gallery 7, Taryn Wells' (Web) Inbetween Worlds uses the self-portrait to explore themes of race and identity. These exhibits will be on display until October 30.

And in case you missed them, there are still two exciting installations on display from this past summer. Particular Heights is an interactive, site-specific installation in the Lot at Chapel and Orange, developed by artists Paul Theriault (Web) and Siebren Versteeg (Web). Tag and Repeat X2 is the collaborative project of master artist Cat Balco (Web) and the Summer Apprentice program, and it is on display in both the Lot and the Long Wall of gallery. These will be on display until Oct. 30, too!

While you're in the neighborhood, be sure to check out two exciting satellite events. The first is Micro-Fest!, hosted by our neighbors at Project Storefronts where demonstrations and musical performances will be ongoing from 5—8 p.m. The second is WPKN's ArtFest 2010 Preview Party at Erector Square, from 7—10 p.m. ArtFest 2010 takes place at Erector Square in tandem with City-Wide Open Studios' first weekend.

September 25—26: Visit Erector Square

If you can't make the opening reception and festival kick-off, don't worry. There's still plenty more to do. The weekend of Sept. 25—26 is focused at Erector Square, where we have several interactive demonstrations scheduled. On Sat., Sept. 25, at 1 p.m. Kerri Sancomb and Jeff Mueller will offer the opportunity to make and take home a small poster book designed by Dexterity Press and printed on a Universal I Vandercook press (12 noon—5 p.m.). From 1—1:30 p.m., and from 3—3:30 p.m., they'll give an artist talk covering the history of the business. The press will run all day. (Sat., Building 7, 2nd floor, room 2)

From 4—5 p.m., Irene Miller (Web) will give a demonstration of photographic transfer techniques with works on paper. On Sun., Sept. 26, Gerald York (Web) will conduct a live portrait painting session from 12:30—1:30 p.m. He's still looking for volunteers, so if you're interest please send a headshot our way! Finally, Maria-Lara Whepley will demonstrate the ancient method of painting with hot wax from 3—4 p.m. Studios will be open from 12—5 p.m. both days.

October 2 - 3: Explore New Haven's neighborhoods...And go Underground!

The second weekend of City-Wide Open Studios will take us through studios across the New Haven area, with an emphasis on the west side of New Haven on Sat., Oct. 2, and the east side on Sun., Oct. 3. You'll be able to explore studios on your own, or participate in guided bike tours led by the Devil's Gear. These will begin at 12:30 pm and leave from their new location at 151 Orange Street, in the rear of the 360 State Street building. Again, studios will be open from 12 noon—5 p.m. on both days.

After you're done checking out studios on Oct. 2, be sure to stop back at Artspace for the return of the Artspace Underground! The first Underground of this school year is packed with local talent and features performances by Fake Babies and If Jesus Had Machine Guns, with a live build by Silas Finch (Web). The Underground series is curated by Madison Moore, with cocktails by 116 Crown. The event runs from 8—11 p.m., and admission is $5. Please, dress to impress.

October 9—10: The Alternative Space returns!

Finally, we're proud to announce the return of the Alternative Space! The Alternative Space gives artists who do not yet have a studio the opportunity to show their work, and provides space for exciting installations as well. It's an aspect that's unique to Artspace's City-Wide Open Studios, helps to make it one of the largest events of its kind in its country. This year, the Alternative Space is located at 196—212 College Street. We'll be opening our doors Oct. 9—10, from 12 noon—5 p.m.

If you're interested in visiting City-Wide Open Studios, you can always download and print a .pdf of our guide. If you're an artist who's participating in City-Wide Open Studios, you can download our artist toolbox. We'd also encourage you to check out some of the exciting opportunities and calls for artists that we currently have posted. And be sure to check out our City-Wide Open Studios blog for a few different angles on the festivities as they unfold.

City-Wide Open Studios is presented by TD Bank this year. We're also grateful for the support of several other sponsors, including the New Haven Advocate, Yale University, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Alliance Bank, City of New Haven Department of Economic Development, MacWorks LLC, and Jordan Caterers.

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Thursday, September 16, 2010

Saturday artist reception at New Haven Free Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Our Experinced Struggles: Paintings by John Favret
Through Sept. 30, 2010
Artist's reception: Sat., Sept. 18, 2—4 p.m.

Press release

"The human form has been a dominant feature of my work for many years," writes John Favret. "I am interested in the struggles we experience in our lives and how one situation can be viewed or interpreted in different ways. I try to create a sense of tension through an unusual vantage point or a distortion of space, and often introducing subtle humorous elements. I am influenced by expressionism for its emotional energy and ability to describe the struggles and excitement of living. My goal is to work life-size. I try to surround the viewer with the images, so they can be fully engaged by the content of the pieces and the richness of the surface."

Many of Favret's pieces are derived from his life experiences. His narratives are told through images that are conjured from his memory and imagination.

Using a large format for his ideas allows the viewer to experience each narrative as a participant. His most recent work experiments with constructions using wood, plaster, paint, and miscellaneous objects, exploring ways to work off his canvases three dimensionally in a series using doorways as a metaphorical transition.

Mr. Favret has been Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Housatonic University (HU) in Bridgeport,CT since 1999, and is presently Coordinator of the Art Program there. He holds an M.F.A. from Texas A&M Commerce, a B.F.A. from Bridgewater State College, and a Certification in Computer Graphics from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he was also an Instructor from 1998 to 2003. He has had solo and two-person shows at the Bert Chernow Gallery at HU, the 30/30 Park Gallery in 2004, and at The Paul Mellon Art Center at Choate, Wallingford in 2002, and at the York Square Gallery, New Haven, in 1995 (with this curator). He has been in important group exhibitions at the Slater Museum, RISD, the Hygienic Art Center in New London, and other venues. He lives in Uncasville, CT.

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Faculty show opens Friday at Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven

Creative Arts Workshop Hilles Gallery
80 Audubon St., New Haven, (203) 562-4927
CAW Faculty Show
Sept. 17—Oct. 8, 2010
Opening reception: Fri., Sept. 17, 7—9 p.m.

Press release

Creative Arts Workshop (CAW) presents new work by its faculty of professional artists in the CAW Faculty Show from Sept. 15 to Oct. 8, 2010. The exhibition features a diverse selection of work including oil, acrylic, watercolor, collage, metals, fiber, photography, pottery, printmaking, sculpture and more with styles ranging from representational to abstract. An opening reception will be held on Fri., Sept. 17 from 5—7 p.m.

CAW faculty members include:

Judy Atlas (Orange, CT)
Paula Billups (Middletown, CT)
Michael Bradford (Orange, CT)
Alexis Brown (New Haven, CT)
Diana Brownell (New Haven, CT)
Helen Byler (West Haven, CT)
Judie Cavanaugh (Branford, CT)
Phillip Chambers (Seymour, CT)
Robert Church (Guilford, CT)
Susan Clinard (New Haven, CT)
Lucienne Coifman (North Haven, CT)
Linda Colman (New Haven, CT)
Luiz Cordeiro (Stamford, CT)
Peter Craig (Milford, CT)
Phyllis Crowley (New Haven, CT)
Jennifer Davies (Branford, CT)
Steven DiGiovanni (New Haven, CT)


Catherine Duffield (Guilford, CT)
Eileen Eder (Guilford, CT)
Nancy Eisenfeld (North Haven, CT)
Christopher Engstrom (New Haven, CT)
Roxanne Faber Savage (Fairfield, CT)
Joan Fitzsimmons (Shelton, CT)
Maura Galante (New Haven, CT)
Martha German (Woodbridge, CT)
Anita Griffith (Madison, CT)
Jane Gross (Hamden, CT)
Barbara Harder (New Haven, CT)
Violet Harlow (New Haven, CT)
Louise Harter (Bethany, CT)
Flo Hatcher (New Milford, CT)
Benjamin Hecht (New Haven, CT)
Lisa Hess-Hesselgrave (Stony Creek, CT)
Chris Highsmith (New Haven, CT)
Tung Hoang (East Haven, CT)
Charles Jones (New Haven, CT)
Jilaine Jones (New Haven, CT)
Naomi Kantrow (New Haven, CT)
Kelley Kapp (Guilford, CT)
Nancy Karpel (New Haven, CT)
Candace Klein (Hamden, CT)
Lily Kok-Forbush (Hamden, CT)
Jamie Kriksciun (Milford, CT)
Ann P. Lehman (Bethany, CT)
Catherine Lendler (Wallingford, CT)
Phil Levine (Stratford, CT)
Ann Lindbeck (Hamden, CT)
Willard Lustenader (Wallingford, CT)
Vanilia Majoros (New Haven, CT)


Corinne McManemin (Guilford, CT)
Ihrie Means (Brooklyn, NY)
Fethi Meghelli (New Haven, CT)
David Millen (North Haven, CT)
Meredith Miller (New Haven, CT)
Gisela Noack (North Branford, CT)
Ilene Omerso (Hamden, CT)
Liz Pagano (New Haven, CT)
Robert Parrott (Madison, CT)
Debi Pendell (North Adams, MA)
Connie Pfeiffer (Old Lyme, CT)
Dorothy Powers (Branford, CT)
Tina Re (Hamden, CT)
Rob Rocke (New Haven, CT)
Stephen Rodriguez (New Haven, CT)
Julia Rogoff (Bronx, NY)
Paulette Rosen (Hamden, CT)
Karen Rossi (Meriden, CT)
Jan Sacco (West Haven, CT)
Ruth Sack (Cheshire, CT)
Martha Savage (New Haven, CT)
Anna Scarff (East Haven, CT)
Eva Scopino (New Haven, CT)
Harold Shapiro (Guilford, CT)


Nellie Shevelkina (New Haven, CT)
K. Levni Sinanoglu (New Haven, CT)
Rebecca Strom (New Haven, CT)
Jeannie Thomma (Larchmont, NY)
Jennifer Van Elswyk (New Haven, CT)
Chris Volpe (New Haven, CT)
Kris Wetmore (Hamden, CT)
Karen Wheeler (New Haven, CT)

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Friday night opening at Gallery at Black Rock

The Gallery at Black Rock
2861 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport, (203) 814-6856
Marcella Kurowski: Improvised Miscreation
Sept. 17—Oct. 22, 2010
Opening reception: Fri., Sept. 17, 6—9 p.m.

Press release

The Gallery at Black Rock will open its 2010 season: Improvised Miscreation, featuring the work of Marcella Kurowski. The show opens Sept. 17 with an Artist Reception from 6—9 p.m. Kurowski, a Bridgeport native has been part of the Connecticut art scene for over 15 years and has often worked under the pseudonym “Looketha." She will be working under her given name, signaling a new phase in her artistic work.

The show is grouped together by Kurowski’s process in which she begins painting freely—letting the paint hit the canvass in an uncalculated but intuitive way. The organic elements are then dissolved and amplified creating a dominant central image juxtaposed with the more vague and emotional elements of the painting.

The work cumulates in forms with human figurative qualities that draw the viewer into an alternate reality evoking both an original unique being as well as communicating an unseen and emotive visual message.

Kurowski’s canvasses are visually rich and filled with movement and emotion. Her figures can be lovable and approachable or otherworldly and dissonant. The show will seek to transport the viewer to a world where things are not always as they seem and emotion and movement create a space alive with possibility for the participants imagination to delve into.

Marcella often paints as part of a duo with her husband Christopher Cavaliere. Recently voted Best instrumental musician by the Fairfield County Weekly readers, he will be composing an original piece titled "Adaptation To Improvised Miscreation" for the shows opening.

The show opens at The Gallery at Black Rock on Sept.17 and will run through Oct. 22. For more information, please call the gallery at (203) 814-6856.

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