Saturday evening opening for group show at Ulla Surland in Fairfield

Ulla Surland Gallery Eleven
11 Unquowa Rd., Fairfield, (203) 259-1572
Water: A Group Exhibition
July 14—Aug. 31, 2012.
Opening Reception: Sat., July 14, 6—8 p.m.

Press release from the Ulla Surland Gallery

Marianne Van Lent—Fresco Secco & Dispersed Pigment on Canvas
Brechin Morgan—Acrylic on Canvas
Janis Melone—Collage/Mixed Media
Rebecca Harper—Oil on Canvas
David Dunlop—Oil on Metal
Ann Conrad—Intaglio Prints with Hand Coloring
Frank Bruckmann—Oil on Canva

Where there is no water, there is no life as we know it. Water covers 71% of the earth's surface. It exists in the universe in vast quantities, it's components, hydrogen and oxygen, among the most plentiful of the elements. Water vapor along with carbon dioxide create a buffer around the earth keeping the temperature stable and within a range that supports life.

Too much water as in floods, and combined with energy as in tsunamis and hurricanes causes cataclysmic destruction. Scarcity of water creates deserts where life exists only in the rarest forms and with difficulty. Civilizations rise and prosper in the fertile land around rivers and in the temperate zones where oceans meet land masses. Waterways are used as pathways of transportation, as receptacles of waste, for recreation, and when harnessed, to produce energy. Water is used for food preparation, to extinguish fires, for bathing, to cool our nuclear reactors, quench the thirst of factory farms, and in religious ritual.

Volumes have been written about water in all its forms and uses, from the world of science and the finite, to the world of science fiction and the infinite and in the places where they meet and combine. The seven artists participating in this exhibition using their creative voices have used water as inspiration for works of art. The works are literal and abstract, sometimes both, small and large, and use a variety of materials, scales and dimensions, expressing the poetic, the factual, the surreal and the fantastic.

The show will be on view from July 14 through Aug. 31. There will be an opening reception this Sat., July 14, from 6—8 p.m.

(Image: "Bitmap XIV" by Ann Conrad.)