Connecticut Art Scene: Two shows open Friday, Jun. 7, at Giampietro Gallery in New Haven

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Riley Brewster: Works
The Self-Portraits of Samuel Rothbort
Jun. 7—29, 2013.
Reception: Fri., Jun. 7, 5—8 p.m.

Press release from Giampietro Gallery

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to present work by artists Riley Brewster and Samuel Rothbort (1882—1971). The two shows will be on view from Jun. 7—29, with an opening reception on Fri., Jun. 7, from 5—8 p.m.

In an artist’s statement from 2005, Riley Brewster writes, "My paintings most often employ an initiating form which operates spatially, metaphorically and structurally as a threshold space. It is a form that measures the painting space in terms of scale, point-of-view, and metaphoric, symbolic identity. It is this form that keeps the paradigm of the reading of the painting hermetic: the viewer is kept on one side of this initiating form; the rest of the paintings spatial relationships occur within the painting space on the far side of this form. This form operates as the hinge between these worlds—the viewers and the paintings. I have become interested in the thought, the possibility of the whole painting operating, functioning as this hinge. This is among my present concerns."


Riley Brewster: Untitled

Brewster received his M.F.A in Painting from the Yale University School of Art and his B.A. in Studio Art from Bowdoin College. Brewster's work has been exhibited throughout the United States as well as Alaska. Brewster has accepted many of prestigious awards including the Louis Comfort Tiffany award, the Maine State Commission on the Arts Biannual Award in Painting, the Bowdoin Faculty Research Award, and Highest award for excellence in painting from Yale University. Brewster has also been awarded many residency and fellowship opportunities including the Visiting Artist Residency from Vermont Studio Center, Painting Fellowship from the Ingram Merrill Foundation, Painting Fellowship from the Pollock/Krasner Foundation, and a Painting Fellowship from the Esther and Adolf Gottlieb Foundation. Brewster's work can be found in both private and public collections including the Davis Museum of Art, the Museum of Art (Portland, Maine) Vermont Studio Center, and the Yale University Museum of Art.

Samuel Rothbort (1882-1971) maintained an intensely personal vision during his long career as an artist. His body of work is best known for his wood and stone sculpture and his painted scenes of Long Island and New York. Fred Giampietro is pleased to present a rarely seen glimpse into Rothbort's eccentric life through his self-portraits.