Juried "How Simple Can You Get?" show opens Friday at Creative Arts Workshop

Creative Arts Workshop Hilles Gallery
80 Audubon St., New Haven, (203) 562-4927
How Simple Can You Get: Hillary Charnas, Rebecca Murtaugh
Mar. 7—Apr. 3, 2014.
Opening reception: Fri., Mar. 7, 5—7 p.m.

Press release from Creative Arts Workshop

Creative Arts Workshop (CAW) presents new work by Hillary Charnas (Glastonbury, CT) and Rebecca Murtaugh (Brooklyn, NY), prizewinners of the 2013 juried exhibition How Simple Can You Get? Robert Storr, Professor of Painting and Dean of the School of Art at Yale University, served as juror. The Prizewinners show will be on view in CAW’s Hilles Gallery from Mar.7 to Apr. 3, 2014. An opening reception is scheduled for Fri., Mar. 7 from 5—7 pm. The public is invited to attend.

The juror’s intent for the exhibition from which he chose Charnas and Murtaugh, was to assemble a collection of artwork in which "complexity has been reduced to its most essential and visually arresting expression." Open to any visual media, the juried show ultimately included pieces that ranged from minimalist forms to intricate constructions.

Multimedia artist Hillary Charnas presents a selection of work from her series In A New Light, a collection of photographs that feature found objects reimagined and resurrected into two-dimensional abstract forms. It appears to the viewer that the artist has discovered and examined overlooked and neglected items that might once have occupied a place of belonging. By depicting the objects as specimens, Charnas has stripped away the ephemeral nature of familiarity, leaving the audience with images to decipher as they will.

Hillary Charnas: "Stanton Twins"

Rebecca Murtaugh will exhibit a collection of sculptures from her project entitled Alluring Repulsions. The three-dimensional abstract forms are created using a variety of materials and techniques that draw from both painting and sculpture. Murtaugh describes her interest "in alchemy and the history of objects and materials for their transformative potential… improvisation and intuition drive my actions along with a strong desire and consideration of beauty, form and color." Similar to themes in Charnas' work, Murtaugh gives discarded materials a new life. With titles like "Aequalis: Sunburst and Russian Violet" and "Stand: Regatta and Reflecting Pool," the artist’s non-representational sculptures offer particular references from which the viewer can engage on an aesthetic and intellectual level.

Rebecca Murtaugh: "Aperture: Rain and Cool Lava"

Concurrent with Prizewinners: Hillary Charnas | Rebecca Murtaugh, the Creative Works Gallery will feature two exhibitions. Detroit Dalliance is a collection of photographs by Bart Connors Szczarba, on display from Mar. 7 through 21. An opening reception will be held on Mar. 7 from 5 to 7 pm. Following will be an exhibition sponsored by Susan Foshauer, featuring the work of multiple artists working across a variety of mediums. This group show will be on display from Mar. 28 through Apr. 11. The opening reception will take place on Mar. 28 from 5—7 pm.