Two openings at Middlesex Community College on Wed., Feb. 6

Middlesex Community College Pegasus Gallery
100 Training Hill Road, Middletown, 1-800-818-5501
Sonya Suydam Gill: Color in the Pegasus Gallery (Pegasus Gallery is located within the library on the first floor of Chapman Hall)
Jan. 28—Mar. 22, 2013.
Michael DiGiorgio: Drawn from Life in the Niche (The Niche is located in Founders Hall across from the Registrar’s Office.)
Feb. 4—Mar. 22, 2013.
Opening Reception: Wed., Feb. 6, 4—6 p.m.

Press release from Middlesex Community College

Sonya Suydam Gill’s painting process confronts color and composition with dynamic and expressive force. “Color” is dominated by landscape paintings that emphasize the abstract qualities of paint. Broadly applied brush strokes create an active surface where successive paint layers suggest depth and light. This is best observed in “River at Dusk,” where balance is struck between a gestural image construction and its serene waterscape subject.

Sonya Suydam Gill

Gill says, “I paint those things that are part of my life. I love flowers, the water and often in my still lifes, incorporate lively fabrics in vivid colors. I could not live in a world without color.”

Gill has exhibited throughout Connecticut and lives in Chester. She received her BFA, MFA and EdD at Syracuse University, instructed art in New York and was the principal at East Lyme High School.

Michael DiGiorgio's illustrations are based on direct observation of bird species within their natural habitat. Drawn from Life consists of preparatory watercolor sketches produced in Connecticut and abroad. Drawing and painting birds while in the field rather than from photographs is significant to DiGiorgio's process and contributes the life-like appearance of his subjects. In his statement prepared for this show he says that: "These field sketches help me produce some of my favorite work, because they have a freshness and immediacy that is almost impossible to get in the studio."

Michael DiGiorgio

DiGiorgio lives in Madison and is an adjunct instructor of art at MxCC and Wesleyan University. He has exhibited nationally including the Bennington Center for the Arts (Bennington, VT), Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum (Wausau, W.I.), Dietel Gallery (Troy, N.Y.), Academy of Natural Sciences (Philadelphia, P.A.) and the Northeast Wildlife Art Exposition (Albany, N.Y.).

Anna Held Audette retrospective opens this Friday at Reynolds Fine Art in New Haven

Reynolds Fine Art
96 Orange St., New Haven, (203) 498-2200
View of the Past: Anna Held Audette
Feb. 1—Apr. 3, 2013.
Artist Reception: Fri., Feb. 1, 5—8 p.m.

Press release from Reynolds Fine Art

Reynolds Fine Art is pleased to present Anna Held Audette in her first solo exhibition at the gallery. View of the Past will showcase a selection of Audette’s paintings, prints and drawings that came out of her illustrious career as an artist, writer, and teacher, spanning over fifty years.

Anna Held Audette: "Italian Forms"

Subjects such as abandoned factories, ships, bridges, and the dilapidated space launch site, Cape Canaveral, have been memorialized through Audette’s canvases. Stemming from her underlying interest in structure, Audette’s paintings are an exploration of the speed and effect of decay on modern industrial powers. These objects and locations, however, are not depicted as foreboding omens of the demise of industry, but rather, the artist has approached them with sympathy in feeling their neglect and emptiness. Audette’s paintings possess reverence for their subjects and act as symbols of hope for rebirth. These works are both realistic and abstract as her tendency is to focus on shapes, spaces, shadows and light. This technique has allowed the artist to capture the spirit of her subjects. Audette said of her work, “The relics remind us that, in our rapidly changing world, the triumphs of technology are just a moment away from obsolescence. Yet these remains of collapsed power have a strength, grace and sadness that is both eloquent and impenetrable. Transfigured by time and light, which render the ordinary extraordinary, they form a visual requiem of the industrial age.”

In addition to Audette’s paintings, Reynolds Fine Art will be showing a selection of works on paper by the artist. Where Audette’s canvases tend to convey auras of resilience and power, despite their subjects declining condition, her prints and drawings possess the softer quality of a delicate, personal narrative. These works create an intimacy with the artist and reveal more of her internal conflicts; lighthearted and simple thoughts are juxtaposed with images that elicit a darker, more contorted, emotional response.

In 2008 Anna Held Audette was diagnosed with Fronto-Temporal Degeneration, an extremely rare form of Alzheimer’s. Since her diagnosis, Audette’s cognitive functions have declined, but with the assistance of a former student she has carried on with painting and drawing.

Reynolds Fine Art, located at 96 Orange Street, is part of the 9th Square’s historic district in downtown New Haven, a new up and coming area to shop, dine, and experience art. The mission of Reynolds Fine Art is to contribute to the economic and cultural ecosystem through vibrant samples of artwork, not only in our home neighborhood, but also in the Lower Chapel district and in New Haven as a whole. Periodically shows, demonstrations, lectures and workshops are held to infuse New Haven with diverse aspects of the art world.

Saturday opening for invitational show at Behnke Doherty Gallery in Washington Depot

The Behnke Doherty Gallery
6 Green Hill Rd., Washington Depot, (860) 868-1655
Fourth Annual Invitational Group Show
Feb. 1—Mar. 31, 2013.
Artists' Reception: Sat., Feb. 2, 4—7 p.m.

Press release from Behnke Doherty Gallery

The Behnke Doherty Gallery is pleased to announce its Fourth Annual Invitational Group Show, which will run from Friday February 1st through Sun., Mar. 31. This year, the exhibit will present the works of twelve diverse artists, spanning paintings, works on paper, sculpture and ceramics. The group includes a wonderful mix of artists including many represented by the gallery as well as several new to us. An opening reception for the artists will take place from 4—7 p.m. on Sat., Feb. 2.

We are delighted to once again be featuring the oil paintings of Souby Boski, Michael Quadland and Matt Wood. They will be joined by Margaret Grimes, who will be exhibiting her work in the gallery for the first time. Works on paper will include drawings by Jack Dunbar, who will be joined by first time exhibitors Inga Britta Mills, Robert Andrew Parker, Alexander Purves and Frederick Wong. Three-dimensional works will feature the ceramics of Elizabeth MacDonald and Uko Morita as well as the metal sculpture of Joe Wheaton.

While each of the twelve artists has a totally unique style, they share among them an intense focus on color, form and texture. Although working in many different mediums, presented together their works induce a fascinating conversation across boundaries and traditions. We are delighted to have the opportunity to present both old friends and new as we open our 2013 season.

Margaret Grimes: "Harrington 6 A.M."

Opening reception Friday at Giampietro Gallery

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Karen Dow: Alone Together
Jonathan Waters: Quarry Works
Works by Danny Huff
Feb. 1 —27, 2013.
Reception: Fri., Feb. 1, 5—8 p.m.
Artists' Talk: Sat., Feb. 16, 1:30—4 p.m.

Press release from Giampietro Gallery

Giampietro Gallery is pleased to present new work by artists Karen Dow and Jonathan Waters.

Alone Together

For Karen Dow, painting is a process experience. She sets parameters, beginning with a basic grid, and then goes along for the ride, making intuitive edits–which coalesce and weave into patterns, shapes, and color relationships– in search of a surprise ending. In each painting, visible remnants of older decisions add historical depth. As Karen Dow states, “Sometimes a painting is easy, like a conversation with an old friend. Other times it becomes a struggle or a conundrum. In the end I want the work to be an ongoing dialog that takes me somewhere I never knew I was headed."

Karen Dow: "Hook"

Karen Dow received her Masters of Fine Arts degree from the Yale University School of Art, her Post-Baccalaureate Degree from Brandeis University, and her Bachelors of Art from Marlboro College. Dow’s work has been exhibited throughout New England and New York and has been awarded many awards including the Joan Mitchell Career Enhancement Grant/Fellowship.

Quarry Works

Jonathan Waters’ new floor and wall sculptures express shifting volumes that expand and contract according to one’s vantage point. His application of paint to traditional steel bar and carved wood solidifies, rather than dematerializes, these media. His move away from traditional display pedestals activates the negative spaces viewers occupy.

Jonathan Waters

Jonathan Waters received his Masters of Fine Arts degree from the Yale University School of Art and his Bachelors of Fine Art from Windham College. His work has been exhibited throughout New England and New York.

Opening reception Saturday for Eisenfeld show at City Gallery

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Nancy Eisenfeld: Free Associations
Jan. 31—Feb. 24, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sat., Feb. 2, 3—6 p.m.
Artist's Talk: Sun. Feb. 17, at 2 p.m.

Press release from City Gallery

Nancy Eisenfeld: "Orange Twist"

There will be an Opening Reception this Saturday at City Gallery in New Haven from 3—6 p.m. for the Nancy Eisenfeld show Free Associations. The exhibit will be on view through Feb. 24.

City Gallery in New Haven presents Free Associations, an exhibition of new work by Nancy Eisenfeld during the month of February. This show features sculpture and wall work. Many pieces combine parts that are usually not associated with one another. The materials are tree limbs, wood, metal fences and found objects. The images are open to the viewer’s imagination.

Environmental-themed art exhibit opens at Wesleyan's Zilkha Gallery Tuesday, Jan. 29

Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University
238 Washington Ter., Middletown, (860) 685-3355
FOOD-WATER-LIFE---LUCY+JORGE ORTA
Through Mar. 3, 2012.
Opening reception: Tues., Jan. 29, 4:30—6:30 p.m.
Gallery talk at 5 p.m by guest curator Judith Hoos Fox.
Artist Lecture with Lucy Orta: Tue., Feb. 26, 4:15 p.m. in the CFA Hall

Press release from the Zilkha Gallery

FOOD-WATER-LIFE---LUCY+JORGE ORTA, an exhibition of sculptures, drawings, mixed-media installations and video that explores crucial themes of the contemporary world—biodiversity, environmental conditions, climate change and exchange among peoples, organized by Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox of c2 curatorsquared for Tufts University Art Gallery, Medford, Massachusetts, will be on view in Wesleyan University’s Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery from Fri., Jan. 25 through Sun., Mar. 3, 2013. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday from Noon to 5pm. Gallery admission is free.

The public is invited to attend the opening reception on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013 from 4:30—6:30 p.m., with a gallery talk at 5 p.m. by Judith Hoos Fox, co-curator of the exhibition. The opening reception is free.

Artist Lucy Orta will discuss the ideas explored in the exhibition FOOD-WATER-LIFE---LUCY+JORGE ORTA in the context of Studio Orta’s work during a free lecture on Tue., Feb. 26, 2013 at 4:15 p.m. in the CFA Hall, located at 287 Washington Terrace on the Wesleyan campus in Middletown, Connecticut.

This is the first comprehensive exhibition of work by the French wife-husband duo Lucy+Jorge Orta to be presented in the United States. The works in this exhibition are drawn from major solo exhibitions by the Ortas held at venues around the world. FOOD-WATER-LIFE---LUCY+JORGE ORTA debuted at the Tufts University Art Gallery in Medford, Massachusetts in September 2012. Following the engagement at Wesleyan University, FOOD-WATER-LIFE---LUCY+JORGE ORTA will travel to museum venues across the United States, including the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York in 2014; and the Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, California and the Richard E. Peeler Art Center, DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana in 2015.

The works in FOOD-WATER-LIFE embody the philosophy that steers the pioneering art practice of Lucy+Jorge Orta, "the ethics of aesthetics." As heirs to the practice of social sculpture, formulated by Joseph Beuys in the 1960s, the Ortas’ works are reflections of their own function—beguiling assemblages that are the platform for the preparation of food, mechanisms that actually purify water, and elements created for their 2007 expedition to Antarctica, and that are part of an effort to amend the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The works in this exhibition are metaphors-in-action, constructions that perform the tasks of which they are emblematic.

These humorous, jerrybuilt contraptions are obviously not the most efficient means to purify, prepare and transport food and water, or to launch a world-wide humanitarian effort. It is in their ability to actually function, albeit awkwardly and haltingly, that these objects gain power as works of art created to move us to awareness and action. The artists have created a unique visual language through which they tackle the major global issues affecting our lives and the precarious position of this planet. As the Ortas' artwork communicates widely to audiences beyond the field of contemporary art, it demonstrates the importance of art as a creative agent for awareness and change.

The works in the FOOD section of the exhibition are drawn from the series "HortiRecycling" (1997-present) that focuses on the food chain in global and local contexts. Through an ongoing series of actions and interventions and the integral associated equipment, the Ortas deal with alternative systems for a just distribution of food. The fact that farmers in European Union countries still have to destroy millions of fresh agricultural products each year because of cheap imports from industrial farming countries, despite worldwide hunger, inspired the artists to create this project. The precipitating action was the collection of fruits and vegetables that had been discarded at markets. They were carefully washed, and celebrity chefs created meals and put up preserves from these rescued foodstuffs. The produce was transported to the exhibition site on moveable-processing units equipped with sinks, cutting surfaces, and hot plates. Now sculptural objects, their life as working kitchens is complete.

The works in the WATER section of the exhibition are part of the series "OrtaWater" (2005-present) that focuses on the general scarcity of this vital resource and the issues surrounding the privatization and corporate control that affect access to clean water. The aim of this work is to contribute proactively to the broadening of our understanding and development of sustainable solutions for the dilemmas surrounding water—its purification, transport, and distribution. Through combining functional objects, photography and sound, the Ortas create and communicate the reach of the issue through means of ameliorating it, through contraptions that are both playful and provocative. Of particular significance is their research into low-cost purification and distribution devices, to provoke a wider understanding of the current technologies available. Fully functioning machines and bottling stations distributing purified OrtaWater are incorporated into these artworks, enabling filthy water to be pumped and filtered directly from neighboring polluted water sources. The pump-station was first tested during the Venice Biennale in 2005, pumping water from the Grand Canal that was then purified and offered in sample bottles to visitors.

Lucy+Jorge Orta: "OrtaWater-Fluvial Intervention Unit," 2005, Canadian maple wood canoe, steel structure, glass shelves, copper and plastic tubes, gloves, 4 buckets, 4 crates, 4 water drums, 2 water tanks, 2 light projectors, 4 flasks, copper tubes and taps, audio mp3, speakers, 24 OrtaWater bottles, 102 ½ x 200 ¾ x 47 ¼ in. Courtesy of the artists and Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / le Moulin. Photography: Gino Gabrieli

The works in the LIFE section of the exhibition are drawn from the series "Antarctica" (2007-present) that focuses on international human rights and free international migration. Their most ambitious project to date, Lucy+Jorge Orta produced an expedition and installation "Antarctic Village—No Borders," that took place in Antarctica in 2007 through a commission by The End of the World Biennale. This multi-part project addresses issues of the environment, politics, autonomy, habitat, mobility, and relationships among peoples. There are several inter-related groupings of work in this project, including the "Drop Parachutes," each focusing on critical human needs for food, water and comfort; "Survival Kits," wall-mounted assemblages with similar purposes; a film that poetically transmutes us into fellow expedition participants; and a utopian passport that would insure free movement across all borders, available to visitors who voluntarily add their name to the petition to amend the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights with new Article 13.3, a reminder that we are all part of one precarious and fragile planet.

About Lucy+Jorge Orta

The collaborative practice of Lucy+Jorge Orta focuses on a number of sustainability issues tackling the ecological and the social factors to realize major bodies of work employing a number of mediums ranging from drawing, sculpture, installation, object making, couture, painting, silkscreen printing and "Light Works," as well as staging workshops, ephemeral interventions and performances. Some of the most emblematic series are "Refuge Wear" and "Body Architecture"—portable minimum habitats bridging architecture and dress; "70 x 7 The Meal"—the ritual of dining and its role in community networking; "The Gift"—a metaphor for the heart and the biomedical ethics of organ donation; and "Amazonia"—the value of the natural environment to our daily lives and to our survival.

Working in partnership since 2005, the duo creates, produces, and assembles their artworks and large installations together with a team of artists, designers, architects, and craftspeople. They stage on-location workshops, ephemeral interventions, residencies, and master classes, which explore the crucial themes of the contemporary world: the community, autonomy, dwelling, migration, sustainable development, and recycling.

Schiffer retrospective and Powers show open Sunday at Creative Arts Workshop

Creative Arts Workshop Hilles Gallery
80 Audubon St., New Haven, (203) 562-4927
Deirdre Schiffer: A Retrospective
Dorothy Powers: The women
Jan. 20—Feb. 8, 2013.
Opening reception: Sun., Jan. 20, 2—5 p.m.

Press release from Creative Arts Workshop

The first show of 2013 to open at Creative Arts Workshop (CAW) will be a joint exhibition of work by Deirdre Schiffer and Dorothy Powers. The exhibition will be on view in the Hilles Gallery at CAW from Jan. 20 to Feb. 8, 2013. An opening reception is scheduled for Sun., Jan. 20, from 2—5 p.m. and the public is invited to attend.

The first floor of Hilles Gallery features a collection of work by Deirdre Schiffer. This retrospective exhibtion encompasses a selection of paintings, drawings and works on paper that highlight her extensive artistic career up until the end of her life in 2011. Known for her understanding and use of light in painting, and often working from life, Schiffer’s portraits pursue an exploration of “a deep interest in the power of being, the ineffable sense of presence we experience in our everyday lives.” Free of intricate detail, a neutral palette and subtle brush strokes allow the emotional depth her paintings to resonate.

painting by Deirdre Schiffer

In 2006, Deirdre Schiffer was selected by the Aldrich Museum to exhibit her work as one of ten noteworthy artists from Connecticut and New York. A graduate of Cooper Union School of Art, Schiffer was awarded fellowships at the Vermont Studio Center and the Women’s Studio Workshop. Her work has also been exhibited at the Silvermine Arts Center, the Maryland Federation of Art, City Gallery in New Haven, CT and previously at Creative Arts Workshop.


Dorothy Powers is a Connecticut-based artist whose work addresses contemporary and sociopolitical concerns surrounding the human rights of women and girls, both within the culture of the United States and globally. The Women is a recent project of works that depict “burka clad figures as symbol or metaphor images for the gender inequality that I try to convey in this series.” Working with a variety of mediums—including painting, drawing, mixed media and digital imaging—Powers approaches gender issues from both an artistic and personal perspective.

Artwork by Dorothy Powers

Dorothy Powers is also part of the CAW community, as a former student and current faculty member. She has taught locally at Sacred Heart University and Albertus Magnus College as well. Her work is included in many private and corporate collections and has been reviewed by The New York Times, Art New England and the Connecticut Journal of Medicine. Fellowships and awards include the Pollock-Krasner Artists Fellowship, the Connecticut Commission Artists Fellowship and the Weir Farm Visiting Prize.

Christian Berman show opens at Ulla Surland in Fairfield Saturday

Ulla Surland Gallery Eleven
11 Unquowa Rd., Fairfield, (203) 259-1572
Christian Berman: Recent Works
Jan. 19—Feb. 16, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sat., Jan. 19, 6—8 p.m.

Press release from the Ulla Surland Gallery

Christian Berman was born in Mexico and raised in Westport, Connecticut. Berman attended Duke University where he received a BA in International Comparative Studies. He went on to receive a masters degree in Landscape Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design. He lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and has a working studio in the American Fabrics Arts building in Bridgeport, Connecticut as well as in the Active Space in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Berman spent his youth connecting to the natural world while exploring the woods in New England. He was particularly drawn to birds and their visual diversity of color, patterns, textures and forms. His paintings, fantastic combinations of abstract imagery, realist elements, computer graphics and stenciled patterns, strongly reflect these early influences. He cuts, pours, paints and glues imagery on to large canvases creating intelligent works with exquisite visual impact and powerful emotional resonance. He creates diptychs and triptychs, often fairly small, telling stories containing undertones of mystery, spirituality and his perceptions of reality. In addition to his experiences of nature, his works are influenced by the visual iconography of his Mexican roots, his love of the Impressionists, the abstract expressionists, the surrealists and of Eastern artists such as Japanese painter Hiroshige. The resulting paintings are a fiercely personal, unique and undogmatic expression of this young and gifted artist's efforts to understand and express the world of his experience.

Christian Berman: "Truth or Consequences"

The works being shown in this exhibition were created over the past year and a half. When asked to explain this body of work, Mr. Berman states the following: "A Buddhist proverb asks, 'How can I die if I was never born?' The notion of time having flexibility, and existing as more than a linear progression, is a driving force in my work. My paintings are improvisational constructions of imagined places, often reminiscent of digital worlds. I endeavor to create a conversation between the individual panels of each triptych and with the history of painting as a whole. In my larger works, 18th century etchings are collaged into geometric, often computer-drawn objects. The abstract form thus encapsulates and simplifies the convoluted history of human invention. The birds in the paintings are intermediaries, able to transcend the boundaries between past and future, the real and the imagined, the Eastern and the Western, the digital and the concrete."

The show will be on view from Jan. 19 through Feb. 16. There will be an opening reception this Sat., Jan. 19, from 6—8 p.m.

Jamie Sneider and MaryKate Maher shows open at Real Art Ways on Thursday

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Jamie Sneider: Art My Dad Told Me to Make
MaryKate Maher: Auspicious Positions
Jan. 17—Mar. 31, 2013.
Opening reception during Creative Cocktail Hour: Thurs., Jan. 17, 6—8 p.m. Admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Press release from Real Art Ways

The first Creative Cocktail Hour of 2013 is the opening reception for the two newest installations at Real Art Ways: Art My Dad Told Me to Make by Jamie Sneider, and Auspicious Positions by MaryKate Maher. Both exhibits will be ondisplay through Mar. 31, 2013. Creative Cocktail Hour runs from 6—10 p.m.; the openings occur until 8 p.m. Admission is $10/$5 for Real Art Ways members.

For Art My Dad Told Me To Make, Jamie Sneider presents footage and materials of ongoing studio visits, Skype meetings, voicemails and emails documenting the process of making art with her father. Mr. Sneider, a Certified Public Accountant with experience in many startup and emerging companies has regularly mailed business, career and motivational books to his daughter to push her to become a successful businesswoman, and often ignored her pursuit of a career in art. When he began to give advice on what kind of art she should make, she conceded, and together they created and outsourced multiple works of art. What began a year ago as a project focused on her father's view of "saleable" art has slowly evolved into a work about their relationship, how art is valued and defined, and how they individually view a successful artistic career.

Jamie Sneider: "Art My Dad Told Me to Make"

Jamie Sneider is a visual and performance artist working in New York City. Much of Sneider's interdisciplinary work begins from a personal diaristic standpoint, revealing taboos and idiosyncrasies present in daily life. She draws from both pop culture references and personal archives to explore narratives of family, female sexuality, media culture and social norms. Through sculpture, performance and video, she examines identity within a public space; the content is both autobiographical and analytical of culture, often with humorous tone. Jamie Sneider is a recipient of Real Art Ways' STEP UP 2012 Emerging Artist Award, and has previously performed solo shows throughout New York at Performance Space 122, Dixon Place, The Kitchen, HERE and the Atlantic Theater, and internationally at the Copenhagen Theater Festival.


In Auspicious Positions, MaryKate Maher presents a suite of sculptures addressing our traditional concepts of landscape. Born of her interest in "cairns"—piles of rocks used as simple markers to map terrain, the works comment on our at times quixotic attempt to domesticate and manipulate nature. Reminiscent of divination tools, naturally occurring balancing rocks and rough-hewn talismans, Maher's work speaks to a natural order that is more precarious negotiation than harmonious coexistence.

MaryKate Maher: "Auspicious Positions"

MaryKate Maher is a sculptor from Brooklyn, New York. Her work as an artist addresses nature, not as a harmonious self-regulating state, but as a series of tenuous negotiations and truces liable to fall apart at any second. At times terrifying, at times humorous, these fragile states of balance straddle the line between ecstasy and panic and form the basis of her sculptural practice. Maher's work has been recently featured in national venues including Hinge Gallery (Chicago), BRIC Rotunda Gallery (New York), Like the Spice Gallery (New York) and Franconia Sculpture Park (Minnesota). Her work has also been presented internationally at Kunstwerk Carlshütte (Büdelsdorf, Germany) and Das Gift Gallery (Berlin). Auspicious Positions is Maher's first solo exhibition with Real Art Ways, through STEP UP 2012.

Artists' reception Tuesday at Gallery 195 in New Haven

Gallery 195
195 Church St., 4th floor (First Niagara Bank), New Haven, (203) 772-2788
Perry Obee & J.D. Richey
Through Mar. 15, 2013.
Artists' Reception: Tues., Jan. 15, 5-7 p.m.

Press release from the arts Council of greater New Haven

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven presents an exhibition of paintings by Connecticut artists Perry Obee and J.D. Richey at Gallery 195 at First Niagara Bank, 195 Church St., 4th floor, New Haven. The exhibition will be on display during bank hours from Dec. 18, 2012 through Mar. 15, 2013. An artists' reception is scheduled for Tues., Jan. 15, from 5—7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

According to Debbie Hesse, the Arts Council's Director of Artistic Services & Programs and curator of this show, the two are paired nicely because viewers will be able to compare and contrast their painterly styles. Both are representational artists; one gravitating towards interior spaces, the other toward exteriors.


Obee holds up the interior side of that dichotomy, often depicting his studio, himself, and other artworks, adding a level of intimacy to the work and building on the tradition of paintings within paintings.

Richey often chooses to paint outdoors. His 'plein air' works are not typical pastoral landscapes, but gritty street scenes. Still, the paintings incorporate vibrant colors and represent reality and New Haven in an honest and recognizable way.

Sunday artists' reception at Kehler Liddell Gallery

Kehler Liddell Gallery
873 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 389-9555
Blue Matters: John Harris & Kristina Kuester-Witt
Jan. 10—Feb. 3, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sun., Jan. 13, 3—6 p.m.

Press release from Kehler Liddell Gallery

Blue Matters: John Harris and Kristina Kuester-Witt share the subjects of blue and matter, in two distinct exhibitions. The works are on view Jan. 10 through Feb. 3, 2013 with an Opening Reception on Sun., Jan. 13 from 3—6 p.m.

Harris frequently focuses his attention and ours on natural and organic abstractions. In this exhibition he explores water’s physical properties including reflection, turbidity, rhythm, and pattern by isolating a moment in time in a subject that knows nothing of constancy. The large-scale paintings expose various environmental complexities revealing the disguises of water. A repetitive process of applying paint and glazes results in a visual dramatization conceptually harmonious with water.

John Harris: "Gyro 2"

Kristina Kuester-Witt, a painter and a printmaker, explores the duality in aspects of human life. Neutral colored figures interact with various blue colored, undefined, material substances. The interactions occur with a variety of matter reflecting the counterpart or duality evident in the scene. Frequently an upside-down figure is employed as a metaphor further exploring the complexity of particular aspects of human experience.

Kristina Kuester-Witt: "The Matter II"

In a new series the possibilities and dangers of DNA research are explored. A dialog is opened through a use of visuals exploring what choices may mean in an area once the purview of biology without the interference of personal preference.

Thursday evening reception at Bridgeport Arts & Cultural Council

The BACC Gallery in the Historic Arcade Mall
1001-12 Main St., Bridgeport, (203) 552-4154
Pam Lacey: My Father's Stuff II—Unfinished Works
Jan. 10—Feb. 13, 2013.
Opening reception, Thurs. Jan. 10, 5—7 p.m.

Press release from Bridgeport Arts & Cultural Council

My Father's Stuff II: Unfinished Works, from fiber artist and Connecticut resident, Pam Lacey, opens at the Bridgeport Arts + Cultural Council on Jan. 10, with a reception from 5—7 p.m. The exhibition will run from Jan. 10 to Feb. 13, 2013.

In her current work, Lacey is using fiber, chemical processes and objects of significance to record the residue of emotional events, while also revealing evidence of personal transformation. Sometimes organic and spontaneous, sometimes intentional and planned, the end result of transformation shares the message of the transformed. My Father's Stuff II: Unfinished Works, is a body of work Lacey created to sort and process the deeper spiritual and personal truths of her father's passing, using rusted objects he left behind.

Pam Lacey: "The Great Goodbye Usher"

Lacey was one of 46 artists awarded the 2012 Artist Fellowship Grant in the state of Connecticut, funded by the Connecticut Office of The Arts, and is the only recipient for the City of Bridgeport. She is also The Bridgeport Arts + Cultural Council's December "Artist of The Month." Her work has been exhibited in galleries and open studio events in Connecticut, Georgia and New Mexico.

Artist reception Saturday for Vanilia Majoros at New Haven Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Vanilia Majoros: Blue
Through Feb. 15, 2013.
Artist's reception: Sat., Jan. 12, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Azoth Gallery

Vanilia Majoros came from Hungary to the US in 2003. She lives in New Haven, and teaches Printmaking at Creative Arts Workshop. An exhibit of her prints, Blue, is now on view at the New Haven Free Public Library. There will be an artist's reception for Majoros on Sat., Jan. 12, from 2—4 p.m.

"I love to explore my own self and image; this is the culmination of the fusion of science and art for me," writes Majoros. "I try to see things in my own way, shaped by my life and my experiences. For each viewer this experience an entry into this personal world through visual or mental images, can be uniquely his own."

"When I left Hungary, I thought my professional career would continue in the US," writes Majoros. "My husband had applied for a deanship at The New School University in New York City and had hoped his new position would create a job for me in the Art and Design College at New School or at Parsons School of Design. Teaching in the graduate program in one of these sounded very good for an art historian like me: I received my Ph.D. in Art History in 1997 in Budapest, and worked there as a scholar and as head of the Art Collection of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. I have written six books and more than one hundred articles about European Modernism.

Vanilia Majoros: "Xoxo"

"But my husband's dream did not come true; though by 2004 he was a Professor of Sociology and Political Science at Yale. I spent my time at the Yale Libraries researching and at home writing my largest book about one of the best Hungarian painters, Lajos Tihanyi, who died in Paris in 1938. My book was published in Budapest in 2004, and this was a changing point in my professional life. My dream to become a Yale professor did not materialize, but a new dream about being an artist was born. I decided to learn something new. After eleven solo shows of my photos in Hungary, I determined art as a new field of pursuit, and I began my studies of Calligraphy with Martha German and of Printmaking with Barbara Harder at the Creative Arts Workshop.

"From 2006, I was a guest student in the Yale School of Art, in the first year completing all of the Printmaking classes with Norm Paris. After finishing the Graduate Printmaking Seminar with Rochelle Feinstein, I was invited to teach printmaking in the Creative Arts Workshop. Since 2005, I've participated in group shows in New Haven, and in 2009 my first solo show took place at the DaSilva Gallery. In 2010, the Arts Council of New Haven invited me for a show in Gallery 195 in the First Niagara Bank, and The New Haven Register published a complimentary article about Barbara Marks' and my works in this show. In 2011, I was the first exhibitor at the Mitchell Library in Westville."

Majoros' prints are in private collections in the US, Hungary, Austria, Australia, China, Japan, Switzerland, Ireland and Germany. Some of her unique woodcuts, carborundum, and solar prints are in the Collection of the National Gallery of Hungary, the Literary Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.

"My unique prints are not only monotypes, but mono prints by woodcut, carborundum, linoleum cut, lithograph and etching. I make prints connected to Architecture, Music, Literature and Fine Art, a series dedicated to Gehry, and portraits about Gyorgy Ligeti, Anna Netrebko, Joan Sutherland, Paul Auster and Chuck Close. My Connecticut Garden series is based on Nature, but I like semi-Abstraction."

Saturday reception for photo show at Gallery at Still River Editions

The Gallery at Still River Editions
128 East Liberty St., Danbury, (203) 791-1474
Orange: Connecticut ASMP Members' Exhibition
Jan. 3—Feb. 28, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sat., Jan. 12, 4—6 p.m.

Press release from The Gallery at Still River Editions

What do you get when you challenge eighteen professional photographers to exhibit an image, with only one word as guideline: "ORANGE?"

The answer will be on the walls at Orange: Connecticut ASMP Members' Exhibition at The Gallery at Still River Editions in Danbury, Connecticut, from Jan. 3 through Feb. 28, 2013. An opening reception with the photographers takes place on Sat., Jan. 12, from 4—6 p.m., and is free and open to the public.

The eighteen pieces of fine art photography shown are from the Connecticut chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), the leading trade association for professional photographers. Connecticut's chapter of the ASMP has a membership of around 100 photographers at all stages of their careers, and offers programming including speakers, seminars, and ongoing small groups that promote business and community within the profession.

Donna Callighan: "
Susie's Sizzling Scheffleras IV"

 

Gale Zucker, a commercial and editorial location photographer based in Branford who is also a board member of CT ASMP, co-chaired the exhibit event with chapter Vice President Jane Shauck, of West Hartford. Zucker said of the exhibit, "Like most ASMP members, I create photography to communicate a client's message. This was a fun break from business—a busman's holiday, really—to create images for exhibit as fine art."

The photographers participating are: Nikki Alekson (Wethersfield, Web), Rich Pomerantz (Washington Depot, Web), Christine Chiocchio (Branford, Web), Jim Fiora (Branford, Web), Richard Freeda (Stamford, Web), Carl Vernlund (Berlin, Web), Liz Calvi (West Hartford, Web), Edwina Stevenson (Branford, Web), Donna Callighan (Stamford, Web), Christopher Beauchamp (West Haven, Web), Gale Zucker (Branford), Michael Garner (Middletown, Web), Ronald L. Glassman (Stamford, Web), Barry Hyman (Westport, Web), Jane Shauck (West Hartford), Phil Nelson (Stamford, Web), Peter Wnek (Meriden, Web), and Pam Rouleau (Wilton, Web).

When asked, "Why orange?," Zucker replied, "We wanted a theme that was broad enough to be interpreted in many ways. With January being a month of cold blue light, we went to the other end of the spectrum, and chose orange."

Reception for three shows Saturday evening at Gallery on the Green in Canton

Gallery on the Green
Corner of Dowd and Route 44, Canton, (860) 693-4102
Annual Members' New Work Exhibition
Kathleen Borkowski: Branching Lines
Suzanne Levy
Jan. 11—Feb. 10, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sat., Jan. 12, 6—9 p.m.

Press release from Gallery on the Green

From Jan. 11 through Feb. 10, 2013, the Canton Artists' Guild will be hosting three exhibitions at the Gallery on the Green. The public is warmly invited to the Opening Reception Saturday evening, Jan. 12, from 6—9 p.m.

The Annual Members' New Work Exhibition (1st floor Main Gallery) showcases recently completed work of the Guild's members in a variety of media including painting, drawing, photography and sculpture.

The “Upstairs” gallery will showcase Suzanne Levy, an abstract artist who uses color, shape, and movement to create artwork bursting with energy. Levy's paintings are sheer abstraction with precise elements appearing amid the chaos. With the use of such artistic tools as palette knives and brushes she presents art for contemplation and personal interpretation. Large canvases dominate this series while smaller works join with a common thread of pattern and color.

Suzanne Levy: "Yellow Trees"

In the 2nd floor “Spotlight” Gallery, Kathleen Borkowski’s exhibition Branching Lines: An exploration in divergent calligraphy on the theme of Branches.

Borkowski says:

I’m an artist whose joy comes with turning thought into substance through the mystic art called writing. I never seem to tire of putting word and image together and letters find their way into most of my work.

During this study, I gave myself a goal of creating 100 drawings and paintings on the theme of branches. Along the way I got sidetracked designing my own alphabet based on the marks left behind on dead branches from the beetle called Dendroctonus, which means "tree killer". In the end, I finished about 30 pieces and created an original alphabet.

Most of my artwork is on paper with paint, ink, metal pens and brushes, but I also enjoy photography, silkscreen, and jewelry making. In 2012, I explored painting on silk and created 120-plus hand painted and dyed silk scarves, many of which contained secret messages written with the magic symbols we call The Alphabet.

art by Kathleen Borkowski

Shelby Head's "Open Book" show reception Saturday at City Gallery

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Shelby Head: Open Book
Through Jan. 27, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sat., Jan. 12, 2—5 p.m. (Snow date: Jan. 19, 2—5 p.m.)

Press release from City Gallery

In her show Open Book, artist Shelby Head uses the book as an art object. The page lends itself to an internal and external dialogue using layers to hide and reveal content where idea over object and the beauty of form are at play. Head uses the versatile, flexible and ordinary material of paper to create a visual interpretation of text, material, form and content.

Shelby Head: "Book on Nothing"

There will be an opening reception for this show on Sat., Jan. 12, from 2—5 p.m.

Silvermine shows open on Sunday

Silvermine Guild Art Center
1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, (203) 966-9700
Donald Axelroad: Disintegration of Truth & Trust
Tina Rohrer: A Commitment to Color, Movement and Geometry
New Members Exhibition
The Silvermine Print Collection
Jan. 6—Feb. 17, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sun., Jan. 6, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Silvermine Arts Center

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 an exciting exhibition of new works by Donald Axleroad, a retrospective honoring the work of Tina Rohrer, and the Silvermine Print Collection. All are welcomed to the opening reception on Sun., Jan. 6 from 2—4 p.m. The exhibits will run through Feb. 17, 2013.

Donald Axelroad: "Fire Sale"

Donald Axleroad’s new body of work in Disintegration of Truth & Trust was created in response to current events and the contemporary issues of today’s world. Through imagery and symbols, Don explores the dissolution of American culture; a time and place where dishonesty has become the norm, and for many, innocence has been lost and the American Dream has been shattered. The exhibit features artwork that reacts to significant societal, political and economic events and headlines that remain relevant and timely. The artist addresses many issues in his works that include corporate greed and fraud, the foreclosure crisis, rising unemployment, political corruption, the disintegration of family, censorship, injustice, prejudice and intolerance. Through this new exhibit, Donald Axleroad is expressing his reactions to today’s events and his sadness at what he sees the world has become, where truths are hidden and lying has become commonplace. “People want to believe that things will be okay,” says Axleroad. “We have become a very closed society and the number of people who can impact what is happening is becoming increasingly smaller. The general feeling is that wrong is right, and that lying is okay by fooling people and not telling the truth. People don’t want to think about things that are ‘ugly’ and through my art I hope to allow the viewer the opportunity to try and think about the realities of the world and today’s events.”

Donald Axleroad, a resident of Stamford, CT, draws his inspiration from Greek mythology and makes connections between the ancient and modern worlds.

The new exhibit, A Commitment to Color, Movement and Geometry, is a tribute, honoring the life and art of Tina Rohrer, who recently passed away in the summer of 2012. Tina was awarded the show back in June of 2011, and her family, led by her youngest son, Jay, is leading the effort to hold this exhibit in her honor. The selection of work, in a variety of media ranging from painting to works on paper, expresses the artists’ love of movement and color through Tina’s geometric constructions. The principal focus of her work is on the optical qualities of color. The interaction of colors is most important. The use of complimentary colors creates an especially intense “push/pull” effect. Artwork with black, white and grays can produce a strong sense of action. From a distance, the individual marks lose their identity; hues are seen in the mid-range and these, then, coalesce to form a textural, geometric image. Of her art, Tina has said that the works of Seurat and Albers were instrumental in inspiring her own work. Integration and balance play a role in the inherent meditative quality of the art. Ms. Rohrer has said about her work, “Confronting my own mortality has increased my awareness of deeply rooted spiritual concerns. Thus, my art deals not only with self-unity but also with some type of oneness with God, a Higher Power, Nature or the Cosmos.”

Tina Rohrer: "Awash in Blue and Green"

Each year in the spring and fall, artists are selected, through a jurying process to become new members of the Silvermine Guild of Artists. The Silvermine 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 five new Guild Artist members inducted in the spring and fall of 2012, representing a variety of media. The new members include: Mindy Green from Rowayton, CT – Painting; Shelby Head from Madison, CT – Sculpture; Heather Houston from New Milford, CT – Sculpture; Lara Ivanovic, from Larchmont, NY – Painting/Drawing; and Hank Paper from Hamden, CT – Photography.

Hank Paper: "In the News"

The Silvermine Print Collection began out of the efforts of Guild Member, professor and noted artist Gabor Peterdi. Peterdi felt it was necessary to preserve the history of printmaking and develop a collection that was available for both appreciation of this unique art form, and as a tool for education. Having started the printmaking department at Yale University, Peterdi established the National Print Biennial competition at Silvermine in 1956. Out of these juried exhibitions the Arts Center established the foundation of a permanent print collection through the acquisition of juror purchase awards. In the subsequent years additional prints were also added to the collection via donations and bequests.

Currently, the Silvermine print collection consists of over 200 prints including examples by such renowned artists as Annie Albers, Lee Chesney, Christo, Jack Damer, Sergio Gonzalez Tornero, Michael Mazur, Gabor Peterdi and Linda Plotkin. Now on the heels of its 90th anniversary, the Arts Center is working to substantially increase the print collection and developing towards a plan to make the collection more accessible to artists and the general public. This exhibition will include a selection of some of the existing prints in the collection along with some of the most recent acquisitions.