New shows open at Silvermine Guild Art Center on Sun., Jan. 12

Silvermine Guild Art Center
1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, (203) 966-9700
The Answer Is Risom
The New Members Exhibition
The Gabor Peterdi International Rint Collection
Jan. 8—Feb. 16, 2014.
Opening Reception: Sun., Jan. 12, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Silvermine Arts Center

The exhibits opening for the new year on Jan. 8 at Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan, CT, bring the highly anticipated annual New Guild Members show, plus the work of Lifetime Guild Artist member Jens Risom, and The Gabor Peterdi International Print Collection. All are welcomed to the opening reception on Sun., Jan. 12 from 2—4 p.m. The exhibits will run through Feb. 16, 2014.

Jens Risom: Lounge chair

Silvermine Arts Center is honored to showcase the works of Jens Risom (b. 1916), an icon of Danish American furniture design, and a Silvermine Guild Member since the 1950’s. The upcoming exhibit The Answer is Risom, will feature several of Mr. Risom’s signature furniture designs along with original drawings and other historical items from an influential career that has spanned over 70 years. Although he learned the trade in Denmark (he trained at the Copenhagen School of Industrial Arts and Design), he is often counted among the American designers who were shaping postwar design, and indeed his most important contributions to the modern style were made after his emigration here in 1939. Mr. Risom’s commitment to design also extended to his advertising. One of the more notable examples, a series of ads he did in the 1960’s with famed fashion photographer, Richard Avedon will be included in the exhibition. Throughout the decades, Risom's work has continued to reflect our human need for warmth, beauty, and simplicity.

Mr. Risom first made his mark on the design world with his signature chairs, whose simple and elegant design incorporated surplus parachute straps into a birch frame. These chairs were some of the first designs to be manufactured by the critically acclaimed Knoll, Inc. (a collaboration that began in 1941) and lead to the development of the "Jens Risom Collection," which was featured in the company’s first catalog. Knoll considers Jens Risom to be the first true Knoll designer. After his service in WWII, Mr. Risom ended his relationship with Knoll and formed his own company, Jens Risom Design, which he ran until the early 1970’s. In the 1960’s, Jens Risom, along with fellow Knoll designers, Charles Eames and Harry Bertoia, were noted as designers who were "revolutionizing furniture in America." Examples of his work can be found in many major institutions, including the Brooklyn Museum, Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, Museum of Modern Art, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum and the Yale University Art Gallery. A longtime resident of New Canaan, Connecticut, Risom is a trustee of the Rhode Island School of Design and was knighted by Queen Margrethe of Denmark in 1996. Jens Risom summed up his stylistic philosophy and his approach to interiors as, "Good design means that anything which is good by itself will go with other things."

Twice a year, each 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 prestigious museums, and private and corporate collections. Selection into the guild is based on several criteria including 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.

Silvermine New Member Grid 2014

The New Members Exhibition will showcase the works of nine new Guild Artist members inducted in the spring and fall of 2013. Representing a variety of media, the new members include: Naya Bricher from South Kent, CT (Painting); Nina Buxenbaum from Bethel, CT (Painting); Amanda Duchen from Woodbridge, CT (Ceramics); Charles Geiger, from Poughkeepsie, NY (Painting); Jana Ireijo from Westport, CT (Painting); Cynthia MacCollum from New Canaan CT (Printmaking); Joe Madrigal from Decorah, IA (Mixed Media Sculpture); Mitchell Visoky from White Plains, NY (Mixed Media/Encaustic); and Karen Vogel from Darien, CT (Printmaking).

In 2012, Silvermine Galleries officially named its print collection The Gabor Peterdi International Print Collection, in honor of Silvermine’s print collection founder, Gabor Peterdi. Having started the printmaking department at Yale University, Peterdi established the National Print Biennial competition at Silvermine in 1956. The juried exhibitions, the Arts Center established the foundation of a permanent print collection through the acquisition of juror purchase awards. In subsequent years, additional prints were added to the collection via donations and bequests. The recent efforts have enabled the Galleries to conserve the collection, while actively growing its holdings.

The past year, The Gabor Peterdi International Print Collection received, several significant donations to the collection; including works by such renowned artists as Josef Albers, purchased with funds honoring the late Guild Member, Tina Rohrer; a Robert Cottingham screened print; and a Gabor Peterdi Print donated by the Gabor Peterdi Estate. This year’s exhibition will feature recent acquisitions of prints by Fritz Brosius, Alexander Calder, James Flora, Charles Hinman, Liliana Porter, and a print attributed to Salvador Dali; and a selection of other highlights from the collection.