Head to Institute Library for opening of "Head" Sat., Sept. 7

The Institute Library
847 Chapel St., New Haven, (203) 562-5045
Head
Sept. 7—28, 2013.
Reception: Sat., Sept. 7, Noon—2 p.m.

Press release from Stephen Vincent Kobasa

Curated by Jeff Ostergren, Head explores the manifold meanings and multiple possibilities of the word "head"—figurative, psychological, metaphoric, sexual, structural, mechanical, geographic are to be put forth and explored in a space which itself has a curious formal resemblance to a head. In a library, no less, the content of which all derives from a head and goes into other heads. Heads produce things. Ideas, products, experiences, moments, emotions. Heads are where things come from.

Joe Brittain: "Tantalus"

The exhibit features works by Lani Asuncion, Joe Brittain, Cal Crawford, Georgia Dickie, Cheryl Donegan, Stacie Johnson, Roy Lichtenstein, David Livingston, Laura Marsh and Christopher Michlig.

Show of Carolina Guimarey paintings opens Sat., Sept. 7, at New Haven Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Carolina Guimarey: Forgotten Roses
Aug. 29—Oct. 3, 2013.
Artist's reception: Sat., Sept. 7, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Azoth Gallery

Essay by Mercedes Arensberg, Art Historian:

Carolina Guimarey, a CT professional visual artist will have a One-Woman Art Exhibition at the New Haven Public Library with opening reception Saturday, September 7, from 2-4pm, at Ives Main Library, 133 Elm Street, New Haven CT 06510. The exhibit will run from August 29, to October 3, 2013 and is curated by Johnes Ruta of Azoth Gallery.

Guimarey's work is included in collections across the United States, Argentina, Italy and Spain. From an early age, she received art training directly from master artists in her native Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as at University of Connecticut where she studied drawing, sculpture, painting and photography.

Her work captures the viewer’s attention immediately with a sense of quiet dignity filled with tamed yet intense passion. To walk through her studio and gallery exhibitions, one gets the sense of being conveyed, through deeply intellectual perspectives, and strong emotional and philosophical components, to an encounter which captures the facets of human experience. These components reveal an underlying social commentary.

Carolina Guimarey: "Beyond the Restraints"

In "Hidden Realities II" we see several boxes filled with what appear to be rolled up little papers, scrolls. The repetition of the small scrolls as well as that of the boxes where they are contained speak of individual identities, which have been packaged and limited by externally imposed limitations and structures. These trapped and restricted “individual parts” are easily associated with in the viewer's mind, but also in the context of an art historical discourse. In the explanation of her work, she relates these visual perspectives with the state of contemporary society and culture, where communication has become limited by the computer screen, the IPhone touchpad, the frame of the text message, the profile on the social media, the space allotted to the tweet, and the confines of the small apartment in the booming urban city. One is made conscious of the state of affairs where, even though there are more inhabitants on earth than ever before, it is prevalent for communication and interaction among them and with the world, to take place in confined and limited virtual or factual spheres and spaces. Thus the global consciousness is characterized by a sense of isolation and confinement.

Guimarey’s work presents itself, softly, stoically and with great dignity, it is reminiscent of Jorge Luis Borges writings and of Eva Hesse’s unforgettable sculptures. Yet, in spite of its systematic construction, its soft, pleasant, texture, and the humility and quiet which exudes from the pieces—within every one there is visually described an act of courage, a statement of rebellion, a call to awareness.

For instance, in "Behind the Restraints," even though the vibrant blood red hue is hidden behind the stitches of restraint, societal norm, and indoctrination—towards the bottom of the picture plane we can see these stitches seem to be coming undone, and a larger triangular area of red coming through, symbolizing the inevitable escape of the individual consciousness from the Status Quo.

An exhibition not to be missed, one of the most inspiring and surprising artist of our times.

Keeting and Grill shows to open at Giampietro Gallery Friday, Sept. 6

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Zachary Keeting: Recent Work
Clare Grill: Steeped
Sept. 6—Oct. 5, 2013.
Reception: Fri., Sept. 6, 5—8 p.m.

Press release from Giampietro Gallery

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to present new work by artists Zachary Keeting and Clare Grill. The two shows will be on view from Sept. 6—Oct. 5, with an opening reception on Fri., Sept. 6, from 5—8 p.m.

Zachary Keeting's abstract paintings are visually compelling and technically unique. His surfaces are constantly in flux: calligraphic gestures, crackled pours, blotted geometries, all whirling around in dynamic organic imbalance. They exhibit a great understanding of color, movement, texture, and composition.

Zachary Keeting: "April (2)"

Keeting received his M.F.A from Boston University and his B.F.A. from Alfred University. Zachary’s work has exhibited extensively throughout New England and New York. Keeting has been awarded many residency and fellowship opportunities including an Artist-in-Residence at VCCA in Amherst, VA, Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, NY, Petrified National Forests in Arizona, Byrdcliffe in Woodstock, NY, Montana Artist Refuge in Basin, Montana, Santa Fe Art Institute, Pouch Cove in Newfoundland, Canada, Millay colony in Austerlitz, NY, and the Woodstock School of Art in NY.

Clare Grill writes, "My paintings come from a reverence for and curiosity about what's past—mine and everyone’s . . . I make paintings about things fading away. My paintings have an available but perhaps not an obvious logic, like when an image dictates something about the mark, but the mark isn't at the total will of the image. I come to each piece differently, sometimes by looking at my things, or out the window, or at pictures of familiar places, or old drawings, or other times by reading a string of words I’ve copied down somewhere. I mess with the images these thoughts cook up, layering and wearing them away. I've become less concerned with image really, and more with just painting. The image surfaces according to the way the paint looks like it feels to touch."

Grill received her M.F.A. from the Pratt Institute and her B.A. from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. In 2011 Clare attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. Grill's work has exhibited throughout New England and NY. Clare has accepted many prestigious awards including the Pratt Alumni Award from Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and Best in Show for the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts curated by Carter Foster. Grill has also participated in AIM 28 Bronx Museum and Aljira, Emerge 9 as well as a residency fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center.

Reception for Richard Falco show Saturday at A-Space Gallery in West Haven

West Cove Studio Gallery
30 Elm St., West Haven, (203) 627-8030
From the Museum of False Art: True Painting by Richard Falco
Aug. 31—Sept. 28, 2013.
Reception: Sat., Aug. 31, 6—8 p.m.

Press release from A-Space Gallery

A-Space Gallery presents comprehensive exhibition of artwork once thought not to exist, paintings by Richard Falco.

Richard Falco: "The Greedy Churchman"

The exhibition of Falco's works will be on display from Aug. 31 through Sept. 28. A reception will be held Sat., Aug. 31, from 6—8 p.m.

Nagle and Peterson show reception Thursday, Aug. 22, at UConn Stamford

The UConn Stamford Art Gallery
One University Pl., Stamford, (203) 251-8400
Two Heads Are Better Than One: Elizabeth Nagle and Mary Elizabeth Peterson
Aug. 19—Oct. 1, 2013.
Artists' reception: Thurs., Aug. 22, 5—7:30 p.m.
Artists' Talk: Thurs., Sept. 19, 5 p.m.

Press release from Mary Elizabeth Peterson

Fairfield county artists Elizabeth Nagle (New Canaan) and Mary Elizabeth Peterson (Westport) will exhibit new work in a show called Two Heads are Better Than One at the UConn Stamford Art Gallery. The exhibit is available for viewing from Aug. 19 to Oct. 1, 2013. An Artists' Reception is scheduled for Thurs., Aug. 22 from 5—7. There will also be a gallery talk with the artists on at Thurs., Sept. 19 at 5 pm.

This exhibit will feature painting and collage by these two artists, who, working alone and in tandem over the past two years, have created a significant assortment of deeply unsettling, playfully odd, and unavoidably memorable works. The exhibit ranges from the intricately finished large canvases back to the irreverent "sketch" paintings and mixed media collages where their ideas are born. It features all manner of hybrid materials such as woven plastic grass seed bags, millinery ribbons and rusty bottle caps. It includes art works that typically start with one object or idea and then evolve in all directions and sometimes back upon themselves.

The sketch pieces are hung in the gallery where the viewer can watch as the ideas start to take shape. These starter pieces gain one level more of elaboration in the nearly wall-sized works on canvas where the artists go back and forth adding weird tidbits until the upset is complete. Like a dog with its pink tongue hanging down or a wonky line suggesting a tree. Here the collaborative nature of their working is most apparent. It is as if Nagle and Peterson’s paintings talk to each other: sometimes reaching out and sometimes holding back—either way they are friends. A song, a whisper, a secret, a giggle can be heard in the room.

Elizabeth Nagle and Mary Elizabeth Peterson: sneak peek of upcoming show

In all the various types of work exhibited, the often mundane familiarity of the object is "tweaked" by the artists painterly interventions, resulting in a world where time is stopped and a story is unfolding. These "not-quite-right" forms are much more exciting than the logical or photo version would be. You will wonder if you are inside or out, flying or falling, right side up or upside down. Like a bad disco song from the 1970s, these works stick in your head and some may haunt your quiet moments for a long time to come!

The work in this exhibit stands out also from what is trending in galleries, from what their contemporaries are making, from what people expect them to make. It shows Nagle and Peterson pursuing their own interests without the pressures of committing to a particular style, without the demands of making "concept" work. And while the overall mood of the show is fun, these artists always manage to rein in the insanity and conceptually push things just far enough. There are no extraneous elements in the works; everything is as it should be!

Daniel Mosher Long photography show reception Thursday, Aug. 8, at 100 Pearl Street Gallery

100 Pearl Street Gallery
100 Pearl St., Hartford, (860) 525-8629
Daniel Mosher Long: Still Life/Natura Mortalis
Through Oct. 12, 2013.
Opening reception: Thurs., Aug. 8, 5—7 p.m.

Press release the Greater Hartford Arts Council

Still Life/Natura Mortalis, premieres at the 100 Pearl Street Gallery managed by the Greater Hartford Arts Council. These engrossing photographs by photographer Daniel Mosher Long juxtapose cultural artifacts and natural objects, and catalog Long's efforts to combine exaggerated detail with off-kilter surrealism in the artist's first solo show in Hartford.

A free public opening reception will be held on Thurs., Aug. 8, from 5—7 p.m. in the gallery space. Wine and light hors d’oeuvres will be served.

Daniel Mosher Long: "It Takes Tutu Mango"

Daniel Mosher Long lives in Storrs, CT and has worked in the Connecticut Community College System since 1990. He is currently a professor of photography and coordinator of the Photography Option at Manchester Community College in Manchester. He studied photography at Bennington College (BA), Rhode Island School of Design and Purdue University (MA). He also earned a Master’s Degree in educational administration from the University of Connecticut. He is a 2006 recipient of a Connecticut Commission on the Arts Artist Fellowship. He began his most recent project, Natura Mortalis, in 2010.