New shows open at Silvermine Sunday, January 5

Silvermine Guild Art Center
1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, (203) 966-9700
Director's Choice: Jak Kovatch
Grace Shanley: Circle of Life – Then and Now
New Members Exhibition
Solo Borglum: 90th Birthday Celebration Exhibition
Jan. 8—Mar. 4, 2012.
Opening Reception: Sun., Jan. 8, 2—4 p.m.

Press release

The exhibits for the new year at Silvermine Arts Center, located in New Canaan, CT, brings the highly anticipated annual New Guild Members show plus exciting exhibitions featuring Director’s Choice, Jak Kovatch and works by multidisciplinary artist Grace Shanley. All are welcomed to the opening reception on Sunday, Jan. 8 from 2—4 p.m. The exhibits will run through Mar. 4, 2012.

Since 1992 Director’s Choice, Jak Kovatch, has been working on a series of mixed media paintings, combining ink etching with oil painting technique, on printmaking or water color papers. His new exhibit at Silvermine will explore this on-going series in multimedia works which will include paintings, sculptures and works on paper created by the artist. About his work, Mr. Kovatch says, “For me, the boundaries between pure drawing and pure painting are difficult to define in any exact terms. When I work, I consider both ways of presenting images, regardless of the medium used. Using both drawing and painting in a single work, I think I achieve the best of two worlds.”

Multidisciplinary artist Grace Shanley’s new exhibit Circle of Life – Then and Now, focuses on images of her six children and husband as her subject. The selection of work ranges from printmaking and pastel to painting. The idea of her love and connection to her large and growing family has been a continuing theme in the artists work. Through the use of a variety of mixed media, she presents portraits and landscapes that relate to family, place, memory and relationships. One might say that her choice of imagery is highly personal, but at the same time it speaks universally to the sense of parental love.

Each year in the spring and fall, new members are selected through a jurying process into the Silvermine Guild of Artists. The Guild of Artists is a distinguished group of professional artists comprised of over 300 members who work in a wide array of media and are represented in museums, and prestigious private and corporate collections. Selection into the guild is based on several criteria such as creativity, uniqueness or timeliness, excellence of technique, compelling notion or idea, cultural or social relevance, professional presentation of work, clarity and continuity of style, and professional accomplishment. The New Members Exhibition will showcase the works of 12 new Guild Artist members inducted in the spring and fall of 2011, representing a variety of media. The new members include: Margot Bittenbender from Old Greenwich, CT – printmaking; Lucienne Buckner from New Canaan, CT – sculpture; Carlos Davilia from Ridgefield, CT – assemblage; Kevin Ford from Norwalk, CT – sculpture; Hanneke Goedkoop from Rowayton, CT – watercolor; Barbara Harder from New Haven, CT – printmaking; Barbara Korman from New York City – sculpture; Hally McGehean from Norwalk, CT – mixed media; Mary Jo McGonagle from Southport, CT – installation; Bob Miranti from New Rochelle, NY – ceramics; Karen Neems from Stamford, CT – photography; Angie O’Brien from Stamford, CT – mixed media.

Silvermine Arts Center turns 90 this year and the celebration begins with a special exhibit, 90th Birthday Celebration Exhibition, featuring the work of the arts center found, sculptor Solo Borglum.