Show of carborundum prints opens Saturday at City Gallery

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Freddi Elton: Carborundum Dreams
Mar. 1—25, 2012.
Opening Reception, Sat., Mar. 3, 2—5 p.m.

Press release

City Gallery in New Haven will present Carborundum Dreams, a collection of collographic prints by Freddi Elton, during March, 2012. This show documents the progression of Eltonʼs experiments in a developing medium after taking a course in alternative methods of printmaking in 2010.

Fascinated with the richness and texture of carborundum grit in platemaking, she first worked on plates made from cardboard, then began to look for more permanent surfaces on which to construct plates, and for various methods of applying carborundum—with glue, with acrylic medium, with wax. Different techniques of inking, wiping, and applying color provided another area of immense variability. The journey has been often frustrating, the failures frequent, and the results often mixed, but the thrill of discovery is ever-present and always enticing.

Carborundum Dreams runs from Mar. 1—25. An opening reception will be held Sat., Mar. 3, 2—5 pm.

Classen-Sullivan show opens at Real Art ways tomorrow during Creative Cocktail Hour

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Susan Classen-Sullivan: Love you more than life (corpse series)
Feb. 16—Apr. 1, 2012.
Opening reception during Creative Cocktail Hour: Thurs., Feb. 16, 6—8 p.m. Admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Press release

Real Art Ways presents Love you more than life (corpse series), an exhibition by Connecticut artist Susan Classen-Sullivan, who creates human scale sculptures of frogs captured in a space between life and death, pleasure and pain, between the sacred and the profane.

An opening reception on Thurs., Feb. 16, from 6—8 p.m. will be held as part of Creative Cocktail Hour, Real Art Ways' monthly third Thursday gathering. Creative Cocktail Hour is from 6—10 p.m.; admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Love you more than life (corpse series) began when Susan Classen-Sullivan discovered the small bodies of frogs splayed open on the damp road while walking around the woods near her studio in Hampton. During these walks she pondered her place in a cycle, as seasons change and things grow.

Classen-Sullivan initially rendered her found corpses as drawings. Their exquisite beauty amazed her. She described the posture of the bodies against the paper as, "they began to float, sometimes seeming to dance, always appearing to be in a state of ecstasy."

Classen-Sullivan's sculptures are frozen in a moment inhabiting an in-between space. By transposing the found corpses to human scale Classen-Sullivan raises questions about human perception of our lives, our existence and ourselves.

About Susan Classen-Sullivan
Susan Classen-Sullivan is the Professor of Visual Fine Art and Director of the Hans Weiss Newspace Gallery at Manchester Community College. She received baccalaureate degrees in Art and Literature from Eastern Connecticut State University, Art Education Certification from Central Connecticut State University and Masters from Wesleyan University. Classen-Sullivan has exhibited her work at museums and galleries throughout the Northeast. She recently was selected to participate in the Connecticut Contemporary Exhibition at the Wadsworth Atheneum, in Hartford CT, and as a fellow for the Aldrich Museum’s Radius program.

Also in the Galleries
Mark Williams: The War is Over
On view through April 1, 2012
An exhibition of brightly colored work by Mark Williams, who critiques in the form of toy soldiers, the introduction of militarism to young children.

Alix Lambert: Crime, USA: Hartford
On view through April 8, 2012
An exhibition, performance, and films by Alix Lambert, who explores the ubiquitous nature of crime.

New Institute Library show, "Stone Work," opens Saturday

The Institute Library
847 Chapel St., New Haven, (203) 562-5045
Stone Work: Artists' Encounters with Hard Places
Feb. 11—Mar. 10, 2012.
Greeting of the Artists: Sat., Feb. 11, Noon—2 p.m.

Press release

I have seen sparks fly out
When two stones are rubbed,
So perhaps it is not dark inside after all;
Perhaps there is a moon shining
From somewhere, as though behind a hill-
Just enough light to make out
The strange writings, the star-charts
On the inner walls.
— from Charles Simic,"Stone"


Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa, Stone Work: Artists' Encounters with Hard Places will feature works by Marion Belanger (Web), Frank Bruckmann (Web), Daniel Buttrey (Web), Anne Doris-Eisner (Web), Emilia Dubicki (Web), Keith Johnson (Web), Constance LaPalombara (Web), Roy Money (Web), Kerry O'Grady (Web) and Matthew Weber (Web).


Stone Work will be on view from Feb. 11 through Mar. 10. The "greeting of the artists" will be Sat., Feb. 11, from noon—2 p.m.

Image is "The Last Frontier" by Anne Doris-Eisner.

Friday opening of abstract nautical collages at Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery in Stamford

Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery
96 Bedford St., Stamford, (888) 861-6791
Rex Prescott Walden: To Italy
Feb. 3—Mar. 11, 2012.
Opening Reception: Fri., Feb. 3, 6—9 p.m.

Press release

The Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery is proud to announce a solo exhibition by one of its best-selling contemporary artists, Rex Prescott Walden.

Titled To Italy, the exhibition features a new collection of works by Walden that garner their inspiration from the cascading cliffs, sea-foam shores, and golden cobbled streets of Italy's grandest cities. An opening for the exhibition will be held on Fri., Feb. 3, 2012, from 6—9 pm. The show is on view through Mar. 11.

Just over a year after his last solo show, Mixed Journeys, Walden returns with his trademark found object collage work that takes a minimalist approach to concepts of travel and navigation. Using maps displaying the Italian coast, as well as elements from his own journeys to Lo Stivale, Walden's work evokes not only the beauty of the Italian landscape, but the rich history the nation has with sailing and navigation. Walden's work reinterprets a vision of space and time, and how these elements relate to the contemporary experience.

“Memory provides the depth of the visual experience,” the artist explains. “I see the audience responding to my work in very personal ways. Found objects, painterly brushstrokes, and mapping references (many major Italian cities and ports are represented) all help to spark a variety of reactions to each piece. Each viewer brings his or her own history to the work. This variety of responses helps to keep each collage composition provocative and fresh.”

Walden has traveled extensively throughout Italy, and reinterprets some of his favorite memories on his canvases. In this collection, the viewer becomes voyeur to Walden's intimate relationship with the land: “My wife and I fell in love with Italy when we landed in Florence five years ago. The people, the wine, and the landscape welcomed us as if we were old friends. We try to renew our relationship every autumn.”

Rex Prescott Walden remains one of the Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery's best-selling artists. His work appears in numerous prominent private and corporate collections, including that of Yale University's Smilow Cancer Center.

An opening reception for To Italy will take place on Fri., Feb. 3, from 6—9 p.m. The Gallery will be throwing one of its legendary parties that night, open to the public. Collectors may RSVP to a private viewing on Feb. 2 by contacting Rebecca Hansen at 888-861-6791, ext. 6, or at rhansen@flalvarezgallery.com.

Hygienic Art call for photographers/artists—juried photography show

Hygienic Art
79-83 Bank St., New London, (860) 443-8001
The f-stops Here: In Color and Black + White
Receiving dates: Feb. 16—18 (see below for times).
Show Dates: Feb. 25—Mar. 17, 2012.
Opening Night: Sat., Feb. 25, 7–10 p.m.

Press release

Call For Photographers/Artists
Juried Photography Exhibition at Hygienic Art

The f-stops Here: A Juried Photography Exhibition at Hygienic Art.

Didn't we just have this show…YES! It was just a few months ago but our first juried photography exhibition last year was so successful with an amazing turnout of both emerging and professional photographers that we hope to establish this time slot in our calendar for the F-Stop Juried Photography Exhibition every year. If you missed last September's exhibition, this is a great opportunity to share your prints with a dynamic community of photographers and art lovers from throughout the region. Your participation will help secure the future of this exhibition in our yearly calendar.

The date is approaching fast so get out there and produce some of your best color or black + white photography or dig into your archives to submit to this exciting juried exhibition.

We have two talented photographers lending their eye and expertise for the exhibition. Photographer Keith Johnson (Web) will serve as our guest juror and Photographer and Associate Professor of Art at Connecticut College Ted Hendrickson (Web) will curate the selected pieces.

Cash Prizes will be awarded.

This Event is proudly sponsored by Hygienic Art!

Submission info:
Black + white photography and color photography may be submitted. Artists may submit up to 3 pieces to be considered. All work must be for sale. No works previously shown at Hygienic will be accepted. All works must be suitably framed with wires and ready for hanging. All metal frames must have hangers and wire, NO CLIPS. Work submitted must not exceed 48” in either direction. All work must remain for the duration of the show. Hygienic will retain 30% of sales and collect 6% CT state sales tax. Hygienic will not be responsible for unclaimed work.

Receiving Dates:
Thurs., Feb. 16, 2–6 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 17, 11 a.m.—2 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 18, 11 a,m.–2 p.m.

OPTIONS:
If these times do not work please feel free to contact us
to make a drop off arrangement

Entry fees:
$15.00 for single entry
$20.00 for two entries
$25.00 for three entries

Unselected Pick-up:
Thurs., Feb. 23, 11 a.m.—3 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 26, Noon—3 p.m.

Selected Pick Up:
Sun., Mar. 18, Noon—3 p.m.

A group show of color essentialism opens Friday at Giampietro Gallery in New Haven

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Chromacosm
Feb. 3—Mar. 3, 2012.
Opening Reception: Fri., Feb. 3, 5—8 p.m.

Press Release

Giampietro Gallery is pleased to present Chromacosm, a group exhibition that brings together six artists who embrace color as a primary and essential element of their work. Artists presented are: Melissa Brown, Clint Jukkala, Zachary Keeting, Joshua Marsh, Douglas Melini, and Tamara Zahaykevich. The exhibit is on view from Feb. 3 to Mar. 3, 2012.

Conjuring worlds, both abstract and representational, the artists in Chromacosm think and speak in color as much as through drawing, imagery, or material. While associations abound, color here is felt more than named. Jewel-like hues, chromatic spills, and atmospheric gradations, evoke imagined spaces made of vibrant pigments. The works in Chromacosm are not so much about color, but rather color is the DNA that brings these images and objects to life.

Melissa Brown paints alien rock and landscape forms from another world. Composed largely of hard edges and graphic shapes, the stratified layers of these strange formations reveal the spectral glow of unnatural, interior hues.

Clint Jukkala’s paintings offer portals into sensory worlds of color, geometry, and remembered experience. Ostensibly abstract, they refer to the real world, suggesting interior spaces, windows, and landscape vistas.

Zachary Keeting (see image) brushes, pours, and scrapes gestures that accumulate and collapse into complex colorful layers. Paint slides, skids, bubbles and drips, creating translucent and opaque movements of intertwined forms.

Joshua Marsh’s paintings on burlap hum with the glow of limited and precise hues. Yet these still lives of seemingly everyday objects are transformed into eerie, infrared images where boundaries blur and color traces the remnants of contours.

Douglas Melini weaves brilliant, painted designs of finely tuned colored lines. Horizontals, verticals, and diagonals accumulate into trippy, kaleidoscope plaids enclosed by hand painted wooden frames.

Tamara Zahaykevich’s intimate, sculptural gems are made of paper, foam and paint. Idiosyncratic in form and built of decidedly raw materials, her jaunty constructions radiate energy and suggest narrative possibility.

Melissa Brown is a New York based artist, Clint Jukkala and Zachary Keeting are New Haven based artists represented by Giampietro Gallery. Joshua Marsh is based in Philadelphia and is represented by Jeff Bailey Gallery in New York. Douglas Melini is based in New York. Tamara Zahaykevich is based in New York and represented by Kansas Gallery.