Connecticut Art Scene

Friday opening of abstract nautical collages at Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery in Stamford

2012-02-01T11:56:00.003-05:00

Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery
96 Bedford St., Stamford, (888) 861-6791
Rex Prescott Walden: To Italy
Feb. 3—Mar. 11, 2012.
Opening Reception: Fri., Feb. 3, 6—9 p.m.

Press release

The Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery is proud to announce a solo exhibition by one of its best-selling contemporary artists, Rex Prescott Walden.

Titled To Italy, the exhibition features a new collection of works by Walden that garner their inspiration from the cascading cliffs, sea-foam shores, and golden cobbled streets of Italy's grandest cities. An opening for the exhibition will be held on Fri., Feb. 3, 2012, from 6—9 pm. The show is on view through Mar. 11.

Just over a year after his last solo show, Mixed Journeys, Walden returns with his trademark found object collage work that takes a minimalist approach to concepts of travel and navigation. Using maps displaying the Italian coast, as well as elements from his own journeys to Lo Stivale, Walden's work evokes not only the beauty of the Italian landscape, but the rich history the nation has with sailing and navigation. Walden's work reinterprets a vision of space and time, and how these elements relate to the contemporary experience.

“Memory provides the depth of the visual experience,” the artist explains. “I see the audience responding to my work in very personal ways. Found objects, painterly brushstrokes, and mapping references (many major Italian cities and ports are represented) all help to spark a variety of reactions to each piece. Each viewer brings his or her own history to the work. This variety of responses helps to keep each collage composition provocative and fresh.”

Walden has traveled extensively throughout Italy, and reinterprets some of his favorite memories on his canvases. In this collection, the viewer becomes voyeur to Walden's intimate relationship with the land: “My wife and I fell in love with Italy when we landed in Florence five years ago. The people, the wine, and the landscape welcomed us as if we were old friends. We try to renew our relationship every autumn.”

Rex Prescott Walden remains one of the Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery's best-selling artists. His work appears in numerous prominent private and corporate collections, including that of Yale University's Smilow Cancer Center.

An opening reception for To Italy will take place on Fri., Feb. 3, from 6—9 p.m. The Gallery will be throwing one of its legendary parties that night, open to the public. Collectors may RSVP to a private viewing on Feb. 2 by contacting Rebecca Hansen at 888-861-6791, ext. 6, or at rhansen@flalvarezgallery.com.

Hygienic Art call for photographers/artists—juried photography show

2012-02-01T11:39:00.001-05:00

Hygienic Art
79-83 Bank St., New London, (860) 443-8001
The f-stops Here: In Color and Black + White
Receiving dates: Feb. 16—18 (see below for times).
Show Dates: Feb. 25—Mar. 17, 2012.
Opening Night: Sat., Feb. 25, 7–10 p.m.

Press release

Call For Photographers/Artists
Juried Photography Exhibition at Hygienic Art

The f-stops Here: A Juried Photography Exhibition at Hygienic Art.

Didn't we just have this show…YES! It was just a few months ago but our first juried photography exhibition last year was so successful with an amazing turnout of both emerging and professional photographers that we hope to establish this time slot in our calendar for the F-Stop Juried Photography Exhibition every year. If you missed last September's exhibition, this is a great opportunity to share your prints with a dynamic community of photographers and art lovers from throughout the region. Your participation will help secure the future of this exhibition in our yearly calendar.

The date is approaching fast so get out there and produce some of your best color or black + white photography or dig into your archives to submit to this exciting juried exhibition.

We have two talented photographers lending their eye and expertise for the exhibition. Photographer Keith Johnson (Web) will serve as our guest juror and Photographer and Associate Professor of Art at Connecticut College Ted Hendrickson (Web) will curate the selected pieces.

Cash Prizes will be awarded.

This Event is proudly sponsored by Hygienic Art!

Submission info:
Black + white photography and color photography may be submitted. Artists may submit up to 3 pieces to be considered. All work must be for sale. No works previously shown at Hygienic will be accepted. All works must be suitably framed with wires and ready for hanging. All metal frames must have hangers and wire, NO CLIPS. Work submitted must not exceed 48” in either direction. All work must remain for the duration of the show. Hygienic will retain 30% of sales and collect 6% CT state sales tax. Hygienic will not be responsible for unclaimed work.

Receiving Dates:
Thurs., Feb. 16, 2–6 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 17, 11 a.m.—2 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 18, 11 a,m.–2 p.m.

OPTIONS:
If these times do not work please feel free to contact us
to make a drop off arrangement

Entry fees:
$15.00 for single entry
$20.00 for two entries
$25.00 for three entries

Unselected Pick-up:
Thurs., Feb. 23, 11 a.m.—3 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 26, Noon—3 p.m.

Selected Pick Up:
Sun., Mar. 18, Noon—3 p.m.

A group show of color essentialism opens Friday at Giampietro Gallery in New Haven

2012-02-01T11:20:00.003-05:00

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Chromacosm
Feb. 3—Mar. 3, 2012.
Opening Reception: Fri., Feb. 3, 5—8 p.m.

Press Release

Giampietro Gallery is pleased to present Chromacosm, a group exhibition that brings together six artists who embrace color as a primary and essential element of their work. Artists presented are: Melissa Brown, Clint Jukkala, Zachary Keeting, Joshua Marsh, Douglas Melini, and Tamara Zahaykevich. The exhibit is on view from Feb. 3 to Mar. 3, 2012.

Conjuring worlds, both abstract and representational, the artists in Chromacosm think and speak in color as much as through drawing, imagery, or material. While associations abound, color here is felt more than named. Jewel-like hues, chromatic spills, and atmospheric gradations, evoke imagined spaces made of vibrant pigments. The works in Chromacosm are not so much about color, but rather color is the DNA that brings these images and objects to life.

Melissa Brown paints alien rock and landscape forms from another world. Composed largely of hard edges and graphic shapes, the stratified layers of these strange formations reveal the spectral glow of unnatural, interior hues.

Clint Jukkala’s paintings offer portals into sensory worlds of color, geometry, and remembered experience. Ostensibly abstract, they refer to the real world, suggesting interior spaces, windows, and landscape vistas.

Zachary Keeting (see image) brushes, pours, and scrapes gestures that accumulate and collapse into complex colorful layers. Paint slides, skids, bubbles and drips, creating translucent and opaque movements of intertwined forms.

Joshua Marsh’s paintings on burlap hum with the glow of limited and precise hues. Yet these still lives of seemingly everyday objects are transformed into eerie, infrared images where boundaries blur and color traces the remnants of contours.

Douglas Melini weaves brilliant, painted designs of finely tuned colored lines. Horizontals, verticals, and diagonals accumulate into trippy, kaleidoscope plaids enclosed by hand painted wooden frames.

Tamara Zahaykevich’s intimate, sculptural gems are made of paper, foam and paint. Idiosyncratic in form and built of decidedly raw materials, her jaunty constructions radiate energy and suggest narrative possibility.

Melissa Brown is a New York based artist, Clint Jukkala and Zachary Keeting are New Haven based artists represented by Giampietro Gallery. Joshua Marsh is based in Philadelphia and is represented by Jeff Bailey Gallery in New York. Douglas Melini is based in New York. Tamara Zahaykevich is based in New York and represented by Kansas Gallery.

Reception for two shows at Middlesex Community College next Monday, February 6

2012-01-30T12:17:00.002-05:00

Middlesex Community College Pegasus Gallery
100 Training Hill Road, Middletown, 1-800-818-5501
Daniel Mosher Long: Eye/Object in the Pegasus Gallery
(Pegasus Gallery is located within the library on the first floor of Chapman Hall)
Jan. 30—Mar. 2, 2012.
Also on view in the Niche Gallery:
Tracy Walter Ferry: Genetically Modified Organisms in the Niche Gallery
(The Niche is located on the first floor of Founders Hall)
Jan. 30—Mar. 2, 2012.
Joint Artists' Reception: Mon., Feb. 6, 4:30—6 p.m. at The Niche and in the Pegasus Gallery.

Press release

Daniel Mosher Long’s still life photographs combine domestic, utilitarian, and natural materials in unexpected ways. These color-saturated images are closely cropped and appear to occupy a real rather than an illusionistic two-dimensional space. Juxtapositions of insect specimens, fine dinnerware, animal bones, flowers, fabric, vintage advertisements and antique packaging offer narratives associated with the past in as much as their time here in the present.

Long received an M.A. in Photography from Purdue University and an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Connecticut. He has exhibited his work nationally and is Professor of Photography & Coordinator of the Visual Fine Arts Photography Option at Manchester Community College.

Long's photographs will be on view in the Pegasus Gallery through Mar. 2.

The assemblages of Tracy Walter Ferry are influenced by processes of microbiological and genetic experimentation. Inspired by her work as a registered nurse, these mixed media sculptures are anatomical in nature and combine contrasting components and materials. Balloons, children's toys, baby nipples, x-rays, fabric, thread, medical and building hardware are manipulated into striking organic forms that balance the sharp, soft, fragile and resilient.

Ferry received an M.F.A. from the Hartford Art School and has exhibited her work throughout the east coast. Her assemblages will be on view in The Niche through Mar. 2.

There will be a joint Artists' Reception on Mon., Feb. 6, from 4:30—6 p.m. in The Niche and at the Pegasus Gallery.

Friday opening of "Sound Influence, Part II" at Sumner McKnight Crosby, Jr. Gallery in New Haven

2012-01-30T11:53:00.003-05:00

Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery
70 Audubon St., 2nd floor, New Haven, (203) 772-2788
Sound Influence, Part II
Jan. 20—Mar. 2, 2012.
Artists' reception: Fri., Feb. 3, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven is pleased to present Sound Influence, Part II, in the Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery, 70 Audubon St., 2nd floor. The exhibition is curated by local painter and muralist Katro Storm and will be on view during business hours from Jan. 20 through Mar. 2, 2012. A public reception is scheduled for Fri., Feb. 3, from 5—7 p.m.

Katro Storm, the curator, is a prolific artist who delivers meaningful and thoughtful portraits of inspirational leaders and influential city landmarks. A native of New Haven, a former student and teacher at the Educational Center for the Arts, he is a community mentor who continually seeks to create new work and inspire others to do the same. "It’s the challenge of creating something out of nothing that makes it exciting," states Storm. "To push myself to a new level each time I paint." With Sound Influence, Part II, the exhibition examines, as Storms states, "how important sound is to creating art."

The art on display manifests very different responses to sounds that are universal. The exhibit reflects the "sound" environment in which each artist works in, be it the sound surrounding the space they work in or the music they listen to while creating. There are also artists who transfer their visual interpretation of music onto canvas, much like choreographers who compose a dance piece based on a specific piece of music.

Participating artists: Aoke, Michael Angelis, Ian Applegate, Jahmane Art, Lee Adam Beard, Dooley-O, Renald Davidson, Orlando Dome, Paul Duda, EROS 165, Hayward Gatling, Rob Greenberg, Ellen Hackl Fagan, Aniko Horvath, Marta Machabli, Conrad Mecheski, Destiny S. Palmer, John Rodrigues Brewer, Steve Ross, Reo Russo, William T. Saunders, Craig Streater Smith, Rob Stull (see image), Kristin Thomas, Alison K. Walsh, Janet Warner and Charlie Win.

Opening reception for Judy Atlas show at City Gallery this Saturday

2012-01-30T11:36:00.002-05:00

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Exploring Layers: New Work by Judy Atlas
Feb. 2—26, 2012.
Opening Reception, Sat., Feb. 4, 2—5 p.m.
Closing Reception: Sun., Feb. 26, Noon—5 p.m.

Press release
Judy Atlas (Web) drew inspiration for her abstract paintings from the "scenery of the street"—ranging from remnants of European antiquities in ancient Pompeii to the notices, flyers and graffiti seen on the streets of contemporary New York. The acrylic and mixed media paintings utilize shapes, images, light and mark making to reflect the artist’s personal journey, and to begin one for the viewer.

Exploring Layers will be on view at City Gallery from Feb. 2—26. An Opening Reception will be held this Saturday, Feb. 4, from 2—5 p.m. A Closing Reception for the exhibit will be held Sun., Feb. 26, from noon—5 p.m.

Vito Pasquale photo show on view at Gallery at Still River Editions through March

2012-01-30T11:27:00.003-05:00

The Gallery at Still River Editions
128 East Liberty St., Danbury, (203) 791-1474
Fourteen Threadless Needles: Photographs by Vito Pasquale
Through Mar. 30, 2012.

Press release

I missed posting this before this past Saturday's opening but still wanted to posat npotice of this show.

Vito Pasquale is a photographer and writer from Mount Kisco, NY. He is one of those people who, upon retiring from the full-time job he’d done in corporate America for almost thirty years, began to “peek down, as Frost would call it, 'the road not taken.'" In 2008, Pasquale returned to writing after a long hiatus, and in 2009 he began taking photographs that reflected some of the themes in his writing. His book of poetry, Fourteen Threadless Needles, was published in 2011.

Many of Pasquale’s photographs are abstracts and photo-manipulations that go beyond taking the world at face value. In his poem, "(Somewhere) After Silence (and) Before Regret," Pasquale refers to “…the surprisingly elastic properties of a dream.” The photographs dance around that dream-state in the everyday.

Pasquale says about his photographs, "I believe it is healthy to have a casual disregard for authority. In some cases it might even be necessary to have a determined disregard—please don’t tell my kids. In any case, the sky that is saturated and yellow, the off-kilter street scene, the blackened hills, the something there is that doesn’t love a happy ending, these are the approaches that I take. I believe in the pretty picture, but only if it’s very, very pretty, which means it’s probably a flower and the bloom is fading away."

Included in the show are several photographs that relate to Pasquale’s history in the Danbury area. He grew up in Mount Kisko, NY and his father worked in Danbury until 1966 at a construction company that was located near the site of the train station just up Liberty Street. Coincidentally, this is a short distance from the Gallery at Still River Editions.

The fourteen photographs are connected to poems posted online via QR codes, which viewers can scan using their smart phones, or look at online in the gallery.

Tangents
by Vito Pasquale

If life
didn't
have
tangents,
it wouldn't
have any
direction
at all.

Two days left to check out "Library Science"

2012-01-26T18:34:00.008-05:00

Artspace
50 Orange St, New Haven, (203) 772-2709
Library Science
Through Jan. 28, 2012.

Libraries are not an obvious choice as an art-making subject. But, as the show Library Science at Artspace in New Haven through Saturday demonstrates, the topic is rich with resonance. This sprawling group show featuring national and international artists takes the subjects of libraries and books as springboards for wide-ranging works of imagination and philosophical and intellectual engagement. It comes at a time when the Internet and the digitization of information are usurping the role of the book.

At least some of these works focus on libraries as signifier, not so much as a repository of knowledge but as a sign of the repository of knowledge. Mickey Smith's "Corroborating Information" features found portrait studio images, re-photographed by Smith, which situate individuals and families in front of bookshelves laden with what appear to be weighty tomes. The books are props, a sort of intellectual fill lighting for the posing subjects.

Candida Höfer's (Web) "Biblioteca Geral a Universidade de Coimbra IV," a photograph of packed bookshelves in an ornate reading room at a prestigious Portuguese university, conveys multiple messages. This is a temple to knowledge—the books are associated with wealth and power and are not out of place amid the finely detailed, plush surroundings. And yet, they are worn, inert, likely largely untouched for quite some time, orphaned repositories of knowledge that may no longer be useful or even credible.

Nina Katchadourian's photographs also employ books as signifiers, albeit in a lighter, more idiosyncratic mode. Katchadourian is granted access to private libraries and specialized collections and allowed to rearrange the books, gleaning personal statements from the juxtaposition of titles. Read left to right, the titles on the book spines in Relax from Composition" posit an amusing conversation: "Relax," "When I Relax, I Feel Guilty," "When I Say No, I Feel Guilty," "God Always Says Yes!" It concludes with the title "Don't Say Yes When You Want to Say No." It leaves me wondering whether God has taken the advice.

Where Katchadourian creates her winking juxtapositions from the spines of books, Erica Baum finds hers on the subject headings of library card catalogues. My favorite was "Untitled (Suburban Homes)." The subject heading in the foreground reads "Suburban homes;" behind it just out of focus in the tight depth of field is "Subversive activities." Where suburban homes in this culture are considered the antithesis of "subversive activities," Baum's images suggests that, of course, subversive activities lurk behind the respectable facades of these houses. It's is worth noting that Baum's photographs succeed not just as visual puns but as images, finding strong balances of line and shadow.

In order to closely view Baum's images and those by Mickey Smith on the facing wall, it is necessary to do something that feels wrong—walk on the spines of over 1,000 books. Mickey Smith's floor installation "Memorial Service," is composed of 1,201 copies of Federal Reporter," compilations of federal court decisions and opinions that were once de rigeur for law offices, since replaced by digital editions. It feels sacrilegious to tread on the spines of these compendiums of legal knowledge—they squeak as they give way underfoot, almost a cry of despair.

Theoretically, these physical objects are obsolete. This, however, prompts me to segue to a concern that I have flogged before on this blog: the danger of storing increasing amounts of our information and knowledge in the digital realm. As a vehicle for storing knowledge, books are simple and direct. Crack open a book and—provided you can read the language in which it is written—you can dive right in. But information in the virtual format is a completely different story. Digital information, supposedly so free, is actually stored under lock and key, the lock being the hardware and the key being the software. Without the right combination of both, the information is inaccessible.

The peril of this reliance on technology is, ironically, demonstrated by a work in the show inspired in part by a failure of technology. David Bunn's "No Voyager Record" is a slide projection of catalogue card images for lost or missing books at the Brooklyn Museum of Art Library, where Bunn had been invited to do a project with catalogue card discards. Why were there discards of catalogue cards? Because the library was digitizing its card catalogue under the rubric of the Voyager Project. But when Voyager was launched, it crashed and the backup was also erased. The old card catalogue had to be salvaged; it had been boxed for disposal but was not yet gone. The irony? I couldn't see the slide projections because of a malfunction with the projector.

Still, if digitization and the concomitant obsolescence of the book presents (what I believe are under-appreciated) risks, it's incontestable that it has placed a wealth of knowledge and information—not always overlapping concepts—at the click of our fingertips.

Loren Madsen's three Iris prints hearken back to the pre-Google search engine era of 1998. Madsen used Amazon's search engines to ferret out book titles with popular and loaded search terms like "self," "fashion" and "sex." Her results, alphabetized, are printed in long lines of small, upper-case block type, making up big squares dense with text broken up by occasional rivers of white. It is all weighted the same—Is Salami and Eggs Better Than Sex? as consequential in the design as The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir.

Xiaoze Xie's (Web) two photorealist paintings are based on photos he took in libraries. "Chinese Library No. 46" depicts the edges of a stack of decaying manuscripts, torn, curling and marked with Chinese characters. "Untitled #3" references the active destruction of books, showing orange-yellow flames twisting amidst a background of black and red. The painting is based on a still from the documentary Degenerate Art about the Nazi assault on culture and the attendant book burnings. The subtext to both works is the notion that knowledge is fragile and contingent, dependent both on the survival of physical objects and the moral will to defend free inquiry.

Melissa Dubbin's and Aaron S. Davidson's (Web) "Reading Room for Kids" is a subtle and powerful statement on the fact that knowledge is not necessarily neutral. Did you know that the Central Intelligence Agency has recommended reading lists for grades K-5 and 6-12? Well, they do and as one would suspect, they are geared toward glorifying spycraft, subterfuge and the shepherding of secrets. The installation imagines a reading room for My Little CIA Library.

A small shelf holds all 39 books from the CIA's reading lists. The walls are papered with an ivy pattern based on illustrations from Lord Robert Baden-Powell's 1915 book My Adventures as a Spy. (Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts.) Disguising himself as a distracted butterfly collector, Baden-Powell spied on Boer forts in South Africa, sketching important information into drawings of ivy leaves and hiding other information on the patterning of butterfly wings. A kaleidoscope of butterflies—printed from one drawing in various sizes and different shades of brown—is pinned to the wall in a random, lively arrangement. A cloak of nature and innocence conceal the CIA's propagandistic intent, trying to inculcate children with the notion that knowledge is a weapon and deception a virtue.

Library Science is on view through Saturday.

Panel discussion on Poster Boy show at Real Art Ways this Saturday

2012-01-23T13:34:00.002-05:00

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Poster Boy: Street Alchemy 2.0
Through Jan. 29, 2011.
Panel discussion: Sat., Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m.

Press release

Street Alchemy, an exhibition by artist collective Poster Boy, was scheduled to go on view at Trinity College in September 2011 but was abruptly canceled. According to the Hartford Courant, school administrators canceled the show due to Poster Boy's alleged practice of using materials stolen from public advertisements.

Poster Boy claimed censorship when Trinity College first postponed and then cancelled the exhibition: "They don't know where the billboards come from, and I'm not going to incriminate myself," a representative for Poster Boy said in an interview with the BBC.

The cancellation of the show received national and international attention, including the front page of the Hartford Courant's Living Section, Hartford Advocate, Art Info, the BBC, Channel 3 Eye Witness News, and on WNPR's Colin McEnroe Show.

In wake of the cancellation, Real Art Ways made the decision to present the exhibition with the title Street Alchemy 2.0. The exhibition opened on October 20, 2011 with a crowd of more than 500 in attendance.

Real Art Ways will present a panel discussion to address the multiple and wide-ranging topics that have arisen from this situation. The panel discussion will be Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. This is a free event. The exhibition’s final day is Sun., Jan. 29, 2012.

“Real Art Ways supports artists and we care about community. We believe that controversy can be an opportunity for enlightenment and thoughtful communication,” says Will K. Wilkins, Executive Director of Real Art Ways. “It’s a shame that Trinity cancelled the Poster Boy exhibition, but it has created a context for dialogue.”

A few topics the panelists will discuss are: artist’s rights and freedom of expression, legal issues surrounding this work, the transgressive nature of new art and the value of billboards in advertising and society.

Panelists will include:

• Chris Knopf, CEO of Mintz & Hoke Communications Group, a leading marketing agency

• Thomas Menard, attorney specializing in intellectual property litigation at Alix, Yale & Ristas, LLP

• Dr. Randy Jacobs, Associate Professor of Communications at the University of Hartford, who teaches advertising

• Hrag Vartanian, Editor and Founder of the online journal Hyperallergic and an expert on street art

• A member of the Poster Boy collective will also participate

Moderator:
• Marela Zacarias, artist and muralist

About the panelists and moderator:

Moderator - Marela Zacarias, artist
Zacarias has painted more than thirty large public murals in the United States. Mexico and Guatemala. She was an Artist-in-Residence for the academic year ‘09—’10 at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, where she completed a mural to be part of the William Benton Museum of Art collection. Her work is currently part of the 2011 S-Files Biennial at Museo del Barrio in East Harlem, NY. She made a 30ft long site-specific sculptural painting at the lobby of the museum. You can see a short video about this piece here.

Panelists -
Dr. Randy Jacobs, Associate Professor of Communications
University of Hartford
Dr. Jacobs teaches advertising in the University of Hartford’s School of Communication. Dr. Jacobs’ interests span the social, economic and ethical implications of advertising and his most recent research looks at the effects of military advertising on enlistment decisions. Dr. Jacobs earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in Advertising from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in Communication from Ohio State University.

Hrag Vartanian, Editor/Founder
Hyperallergic, blogazine and online forum
Vartanian is editor of Hyperallergic. His work has appeared in the Art21 blog, Brooklyn Rail, NYFA’s Current and Huffington Post. He serves on the board of the Triangle Arts Association, he volunteers on numerous educational committees and he blogs at HragV.com. He's a Brooklyn-based writer, editor and art critic who has written extensively about street art, performance art, the Internet and issues of multiculturalism. He maintains a tumblelog notebook, called A Brooklyn Art Critic’s Notebook.

Chris Knopf, CEO
Mintz & Hoke Communications Group
Knopf is a principal in Mintz & Hoke, a marketing communications agency in Avon, CT serving B2B and consumer clients. In a long career, he has won top creative awards in national and New England competitions. Knopf is also a published novelist, cabinet-maker and rock musician when he can steal the time.

Thomas Menard, Attorney
Alix, Yale & Ristas, LLP
Menard is a proud graduate of Central Connecticut State University and the University of Connecticut School of Law. As a partner in the Hartford-based intellectual property (IP) law firm of Alix, Yale & Ristas, LLP, Menard counsels clients regarding patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, IP-related business disputes and IP litigation. The firm represents clients ranging from Connecticut-based manufacturers, to universities, entrepreneurs and a wide range of international clients through an international network of IP law firms. During his twelve years of IP practice, Menard has represented clients in state and federal courts in Connecticut and other U.S. jurisdictions. Menard believes that in-depth knowledge of the client’s business and competitive environment are essential to the strategic allocation of legal services where they will provide the greatest benefit.

The Poster Boy collective
Poster Boy describes itself as an artist collective based in Brooklyn, New York. Poster Boy is known for manipulating and repurposing self-adhesive advertisements in the platforms of New York City subway stations to create collage-like street art. Street Alchemy 2.0 centers on two altered billboards—one for State Farm Insurance and the other for The National Guard. Pictures from this exhibition can be found here.

Real Art Ways has a history of championing artists and artistic expression and promoting dialogue about censored works.

"Exploded Views" now on display at John Slade Ely House in New Haven

2012-01-23T13:21:00.002-05:00

John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art
51 Trumbull Street, New Haven, (203) 624-8055
Going the Distance
Through Feb. 26, 2011

Press release

The John Slade Ely House is pleased to announce the first exhibit of 2012 Exploded Views which runs from Jan. 15 through Feb. 26. Participating artists are Aimée Burg (Web), Geoffrey Detrani (Web), Martha W. Lewis (Web), and Mark Wilson (Web). Exploded Views includes drawing, painting, installation, sculpture, video, and digital printing.

Exploded Views refers to the practice in technical drawing of representing the parts of a whole in exploded or diagrammatic form for the purpose of clarity, instruction, and to make visible the relationship of scale, position, orientation. The artists in Exploded Views utilize this mode of representation to address a variety of issues from the interaction of planning and nature, the aesthetic quality of technical and scientific instrumentation, and as metaphor for insight and understanding.

Exploded Views will be on view through Feb. 26.

Thursday artist's reception at 100 Pearl Street Gallery in Hartford

2012-01-23T13:10:00.002-05:00

100 Pearl Street Gallery
100 Pearl St., Hartford, (860) 525-8629
Reconstructed Steel: Forms by Vicente Garcia
Jan. 23—Mar. 23, 2012.
Opening reception: Thurs., Jan. 26, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

Reconstructed Steel: Forms by Vicente Garcia opens at the 100 Pearl Street Gallery managed by the Greater Hartford Arts Council. Garcia’s exhibit features large-scale sculptures made from re-bar, steel, brass and copper to create vessels and shapes finished with natural rusting, chemical patinas, polishing, grinding, and torching.

A free public opening reception with the artist will be held on Thurs., Jan. 26 from 5—7 p.m. in the gallery space. Wine and light hors d’oeuvres will be served.

Vicente Garcia’s pieces include vessels and sculptures made of clay and steel. Garcia holds an MFA in Ceramics from the University of North Texas and works as a Professor of Art at Central Connecticut State University. When he’s not teaching Ceramics, Garcia can be found at work in his Simsbury, CT studio, or participating in artist residencies and exhibitions across the state.

Opening reception for "Passing Time" at Wesleyan Zilkha Gallery On January 31

2012-01-23T12:42:00.001-05:00

Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University
238 Washington Ter., Middletown, (860) 685-3355
Passing Time
Jan. 27—Mar. 4, 2012.
Opening reception: Tues., Jan. 31, 5—7 p.m.
Gallery talk at 5:30 p.m by guest curator Judith Hoos Fox.

Press release

Passing Time, a new exhibition of recent works by 14 international artists in a range of media, explores the multiple and converging meanings of the phrase “passing time." Organized by guest curators Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox of c2 curatorsquared, the exhibition will be on view in Wesleyan University’s Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, located at 283 Washington Terrace on the Wesleyan campus in Middletown, from Fri., Jan. 27 through Sun., Mar. 4, 2012. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday from noon—4 p.m. Gallery admission is free.

The public is invited to attend the opening reception on Tues., Jan. 31, 2012 from 5—7 p.m., with a gallery talk at 5:30 p.m. by guest curator Judith Hoos Fox. The opening reception is free.

The various meanings of the phrase “passing time”—spending time, time to die—are explored in the evocative imagery of the works in Passing Time—video, photography, sculpture and works on paper. Some artists turn to sport, some to music; some refer to nature and its rhythms to explore concepts of time—short term, long term and terminating. Others partner with time itself in their making of art. Time is a concept that philosophers and physicists ponder. Time provides a framework that orders, measures and defines. We spend time, we waste it, we keep it; time flies, it drags. It is elastic in its perception—long when we are young, gaining momentum as we age. The Passing Time exhibition explores the relationship between the time of our life and the time of the eons.

Following the engagement at Wesleyan University, Passing Time will travel to the Richard E. Peeler Art Center at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana and other venues through the fall of 2013. In 2010, c2 curatorsquared organized the exhibition Connectivity Lost, which addressed the ways we are estranged from each other and from the environment in which we live. Connectivity Lost was on view in the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery from Sept. 11 through Dec. 6, 2010.

"We are really glad to be back at Wesleyan for a second exhibition," said Ms. Fox. "We first identified Passing Time as a subject being explored by a great number of artists across the world and across media about four years ago. The Venice Biennale was particularly rich. That is where we saw the Shaun Gladwell Storm Sequence. Maybe it’s the speed at which we all live these days, on fast forward, that makes artists start to look at time. Maybe we were particularly aware of the subject because of things going on in our own lives—children growing up before our eyes; an older generation dying."

The artists, known and emerging, featured in Passing Time include Matthew Buckingham (United States), Jonathan Callan (United Kingdom), Luis Camnitzer (United States), Rineke Dijkstra (The Netherlands), Ken Fandell (United States), Shaun Gladwell (Australia), Felix Gonzalez-Torres (United States), Leandro Katz (Argentina), Katrin Korfmann (The Netherlands, Germany), Philipp Lachenmann (Germany), Stefana McClure (United States), Su-Mei Tse (Luxembourg, France), Siebren Versteeg (United States), and Bill Viola (United States).

"The North Gallery [of the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery is a wonderful place for a room-sized installation of video, and we are putting Siebren Versteeg’s dual projection live feed piece there. We really want to take advantage of the elegant glass link to that gallery, and are working on a way to install the Katrin Korfmann light box piece in this link. And Luis Camnitzer's Last Words should read powerfully when placed [on the far back wall]. Each work [in Passing Time] is there because of the particular voice it brings to the conversation," said Fox.

Sunday reception at Christopher Martin's restaurant for Mary Lesser show

2012-01-18T13:39:00.001-05:00

Painting show opens at Ulla Surland Gallery Eleven in Fairfield Saturday

2012-01-18T13:33:00.002-05:00

Ulla Surland Gallery Eleven
11 Unquowa Rd., Fairfield, (203) 259-1572
Lisie Orjuela: Oil Paintings on Canvas
Jan. 21—Mar. 3, 2012.
Opening Reception: Sat., Jan. 21, 6:30—8:30 p.m.

Press release

Lisie Orjuela was born in Argentina, South America. She has lived in a number of countries including Uruguay, Switzerland, Mexico and several states in the United States. She currently lives in Trumbull, Connecticut. She creates art in her studio space in the American Fabrics Arts building in Bridgeport, Connecticut. She received a BFA from Andrews University in Michigan and an MFA from New York University.

Orjuela's art is multi-faceted, energetic and deep. While she works, she dwells in the world of dreams where imagery, color, magic and ambiguity blend and sway creating a reality that competes with wakefulness in its complexity. The works evolve slowly; layers emerge and perhaps submerge only to emerge again as Orjuela wields her art with oil paint, oil bars and oil pastels. Her paintings are a stream of consciousness inspired and steered by her multi cultural experiences, the demands and responsibilities of her busy life and her hopes, fears and dreams. The elements of her life combine and bubble to the surface of her beautiful paintings.

Orjuela does her job as an artist magnificently well; she dazzles and alters our perceptions with deftness and grace, never succumbing to manipulation or sentimentality. An exciting journey awaits as one surrenders to the powerful and modified reality depicted in Orjuela's paintings and allow the richness of this world to guide the direction of ones thoughts. There are no set rules here, or rather, the rules change at random. A crow is sinister at one glance and friendly and playful in the next. Color carries one from cool and murky depths to fierce and heated heights. The pathways through these paintings are natural and without affect. Things are just as they should be even if what that is may be subject to change and full of mystery. One emerges from this journey feeling rejuvenated and enlightened, having been touched by something natural, open and honest in our world where artifice reigns.

Gordon Skinner painting show reception Thursday at New Haven Public Library

2012-01-18T13:13:00.002-05:00

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Stolen I.D.: Fragmented, Colonized, and Lost—Paintings by Gordon Skinner
Through Feb. 4, 2012.
Artist's reception: Thurs., Jan. 19, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

The subject of identity is one every artist battles with, whether this means voiding identity of its importance or basing one’s art entirely on what it means to be a Self and a human. Gordon Skinner’s work falls within the litmus of an identity in crisis. As a young African-American, the frustration felt by the artist at his lack of ownership in society is something that is centuries old and runs deep with in the veins of society. He is part of a group that feels fragmented, colonized, and lost. As Skinner puts it, “I feel robbed of my heritage and culture.”

This anger and frustration is too big to put into words. So, two years ago in 2009, Skinner turned to paint to vent that sense of invisibility in a tangible way. He began painting figures wearing colorful masks that represent both concealment and expression. Though their true identities, defining features, and identifying qualities are obfuscated by the mask, the images are expressive and dynamic. Skinner tends to challenge the norms of American society in his images, calling upon the sedatives fed to the public through television and reliance on petroleum. In other works, he commemorates those artists that inspire him, from Joan Mitchell to Tracey Emin, expressing that he is fully conscious of the fact that, as a young artist, he is a subject of those who blazed the trail before him.

Full of vigor and animation, his work is raw, spontaneous, colorful, and fragmented. You escape nothing when viewing his work; through a variety of mediums, he lays everything out on the table to be picked over and looked at. There is a rough, almost primal, edge to his artwork. It comes from a severely emotional place, creating an instant and intimate connection with the viewer. Skinner is locating his voice out of voicelessness. As an artist, he is emerging into a category of human that transcends definition and exists purely in a place of creativity and innovation.

Gordon Skinner is a visiting artist to the Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery. He is a New Haven area artist.

Mark Williams "War Is Over" show opens Thursday at Real Art Ways

2012-01-18T13:00:00.002-05:00

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Mark Williams: The War Is Over
Jan. 19—Apr. 1, 2012.
Opening reception during Creative Cocktail Hour: Thurs., Jan. 19, 6—8 p.m. Admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Press release

Real Art Ways presents The War Is Over, an exhibition of brightly colored work by Mark Williams, who critiques—in the form of toy soldiers—the introduction of militarism to young children.

An opening reception on Thurs., Jan. 19, from 6—8 p.m. will be held as part of Creative Cocktail Hour, Real Art Ways' monthly third Thursday gathering. Creative Cocktail Hour is from 6—10 p.m.; admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Artist Statement:

The War is Over started shortly after the United States
went to war with Iraq for the second time. In an era preoccupied with war and the military-industrial complex, I became interested in how war is perpetuated and glamorized to our youth. I chose to use toy soldiers, which are marketed to young children as my source material. Later on, I obscured these toys with playful objects made from Play-Doh to quell the aggression of the toy soldiers. Recently, The United States officially ended the war with Iraq and I have declared myself finished with this series of work. The war is over.

After spending his first 22 years in Ohio, Mark Williams moved to Greenwich Village in New York City to seek fame and fortune as an artist. After that didn't work out, he moved to Providence, Rhode Island and then to Connecticut where he earned his MFA from the University of Connecticut. Williams then worked for the artist Sol LeWitt and was awarded a full fellowship from the Vermont Studio Center as well as an artist fellowship grant from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. He has exhibited his artwork extensively throughout North America and is in several public and private collections including The Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. Williams lives and works in New Haven and teaches art at Three Rivers Community College.

Elegy for Nature

2012-01-09T12:10:00.004-05:00

The Institute Library
847 Chapel St., New Haven, (203) 562-5045
Out of Nature: An Exhibition of Alternatives
Through Jan. 14, 2012, 2011.

Who could blame nature for fighting back? The human species has been delivering blow after blow against the natural world for centuries.

Out of Nature, an art show in the wonderful little Institute Library space, isn't really about Mother Nature going on the offensive. Still, Michael Oatman's deadpan collage "Study for the Birds I" depicts a platoon of our feathered brethren and sistren packing some heavy heat. This collection of prints, collages, paintings and sculptures with (mostly) representational and figurative depictions of natural subjects does bring to mind our alienation from nature and the blowbacks that increasingly portends.

Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa, Out of Nature offers a menagerie both playful and prosaic. On the prosaic end of the spectrum we find Amy Arledge's (Web) taut, naturalistic copper plate etchings—a crow, horseshoe crabs and the grim "Honey Bees: Colony Collapse Disorder."

Over at the whimsical pole are the wall sculptures of Kim Mikenis (Web)—colorful animal characters like something out of children's literature. The goat-like "Marbles Dunleavy," crafted out of paper and colored with acrylic paint, has its big yap open as though it's haranguing its fellow barnyard inhabitants. Occupying pride of place on the floor is Laura Marsh's large Frankensteinian soft sculpture with hard internal armature. "Squawk" is an imposing hybrid turkey and peacock.

While all the works in the show evidence the technical skills of the respective artists, Joseph Smolinski's "Narwhal" (image courtesy of the artist and Mixed Greens, New York) particularly moved me. Smolinski regularly juxtaposes nature to its technological simulacra—trees and cell phone towers being his most common motif. This trope is manifest in "Narwhal," a simple composition of the unicorn-like marine mammal breaking the surface of the arctic seas. In the misty distance we can see what might be an offshore oil platform. Beneath the waters a plant akin to a palm tree hides cell transmitters amid its fronds.

If "Narwhal" were just a graphite drawing—a favored medium of Smolinski's—it would still be evocative. But his color work is so strong that the image rises to another level. One senses both the arctic chill and the ebbing of the arctic chill in the wake of climate change. Climate change's victim—the narwhal—is foregrounded, its proximate cause—the oil rig—is there in the background.

It is elegiac, suffused with loss.

Art show reception Sunday at City Gallery in New Haven

2012-01-09T12:04:00.002-05:00

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Elemental: The collages of Roberta Friedman and the photographs of Roslyn Meyer
Jan. 12—29, 2012.
Opening Reception, Sun., Jan. 15, 2—5 p.m.

Press release

Roberta Friedman, a member of City Gallery, and guest artist Roslyn Meyer are presenting Elemental, the collages of Roberta Friedman and the photographs of Roslyn Meyer, from Jan.12—29, 2012. The opening reception is on Sun., Jan. 15, from 2—5 p.m.

Friedman’s watercolor collages transform papers and natural found objects into layered paintings that explore and celebrate the wondrous unpredictability of water-based media. Her vision is to contemplate and re-imagine the natural layering of the landscape—its grandeur and its serenity—through texture, light and color.

Meyer’s photographs are meditations on the beauty of the natural world, both vistas and more intimate detail. Her painterly, evocative images explore the tension between surface and depth, motion and stillness, reality and abstraction.

"Locally Grown" art show opens Saturday at Danbury Museum and Historical Society

2012-01-09T11:58:00.002-05:00

Danbury Museum and Historical Society
43 Main St., Danbury, (203) 743-5200
Locally Grown Art
Jan. 14—Mar. 24, 2012.
Opening Reception: Sat., Jan. 14, 3—5 p.m.

Press release

Photographer Lys Guillorn is among the six area artists selected for the Locally Grown Artists Exhibit at the Danbury Museum & Historical Society co-sponsored by Housatonic Valley Cultural Alliance. The other artists are Jane Bennett, Eric Camiel, Barry Collins, Giada Crispiels, Randy Lagana and Honorah O'Neil. The exhibition will be on view from January 14 through March 10, 2012. There will be an artists' reception at the museum on January 14, from 3-5 pm.

The Danbury Museum & Historical Society is a new venue for the Accessible Art Project. Other venues that will be participating this year are Danbury City Hall and CityCenter in Danbury, and FrameWorks (Newtown, CT).

Guillorn (see image "Sybil's Fierce") is a fine art imaging associate at Connecticut Photographics /Still River Editions in Danbury, CT, where she has worked for thirteen years. Guillorn was a resident of Danbury from 1998 to 2009, and now resides in Shelton. She is also a singer-songwriter who performs in area clubs.

Art and science exhibit opens Thursday at New Haven Museum

2012-01-09T11:56:00.002-05:00

New Haven Museum
114 Whitney Ave., New Haven, (203) 562-4183
New Haven ’s Sentinels: The Art and Science of East and West Rock
Jan. 12—May, 2012.
Opening Reception: Thurs., Jan. 12, 5:30 p.m.

Press release

The New Haven Museum is proud to announce the opening of its latest exhibition New Haven ’s Sentinels: The Art and Science of East and West Rock. On Thurs., Jan. 12, 2012 at 5:30 p.m., the Museum will inaugurate the exhibition with a reception that is open to the public free of charge. Featuring many paintings and works from the New Haven Museum ’s collection and geological objects from the Peabody Museum and Wesleyan University, the exhibition celebrates the local innovations in art and geology in 19th century New Haven.

The New Haven Museum collaborated with Dr. Jelle de Boer, Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, Emeritus at Wesleyan University and author of Stories in Stone: How Geology Influenced Connecticut History and Culture, on this exciting project that centers on the changes in the worlds of art and science and the significance and inspiration of New Haven’s local geology from the founding of the colony to our modern city.

The new exhibition, made possible with partial support from United Illuminating, will be on view until May 2012.

The New Haven Museum , founded in 1862 as The New Haven Colony Historical Society, is located in downtown New Haven at 114 Whitney Avenue.

Multimedia happening at new NEST Art Center in Bridgeport this Saturday night

2012-01-04T12:54:00.002-05:00

NEST Art Center
1720 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport, CT
Cinematic Multiplex 4 the Senses
Sat., Jan. 7, 2012, 6:30 p.m. til "late."
$5 cover includes refreshments. BYO wine.

Press release

It's a happening, baby! At the new NEST (North East Space/Time) Art Center (directions) in Bridgeport this Saturday, Liquid Nitrate Films and A/V Xperiment present a Film and Video Experiment Multi-Media Festival—Cinematic Multiplex 4 the Senses. There will be a $5 cover, which includes refreshments. Attendees are encouraged to BYO wine.

Original Films by original local filmmakers in a huge warehouse filled with people and Buttered Popcorn. View these films on our huge panoramic professional movie screen 20 x 40 ft. Six screens to show their films on. Invite your friends and family.

6:30—9 p.m.: Peter Konsterlie Art Works & Productions—Tec color tidal scope squidialous films:

1 • The Beatles hold their breath with excerpts from “Yellow Submarine” (Blue Meanies optional)
2 • French surrealist Jean Painleve featuring the sounds of Yo La Tengo “The Sea Horse”
3 • “CULTOONS” rare and lost, and zany cartoons from the great beyond
4 • Crowd-pleasing “The Way Things Go” a Duchampian extravaganza, and a mousetrap of a movie!
5 • Stan Brakhage’s landmark film “Moth Light” and much, much more!
6 • Bjork “Hidden Place”

9—12 pm: Live video art, project Internet, video games, compter art, animations, open mic poetry reading.

VIDEO PRODUCTIONS:
Kelly Bigelow Becerra
Sean Corvino
Greg Catalano
Dustin DeMillo
Rob Greenberg
Tony Juliano
Mary Jo Lombardo
Rob Parkman
Doug Poger
Lisa Seidenberg

Lisa Spetrini and friends, Hula Hoops
This is a Hula-Hoop Friendly Event !

OPEN CALL—BYO DVD!

Sunday show opening at Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library in Stony Creek

2012-01-04T12:19:00.002-05:00

Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library
146 Thimble Islands Rd., Stony Creek, (203) 488-8702
Art 4 the Body + 4 the Soul
Through Jan. 25, 2012.
Opening reception Sun., Jan. 8, 4—6 p.m.

Press release

Discover Art 4 the Body + 4 the Soul at this unique exhibition with Bethany painter Rita Brieger and Branford textile artist Owen Sea Luckey at the Willoughby Wallace Library in Stony Creek. Sponsored by the Friends of Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library, the exhibit runs from Jan. 1—25, 2012, with an Opening Reception on Sun., Jan. 8 from 4—6 p.m. (Snow date: Jan. 15, same times)

Together, Brieger and Luckey present a collection of work that defines the figure in bold and abstract impressions. But their use of color and pattern reach beyond the physical confines of paint and textile, creating movement, feeling, and soul.

Brieger is an abstract painter who combines color, texture and emotions on canvas. Working in both acrylic and oil, she uses her craft to present the soulful contradictions of life. The bright colors, bold movements and layers of intentions communicate to the viewer in ways words cannot. “A work of art is a reflection of the soul print of the artist,” she says.

Luckey is a textile artist who combines hand knitting and sewn accessories to create one-of-a-kind pieces using sumptuous yarns, custom dyed wools, silk velvets and beaded trims. While the lines and structure of her creations are familiar—a sweater, a scarf, a hat—she pushes the boundaries of what you expect, incorporating holes, bright pops of color, and funky embellishments. “I love to create one-of-a-kind pieces that people can’t wait to wear,” Owen says. She is a founding member of the Branford Artists Cooperative, which supports emerging and established artists and promotes the arts in the town of Branford.

The Friends of the Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library is a non-profit volunteer organization that actively promotes community participation in library programs and supports the library’s growth and development.

The Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library is located at 146 Thimble Islands Road, Stony Creek, CT. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit www.wwml.org or www.branfordartistscooperative.com.

New shows open at Silvermine Sunday, January 5

2011-12-29T11:28:00.002-05:00

Silvermine Guild Art Center
1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, (203) 966-9700
Director's Choice: Jak Kovatch
Grace Shanley: Circle of Life – Then and Now
New Members Exhibition
Solo Borglum: 90th Birthday Celebration Exhibition
Jan. 8—Mar. 4, 2012.
Opening Reception: Sun., Jan. 8, 2—4 p.m.

Press release

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 exciting exhibitions featuring Director’s Choice, Jak Kovatch and works by multidisciplinary artist Grace Shanley. All are welcomed to the opening reception on Sunday, Jan. 8 from 2—4 p.m. The exhibits will run through Mar. 4, 2012.

Since 1992 Director’s Choice, Jak Kovatch, has been working on a series of mixed media paintings, combining ink etching with oil painting technique, on printmaking or water color papers. His new exhibit at Silvermine will explore this on-going series in multimedia works which will include paintings, sculptures and works on paper created by the artist. About his work, Mr. Kovatch says, “For me, the boundaries between pure drawing and pure painting are difficult to define in any exact terms. When I work, I consider both ways of presenting images, regardless of the medium used. Using both drawing and painting in a single work, I think I achieve the best of two worlds.”

Multidisciplinary artist Grace Shanley’s new exhibit Circle of Life – Then and Now, focuses on images of her six children and husband as her subject. The selection of work ranges from printmaking and pastel to painting. The idea of her love and connection to her large and growing family has been a continuing theme in the artists work. Through the use of a variety of mixed media, she presents portraits and landscapes that relate to family, place, memory and relationships. One might say that her choice of imagery is highly personal, but at the same time it speaks universally to the sense of parental love.

Each year in the spring and fall, new members are selected through a jurying process into the Silvermine Guild of Artists. The 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 12 new Guild Artist members inducted in the spring and fall of 2011, representing a variety of media. The new members include: Margot Bittenbender from Old Greenwich, CT – printmaking; Lucienne Buckner from New Canaan, CT – sculpture; Carlos Davilia from Ridgefield, CT – assemblage; Kevin Ford from Norwalk, CT – sculpture; Hanneke Goedkoop from Rowayton, CT – watercolor; Barbara Harder from New Haven, CT – printmaking; Barbara Korman from New York City – sculpture; Hally McGehean from Norwalk, CT – mixed media; Mary Jo McGonagle from Southport, CT – installation; Bob Miranti from New Rochelle, NY – ceramics; Karen Neems from Stamford, CT – photography; Angie O’Brien from Stamford, CT – mixed media.

Silvermine Arts Center turns 90 this year and the celebration begins with a special exhibit, 90th Birthday Celebration Exhibition, featuring the work of the arts center found, sculptor Solo Borglum.

Two openings at Charter Oak Cultural Center next Thursday

2011-12-29T10:53:00.003-05:00

Charter Oak Cultural Center
21 Charter Oak Ave., Hartford, (860) 249-1207
Jackie Doucot & Dwight Teal: Black and White in Color
Greg Orfanos: ep.i.sod.ic.
Jan. 5—27, 2012.
Opening Reception: Thurs., Jan. 5, 5:30 p.m.

Press release

Two separate art shows open at the Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford Thursday of next week.

Jackie Doucot & Dwight Teal: Black and White in Color: The premiere exhibition of two accidental friends. Artist Jackie Allen-Doucot met Dwight Teal in the North End of Hartford when he was 8 years old and she was 28. She recognized a fellow artist and they have been painting and creating art together for 17 years.

Greg Orfanos: ep.i.sod.ic.: Greg Orfanos’ work includes mixed media pieces which represent the very nature of an episode–occurring sporadically and incidentally.

The two shows will be on display through Jan. 27. There will be an opening for both shows on Thurs., Jan. 5, at 5:30 p.m.

Mercurial Gallery opening reception on New Year's Eve in Danbury

2011-12-29T10:39:00.002-05:00

The Mercurial Gallery
11 Library Place, Danbury, (203) 417-2215
Open Studios
Dec. 31, 2011—Mar. 2, 2012
Opening Reception: Sat., Dec. 31, 4—8 p.m., Dance performances: 6—6:30 p.m.

Press release

The Mercurial Gallery is excited to present an evening of tropical beauty on Danbury's First Night with the artist opening reception of Selva Fantasma: Images from the Undeforestation Project by photographers Marissa Macias and Summer Moore and two dance performances by the traditional Ecuadorian dance troupe, Juventud Latina.

Open House, exhibition of Robert Perron's aerial photography this Saturday in Branford

2011-12-14T14:11:00.002-05:00

Branford Artists Cooperative
211 Montowese St., Branford, (203) 589-6995
The Aerial Photography of Robert Perron showing at 491 Main Street, Branford.
Dec. 17, 2011—Jan. 4, 2012.
Open house: Sat., Dec. 17, 1—6 p.m.

Press release

The Branford Artists Cooperative (BAC) is pleased to announce an exhibition of the late Robert Perron's aerial photographs at 491 Main Street. A Branford artist and dedicated conservationist, Perron's passion was photographing the earth and its waters from above. The large photographs in this exhibit showcase his inspiration of the landscape below, its contours, sun-struck colors and surprising patterns. Seeing his work in these proportions, one can imagine Robert flying his Cessna and hanging out the window with two cameras hung around his neck, ready to capture moments.

See for yourself how Perron’s camera caught the contrast and the harmony of this alive and changing world. Join us for an open House with 491 Main Street businesses on Saturday, Dec. 17, from 1—6 pm. 491 Main Street is open from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. This event is free and open to the public. The exhibit runs through January 4, 2012.
The Branford Artists Cooperative supports emerging and established artists and promotes the arts in the town of Branford. We encourage greater appreciation and awareness of the arts among businesses, organizations and the general public. The Branford Artists Cooperative and its membership of artists and supporters aspire to illuminate, educate and entertain.

Institute Library show opening and greeting of the artists this Saturday

2011-12-14T13:46:00.003-05:00

The Institute Library
847 Chapel St., New Haven, (203) 562-5045
Out of Nature: An Exhibition of Alternatives
Dec. 17, 2011—Jan. 14, 2012, 2011.
Greeting of the Artists: Sat., Dec. 17, Noon—2 p.m.

Press release

W.B. Yeats, "Sailing to Byzantium":

Once out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing...

Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa, Out of Nature: An Exhibition of Alternatives will feature works in various media by Amy Arledge (Web), Mia Brownell (Web), Paul Daukas (Web), Brian Huff (Web), Barbara Marks (Web), Laura Marsh (Web), Kim Mikenis (Web), Michael Oatman, Amy Jean Porter (Web, see image) and Joseph Smolinski (Web).

The exhibition will be on display through Jan. 14, 2012. A greeting of the artists will take place this Saturday, Dec. 17, from noon to 2 p.m.

Hope Gallery Tattoo opening reception Saturday night for "Heroes and Villains"

2011-12-08T11:43:00.001-05:00

Hope Gallery
835 Woodward Ave., New Haven, (203) 467-1622
Heroes and Villains
Opening: Sat., Dec. 10, 2011, 7—11 p.m.

Press release

Celebrate Hope Gallery Tattoo's anniversary in style with the Group Show entitled Heroes & Villains featuring over 30 International artists portraying Good vs Evil.

The opening reception will be filled with action movies, food, and good ol' booze. And we will have tons of giveaways provided by our sponsor—Gentle Giant! So be sure to arrive early and get your free raffle ticket to win tons of goodies!

Artists Include Joe Capobianco, Phil Young, Eric Merrill, Julio Rodriguez, Tim Harris, Christian Perez, Adrian Dominic, Amber Carr, Bili Vegas, Brennan Freemantle, Chris Lowe, Christopher Uniguo, Clint Danroth, Myke Chambers, Nic Skrade, Sket One, Patrick Cornolo, Jeff Ensminger, Jesse Smith, Justin Weatherholtz, London with Mike DeVries, Nikko Hurtado and ZAM.

Reception this Sunday at John Slade Ely House for "Going the Distance" show

2011-12-08T11:20:00.002-05:00

John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art
51 Trumbull Street, New Haven, (203) 624-8055
Going the Distance
Through Dec. 23, 2011
Reception: Sun., Dec. 11, 2—5 p.m.

Press release

Going the Distance is the third in a series of exhibits celebrating 50 years of Art, Culture, and Music at the John Slade Ely House.

There will be a reception for the show this Sun., Dec. 11, from 2—5 p.m.

Featured artists:

John Arabolos
Alexis Brown
Patricia Carrigan
Jeanne C. Criscola
Paul Duda
Ellen Hackl Fagan
Joe Fekieta
Frank Gardner
Joan Gardner
Mari Gyorgyey
Tony Juliano
Bob Keating
William Kent
Eric Litke
Fethi Meghelli
Lawrence Morelli
Hank Paper (see image)
Cynthia Beth Rubin
William Saunders
Claudine Burns Smith
Raymond W. Smith
Michael Stickrod

Blake Shirley show opens at Real Art Ways next Thursday

2011-12-08T11:08:00.002-05:00

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Blake Shirley: Skull Couch
Dec. 15, 2011—Feb. 12, 2012.
Opening reception during Creative Cocktail Hour: Thurs., Dec. 15, 6—8 p.m. Admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Press release

Real Art Ways presents Skull Couch, an exhibition of large-scale paintings by Blake Shirley, who explores the disparate and fragmented nature of memory in contemporary society.

An opening reception on Thurs., Dec. 15, from 6—8 p.m. will be held as part of Creative Cocktail Hour, Real Art Ways' monthly third Thursday gathering. Creative Cocktail Hour is from 6—10 p.m.; admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Shirley focuses on memories of everyday objects that the brain registers but doesn’t absorb. These unnoticed small details, in accumulation, define our perceptions of the physical world. How can we create meaning in a perpetually changing environment when we are constantly over-saturated with stimuli? Shirley states, “We all have filters that distort the way in which we perceive the world, of which we are mostly unaware. We simply cannot take it all in all the time.”

Shirley’s large-scale canvases depict carefully rendered objects that float in and out of geometric skulls, against a diffuse background of gestural strokes of color. They reside in a space between abstract and representational. He breaks up the spatial relationships between objects, between foreground and background. He plays with scale, creating a space that is both messy and chaotic. These paintings evoke the structure of memory, layered and fractured combining both moments of clarity and blurriness.

Blake Shirley is a painter and video artist currently living and teaching in eastern Connecticut. Traveling far from his roots in the deserts of New Mexico, Shirley earned his MFA in painting from the University of Connecticut in 2007 and a BFA from the University of Utah in 2005. Recent personal achievements include the honor of a full fellowship to study at the Vermont Studio Center, which he participated in during the month of June. Shirley also received a 2010 individual artist grant from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, and was awarded acceptance into the Radius program at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum. His work has been exhibited in several solo shows in NY, MA, GA, and CT as well as several group exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad. His work is in collections at Poland's Akademia Sztuk Pieknych in Krakow Poland, and The London College of Art, School of Printing and Publishing. He currently teaches at the University of Connecticut.

Grants available through CT Artist Fellowship program, deadline January 25, 2012

2011-12-07T16:31:00.002-05:00

Press release

The Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development Offices of Culture and Tourism announce the CT Artist Fellowship program.

The CT Artist Fellowship program provides grants to encourage the continuing artistic development of Connecticut's artists. Awards are made each year in the amounts of $5,000 or $2,500.

Artist working in the following categories may apply:
Crafts, New Media, Painting, Photography, Works on Paper, and Sculpture/Installation.

Applications are now available for the FY 2012 Artist Fellowship Program. To be eligible for Fellowships, artist must have lived and worked in Connecticut for a minimum of one year at the time of application and are current full-time residents of the state. Ineligible applicants include students who are currently enrolled in full-time degree-granting institutions and prior Fellowship recipients who have received an award within the past five years.

Applications materials must be submitted through the Connecticut State Office of the Arts's online portal by 11:59 PM on or before January 25, 2012.

For full details, program guidelines, online application process please visit:

http://www.cultureandtourism.org/cct/cwp/view.asp?a=3933&q=293740

Questions about the applications and support materials, please contact Tamara Dimitri at (860) 256-2720 or tamara.dimitri [AT symbol] ct.gov.

The CT State Office of the Arts develops and strengthens the arts in Connecticut and makes artistic experiences widely available to residents and visitors. Through its grant programs, the office invests in Connecticut artists and arts organizations and encourages the public's participation as creators, learners, supporters and audience members. Through its program and services, the office connects people to the arts and helps to build vital communities across the state.

City Gallery Holiday Party this Sunday

2011-12-07T15:52:00.002-05:00

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Give Art
Through Dec. 23, 2011.
Holiday Party, Sun., Dec. 11, 2—5 p.m.

Press release

City Gallery is presenting its annual holiday Give Art exhibition. All works of art by gallery artist-members will be for sale at $100 each. This is an excellent opportunity to shop for a friend or add to a collection.

Enjoy a festive atmosphere while you peruse art for holiday gift-giving? Then check out City Gallery's Holiday Party this Sunday, Dec. 11, from 2—5 p.m.

The exhibit features paintings, prints, sculpture, mixed media, and photography by Amy Arledge, Judy Atlas, Meg Bloom, Phyllis Crowley, Jennifer Davies, Nancy Eisenfeld, Freddi Elton, Roberta Friedman, Barbara Harder, Jane Harris, Shelby Head, Sheila Kaczmarek, Kathy Kane, Mary Lesser, Tom Peterson, Paulette Rosen and Karen Wheeler.

The exhibit runs through December 23.

Historical photography show reception at New Haven Library Saturday

2011-12-05T13:38:00.005-05:00

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Forgotten Futures/Persisting Pasts: The New Haven Waterfront across Four Centuries—Art & Historical Photography by the Yale Department of American Studies
Through Dec. 30, 2011.
Artist's reception: Sat., Dec. 10, 2—4 p.m.

Press release

The life of a city is forged in the uncertain spaces where economics and power meet diverse people’s visions of better ways to live. Forgotten Futures evokes some big ideas that failed to carry the day in New Haven; Persisting Pasts takes notice of how the city’s earlier lives as port city and factory town still remain visible in the landscape today. As an act of civic remembering, this exhibit invites you to look at the city with fresh eyes, to ponder its unrealized futures, to notice anew the markers of its deep and conflicted history, and to give voice to your own dreams and to your understanding of the city as you find it.

Guest curators from the American Studies Department at Yale University are Matthew Frye Jacobson (Professor of American Studies, Yale University), Taylor Jardno, Kurt Karandy, Yukimi Masui, Kate Peisker and Daniel Pizarro.

Opening and Gallery Talk Wednesday for "Deliquescence" at New Haven Museum

2011-12-05T13:26:00.003-05:00

New Haven Museum
114 Whitney Ave., New Haven, (203) 562-4183
Colin Burke: Deliquescence
Dec. 7, 2011—Jan. 28, 2012.
Opening and Gallery Talk: Wed., Dec. 7, 5:30 p.m.

Press release

What do you do with half a million feet of microﬁlm destined for the dump? "Make art, of course," says New Haven artist Colin Burke, one of seven local artists commissioned by Artspace New Haven to create site-speciﬁc art for Library Science, an art exhibition running until January 28, 2012.

Deliquescence, Burke’s site-speciﬁc installation at the New Haven Museum, includes microﬁlm from the New York Times collection. Burke repurposes media from Connecticut libraries to create a connection between the past, the present, and the future of how we experience the library. On Wed., Dec. 7 at 5:30 p.m., Burke will present a gallery talk about his newest installation.

Thousands of feet of microﬁlm envelope two of the museum’s columns in the entrance rotunda. This sculpture illustrates the celebrated landmark pair of elm trees planted in New Haven more than 300 years ago. Between the columns is a transparent pedestal supporting a vintage six-drawer wooden card catalog. Visitors are invited to explore the contents of the catalog drawers, where they will ﬁnd printed cards allowing digital access to more information about the project, the library and museum collections via QR codes designed for smartphones.

Part of the project included a research residency. Burke spent several weeks mining the collections of both the Whitney Library and the New Haven Museum online and onsite. Through primary source materials, including thousands of illustrations and photographs of New Haven, he found the basis of what would become the theme of his artwork—The Elm City.

"I’m still relatively new to the area and still exploring New Haven. I’ve been wondering about the 'Elm City' and the lack of elm trees for a while now—how this ties in to the identity of a place and the way we perceive and preserve the history of our surroundings," explains Burke.

Deliquescence has several definitions, Burke says. “In botany, it describes the branch patterns of trees, including the elm. As metaphor, deliquescence means to vanish into thin air, which also works in describing the demise of the elms and the usefulness of materials like microﬁlm. I found the word through my research which brings it all together. I also just love the sound of the word."

Library Science is an exhibition curated by Rachel Gugelberger, Senior Curator at Exit Art, New York. Bringing together a selection of work by 17 international artists, and seven artists from the New Haven area, Library Science contemplates our personal, intellectual and physical relationship to the library as this venerable institution—and the information it contains—is being radically transformed by the digital era.

Colin Burke is a visual artist creating work featuring analog, antique photographic processes and methods. Through this work, he explores the themes of liminal space, time and proximity. He is currently the Artist-in-Residence at Artspace New Haven, where he has a dedicated studio space to further explore his analog photography practice.

Deliquescence is on view at the New Haven Museum, located at 114 Whitney Ave. The New Haven Museum, founded in 1862 as the New Haven Colony Historical Society, continues its tradition of preservation with a collection that includes folk, decorative and fine arts, an extensive photographic archive, and a unique manuscript collection and research capabilities in the Whitney Library. Open Tues.—Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat 12—5 p.m. Free on the First Sunday of the month, 1—4 p.m.

Library Science is generously supported with funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the David T. Langrock Foundation and a Strategic Initiative Grant from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism.

Artspace is New Haven’s largest independent visual arts venue, showcasing a mix of local and national artists in a downtown corner storefront in the historic Ninth Square district. Our mission is to catalyze artistic efforts; to connect artists, audiences and resources; and to redeﬁne art spaces.

(Photo by Mia Orsatti, Courtesy of Artspace New Haven.)

Opening reception for "Slipstreams" at Franklin Street Works in Stamford tonight

2011-12-01T12:02:00.003-05:00

Franklin Street Works
41 Franklin St., Stamford, 06901, (203) 253-0404
Slipstreams: Contemporary Artistic Practice and the Shaping of Time
Dec. 1, 2011—Jan. 21, 2012.
Opening Reception: Thurs., Dec. 1 5—8 p.m.
Other events:
Fri., Dec. 2, 12—5 p.m., Anna Lundh Interactive Art Project
Sat., Dec. 3, 12—3 p.m., Anna Lundh Interactive Art Project
Sat., Dec. 3, 4 p.m., Anna Lundh performance

Press release

The perception, measurement, and manipulation of time in our everyday lives is a performance, both personal and shared. We agree on the indications of clocks and calendars, yet often disagree on the length of collective experiences, such as prayer or a television program. Language also influences how we “feel” a moment’s passage. Phrases such as “running out of time,” “wasting time,” and “on time,” cause us to feel hurried or relaxed, even responsible or irresponsible. Rituals, both societal and self-made, do the same.

Exploring these ideas through contemporary artworks made between 1964 and today, Franklin Street Works presents Slipstreams: Contemporary Artistic Practice and the Shaping of Time, curated by Terri C. Smith and Joseph Whitt. This group exhibition features artists who consider how time is shaped and made visible through performed acts, unique measuring systems, and other uncommon means. Artists include: Pierre Bismuth, Tehching Hsieh, Tara Kelton, Anna Lundh, Samuel Rousseau, Stephen Sollins, Conrad Ventur and Andy Warhol. The exhibition is on view from Dec. 1—Jan. 21, with an opening reception on Thurs., Dec. 1 from 5—8 p.m.

With support by iaspis, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee's International Programme for Visual Artists, an interactive art project and performance by Anna Lundh will also be part of the exhibition’s opening weekend. From 12—5 p.m. on Fri., Dec. 2 and from 12—3 p.m. on Sat., Dec. 3, Lundh will reside in the gallery and ask visitors about how they visualize time as part of her ongoing artwork "The Year is a Python that swallowed an Elephant." She will give a subtly humorous, 40-minute performance that is informed by that ongoing project on Sat., Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. in the Franklin Street Works downstairs gallery. The exhibition, interactive activities with Lundh, and performance are all free and open to the public.

In Slipstreams, a myriad of approaches to time weave throughout Franklin Street Works’ three galleries. Performances and documentation address controlled, chronological actions in Tehching Hsieh’s "Time Piece" and Anna Lundh’s "The Year is a Python that swallowed an Elephant." Hsieh’s work exhibits a brutal attention to discipline and endurance as a way of expressing the isolation of his early years as an “alien immigrant”. Curious about how others visualize time, Lundh mimics the systems and appearances of scientific research in her project, which has included more than 150 test subjects so far. Conrad Ventur and Pierre Bismuth (see image) mine pop culture’s recent past, including music and film, for source material. Ventur often collapses his images into immersive, hypnotic video installations, while Bismuth juxtaposes scenes from vintage cinema with the drawn line in his "Following the Right Hand of..." series.

The exhibition also includes works that focus on familiar objects, both everyday and iconic. Stephen Sollins alters daily newspaper TV guides with Liquid Paper and permanent markers in his "Static" series so that text is obscured and only the schedule’s grid is visible. Samuel Rousseau’s minimalist video installation, "Un peu d'éternité (a little eternity)," uses a candle and endless projection of a flame to convey an endlessness that our minds can grasp only speculatively; while Andy Warhol takes a characteristically deadpan approach with his film "Empire," placing a camera in front of the Empire State Building and shooting it for 24 hours. Tara Kelton’s "Time Travel" also relies on a stationary camera, pairing it with her laptop's lens to see a split second into the future. Slipstreams aims to allow its audience a unique exploration of multiple ways in which time can be visualized and reconfigured, prompting questions about how we perceive and maintain our inner imaginings of time.

Franklin Street Works is a new, not-for-profit contemporary art space, café, and social gathering place in Stamford, Connecticut. It produces original on-site and off-site exhibitions, artist projects, and related programming. Located in renovated row houses on Franklin Street, the two- story space includes three galleries and a café. Franklin Street Works embraces innovative art and exhibition practices, a DIY attitude, and a workshop approach to its programming, audiences, and organizational structure. The activities and attitudes of the café reflect and expand on the organization’s mission as a contemporary art venue.

Terri C. Smith is the Creative Director of Franklin Street Works. With approximately fifteen years of curatorial experience, she has created exhibitions and related programming for museums and other not-for-profit art institutions, including award-winning contemporary art programs for Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee. After more than ten years at the Museum, she returned to school, earning an MA from Bard College’s Center for Curatorial Studies in 2008. Smith has curated exhibitions for venues in Connecticut, Florida, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee. Other projects have included commissioned catalog essays and journalistic projects for print and radio.

Joseph Whitt is the Assistant Curator at Franklin Street Works and a frequent guest curator at several art venues in New York City. As former Assistant Curator at Vanderbilt University’s Fine Arts Gallery in Nashville, he was responsible for solo exhibitions by Harmony Korine and Jules de Balincourt, as well as a group exhibition pairing the Polaroids of Andy Warhol with the works of emerging artists Grant Worth and David Horvitz. His most recent curatorial project, "Magic For Beginners," at P.P.O.W. Gallery (NYC), was a critic’s pick in Time Out New York and garnered a prominent review in The New York Times.

Midday opening at Middlesex Community College Tuesday, November 29

2011-11-28T13:36:00.003-05:00

Middlesex Community College Pegasus Gallery
100 Training Hill Road, Middletown, 1-800-818-5501
Irene K. Miller: Works on Paper in the Pegasus Gallery
(Pegasus Gallery is located within the library on the first floor of Chapman Hall)
Through Jan. 11, 2012.
Artist reception: Tues., Nov. 29, 11:30 a.m.—1 p.m. in Pegasus Gallery.

Also on view in the Niche Gallery:
Rosemary DeLucco-Alpert: Light…Water…Flow in the Niche Gallery
(The Niche is located on the first floor of Founders Hall)
Through Jan. 11, 2012.
(Reception was on Nov. 17.)

Press release

Irene K. Miller’s mixed media works emphasize the abstract qualities of texture, pattern, and surface to express formal, narrative and personal experiences. These asymmetric compositions emphasize foreground spatial dynamics and the creative process. Actual and printed textures of fabric, string and other materials combine within matrixes of photographic imagery, graphic shapes and gestural marks.

Monotype and collaged works like “Squared #1” from the “Round Square and Squared” series emphasize color and a quilt-like horizontal and vertical framework. Compositions from this series offer open diagrammatical associations and shifting aerial perspectives.

Miller has exhibited her work nationally and prints in her Erector Square studio in New Haven. She graduated from the University of Delaware and earned a master’s degree in library science from Southern Connecticut State University.

There will be a reception for this show on Tues., Nov. 29, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Pegasus Gallery.

Also currently on view in the Niche Gallery at Middlesex Community College:

Rosemary DeLucco-Alpert’s 30 year career in photography has included work in commercial and fine art fields, as well as writing about and teaching photography. The three principles of integrity, grace and beauty guide her practice and outline her belief in photography's expressive and communicative power.

This series of photographs explores the picturesque beauty of sacred natural spaces known to the artist through her life. The subtexts of these works are personal experiences of grief and the healing process connected with their creation.

DeLucco-Alpert instructs photography at MxCC and Paier College of Art in Hamden. Her professional and educational experiences include working with National Geographic photographers at “West Light” photo stock agency in Los Angeles and being among Ansel Adam’s last students.

Greeting of the Artists at A-Space Gallery this Friday, Nov. 18

2011-11-17T22:03:00.002-05:00

A-Space at West Cove Studios
30 Elm St., West Haven, (203) 627-8030
Two for One: Recent Work by Laura Marsh and Phil Lique
Nov. 17—Dec. 10, 2011
Greeting of the Artists: Fri., Nov. 18, 6—8 p.m.

Press release

A two-person show featuring recent work by Laura Marsh and Phil Lique opens this Friday (tomorrow) at A-Space Gallery at West Cove Studios in West Haven. They don’t have “receptions” at A-Space but they do have “Greetings of the Artists” and if you go to that, you may find yourself thinking you are at an opening reception. But you aren’t.

Kehler Liddell holiday show and sale reception this Sunday

2011-11-14T13:30:00.002-05:00

Kehler Liddell Gallery
873 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 389-9555
It's A Wonderful Price
Nov. 17, 2011—Jan. 15, 2012.
Opening Reception: Sun., Nov. 20, 3—6 p.m.

Press release

Kehler Liddell Gallery presents It’s A Wonderful Price, a holiday exhibit featuring fine art for every palette and every purse. The Walls of Affordable Treasures include paintings Image—Frank Bruckmann's "Whitehead in Winter"), photographs, sculptures, and drawings by twenty-five diverse Connecticut artists. Artwork is “priced to move” so shop for yourself while shopping for gift giving.

The exhibit and sale will be up from Nov. 17 through Jan. 15 and there will be an opening reception this Sun., Nov. 20, from 3—6 p.m.

Keith Sklar exhibit opens Friday at Giampietro Gallery

2011-11-14T13:12:00.002-05:00

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Keith Sklar: A Good Egg
Nov. 18—Dec. 16, 2011.
Opening reception: Fri., Nov. 18, 5—8 p.m.

Press release

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to present Keith Sklar: A Good Egg, an exhibition of recent paintings opening November 18 and on view through December 16.

Keith Sklar's paintings present multiple situations in flux. Echoes of the diverse languages of global visual culture are folded into Sklar's work—from digital, folk and pop sources to historical art references. The topographical surfaces of the paintings are built up from layers of oil over found objects and molded acrylic paint. Yet the visual field appears flattened, confounding the viewer's sense of dimension and creating a dislocated perspective. This effect challenges a true spatial reading of the work, causing the viewer to question the assumptions of the 3D versus the 2D image. Key to Sklar’s work is the heightened tension between the illusionistic image and the haptic sculptural surface.

Sklar’s first exhibition at Giampietro Gallery, A Good Egg, offers new paintings in his on-going de-lux series. de-lux explores issues of wealth and loss, power and subordination, as well as the very process of seeing itself. Imagery based on late 19th century Faberge eggs, reoccurs throughout the series. Sklar places these bejeweled icons of luxury, exclusivity and cultural escape afloat within a new context; a tragicomic network of violence, sex, media, abstract brushwork and material debris.

Keith Sklar lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. His paintings have been shown in group exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and the UC Berkeley Art Museum, as well as in Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Solo exhibitions include Dorsch Gallery in Miami, Rosamund Felson Gallery in Santa Monica and P.P.O.W. in New York. His work is in the collections of SFMoMA and the UC Berkeley Art Museum.

Sklar has received numerous commissions and awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Visual Arts (Painting). Commissioned works include the Institute of Contemporary Art (Portland, ME), the University of Texas, San Antonio Art Gallery, and the San Jose Museum of Art.

"Sound Influence" opens Thursday at Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery in New Haven

2011-11-14T12:58:00.002-05:00

Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery
70 Audubon St., 2nd floor, New Haven, (203) 772-2788
Sound Influence
Nov. 17, 2011—Jan. 13, 2012.
Artists' reception: Thurs., Nov. 17, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven is pleased to present the next exhibition, Sound Influence, in the Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery, 70 Audubon St., 2nd floor. The exhibition is curated by local painter and muralist Katro Storm and will be on view during business hours from Nov. 17, 2011 through Jan. 13, 2012. A public reception is scheduled for Thurs., Nov. 17, from 5—7 pm.

Storm is a prolific artist who delivers meaningful and thoughtful portraits of inspirational leaders and influential city landmarks. A native of New Haven, a former student and teacher at the Educational Center for the Arts, he is a community mentor who connects the power of art with daily life. And life’s experiences are directly linked to the multitude of sounds that pervade the environment. With the assumption that one is a product of one’s environment and asking the question, "how does sound impact your artwork?" the exhibition, Sound Influences, was conceived to illustrate, according to Storm, just "how important sound is to creating art."

Sounds come from urban, city-life, nature, music. Even silence produces subtle noises. The exhibit reflects the “sound” environment in which each artist creates and as each artist works in different kinds of studios and spaces, and as some listen to music and some create in silence, the art on display manifests very different responses to sounds that are universal. There are also artists who transfer their visual interpretation of music onto canvas, much like choreographers who compose a dance piece based on a specific piece of music.

Artists include: Bio , Cathleen Milburn , Charles Winn , Deme 5 , Jaime Kriksciun , Julie Gombieski , Kwest , Marka27 , Orlando Dome , Percy Fortini-Wright , Pro Blak , Reo , Rocko , Sket .

aricoco show opens Thursday at Real Art Ways

2011-11-14T12:39:00.003-05:00

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
aricoco: RUNawayHOME
Nov. 17—Feb. 22, 2012.
Opening reception during Creative Cocktail Hour: Thurs., Nov. 17, 6—8 p.m. Admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Press release

Real Art Ways presents RUNawayHOME, an exhibition and performance by aricoco, who explores the meaning of "home" by creating a sculptural garment, made from discarded plastic bags, with which she interacts.

An opening reception on Thurs., Nov. 17 from 6—8 p.m. will be held as part of Creative Cocktail Hour, Real Art Ways' monthly third Thursday gathering. Creative Cocktail Hour is from 6-10 p.m.; admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Aricoco creates complex woven garments from castoff scraps comprised of plastic bags, strips of fabric, buttons and even eggshells. In RUNawayHOME she will construct a moveable shelter that functions as a home and as a protective garment.

She invents ritualistic play within the nest-like structures. These performative actions serve both to revive her childhood experiences and interpret the influences of her culture.

"I perform to heal and nourish myself so that I regain strength to survive when I emerge," states the artist. "I use different materials and processes to explore specific personal or cultural meanings. Robing and disrobing my temporary shelter, I package my body to be disconnected from reality, but also to tie myself to it."

Born and raised in Tokyo, aricoco (Ari Tabei) received her BA from Sophia University in International Legal Studies in 1997. She attended the Post-baccalaureate Program in Studio Art at Brandeis University in 2001 and received her MFA from the University of Connecticut in May 2007. She was awarded the A.I.R. Gallery Fellowship for 2008-2009. She has participated in several artists' residencies including chashama, Vermont Studio Center, LMCC's Swing Space, Smack Mellon Artist Studio Program, Sculpture Space, Blue Sky Project and Triangle Workshop. She is a current artist in residence at AAI Lower East Side-Rotating Studio Program.

Also in the Galleries:

Amy Jean Porter and Matthea Harvey: The Making 'Of Lamb', opening reception Saturday, November 5 and workshop Saturday, November 19. 'Of Lamb' is an exhibition of drawings by Amy Jean Porter and poems by Matthea Harvey. Of Lamb is what Porter calls "an irreverent and irresponsible retelling of the nursery rhyme, 'Mary had a little lamb.'" Exhibition on view through Sun., Dec. 11.

Ephemeroom, on view through Sun., Jan. 15, highlights important moments and objects from Real Art Ways' history created with memorabilia, photos, ephemera from our archive.

Poster Boy: Street Alchemy 2.0 is on view through Sun., Jan. 30. Armed with a razor blade, Poster Boy manipulates vinyl advertisements to create startling, harsh or even humorous mash-ups. The works for Street Alchemy 2.0 were originally designed for an exhibition at Trinity College.

Closing reception at John Slade Ely House this Sunday

2011-11-09T15:19:00.001-05:00

John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art
51 Trumbull Street, New Haven, (203) 624-8055
I Think It's Conceptual!
Through Nov. 13, 2011
Closing Reception: Sun., Nov. 13, 2—5 p.m.

Press release

I Think It's Conceptual! is the second in a series of exhibits celebrating 50 years of Art, Culture, and Music at the John Slade Ely House.

There will be a closing reception for the show this Sun., Nov. 13, from 2—5 p.m.

Featured artists:

David Borawski
Johanna Bresnick
Harriet Caldwell
Colleen L. Coleman
William DeLottie
Greg Garvey
Robert Gregson
Ken Grimes
Debbie Hesse
James Montford
Adam Niklewicz
Margaret Roleke
Gil Scullion
K Levni Sinanoglu
Suzan Shutan
Rita Valley
Kevin Van Aelst
Peter Waite (see image)
Mark Williams
Pawel Wojtasik
Joy Wulke
Jo Yarrington
Robert Zott
Paul Clabby

City Gallery "Give Art" opens Sat., Nov. 19

2011-11-09T15:09:00.002-05:00

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Give Art
Nov. 17—Dec. 23, 2011.
Opening reception, Sat., Nov. 19, 2—5 p.m.

Press release

City Gallery is presenting its annual holiday Give Art exhibition. All works of art by gallery artist-members will be for sale at $100 each. This is an excellent opportunity to shop for a friend or add to a collection. The exhibit features paintings, prints, sculpture, mixed media, and photography by Amy Arledge, Judy Atlas, Meg Bloom, Phyllis Crowley, Jennifer Davies, Nancy Eisenfeld, Freddi Elton, Roberta Friedman, Barbara Harder, Jane Harris, Shelby Head, Sheila Kaczmarek, Kathy Kane, Mary Lesser, Tom Peterson, Paulette Rosen and Karen Wheeler.

The exhibit runs from November 17 to December 23. The Opening Reception is Sat., Nov. 19, from 2—5 p.m. The gallery is open Thursdays through Sundays noon to 4 p.m.

"Craft USA '11" opens Sunday at Silvermine

2011-11-09T15:00:00.002-05:00

Silvermine Guild Art Center
1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, (203) 966-9700
Craft USA ’11
Nov. 13—Dec. 23, 2011.
Opening Reception: Sun., Nov. 13, 2—4 p.m.

Press release

Craft USA ’11, the seventh national juried Craft Triennial competition at the Silvermine Arts Center in New Canaan, Connecticut will be on exhibit from November 13 through December 23. This year’s juror is Holly Hotchner, Director of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City.

Celebrating craft as art, Craft USA is a juried triennial competition/exhibition showcasing original handmade works of art. With over 400 entries, artists from coast to coast submitted works in various media such as ceramics, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, paper, wood, basketry and mixed media. All are welcome to the Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony on Sun., Nov. 13, from 2—4 p.m. in the Silvermine Gallery.

Award winners for Craft USA ‘11 include: Chuck Sharbaugh from Holly, MI awarded Best in Show for “Pivots & Rows;” Jose Sierra from Tucson, AZ was awarded 2nd Place for “Cordino;” and Benjamin Johnson from Cicero, IN was awarded 3rd Place for “Spot.” Silvermine Guild Artist members Charles Birnbaum from Long Island City, NY and Bob Miranti from New Rochelle, NY, were two of the 86 artists accepted into the show.

Juror Holly Hotchner is the Director of the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), in New York City where she has been since 1996. Co-chairs for this national exhibition are Silvermine Artist members Amy Bilden from Greenwich, Sandy Garnett of South Norwalk, Mindy Horn and Frances Palmer, both from Weston, Anita Soos from Guilford, and Stamford resident Marcia Zimmerman.

Artists' reception at Reynolds Fine Art Saturday

2011-11-09T14:48:00.003-05:00

Reynolds Fine Art
96 Orange St., New Haven, (203) 498-2200
Small Works
Nov. 11, 2011—Jan. 12, 2012.
Artists' Reception: Sat., Nov. 12, 4—8 p.m.

Press release

Reynolds Fine Art, a contemporary fine art gallery, is pleased to present an exhibition of small works in a variety of media including painting, ceramics, glass, and jewelry. This group show will feature the works of Josh Gold, Melody Lane, Robert Reynolds, Susan Roberts, Barbara Marks, and Steve Crohn.

Josh Gold is a ceramic artist whose creations explore subtle asymmetry. His work vacillates between the competing, yet complementary, contours of a pot. Through the technique of wood firing, the clay’s natural variations are brought out, serving to further create a tactile aesthetic within the viewer’s experience.

Melody Lane’s art encompasses clay and glass, a combination of earth and fire producing a distinct and hand-made quality. She creates through an ancient process involving painting terra sigillata, burnishing, smoking, carbon wash, and waxing. Her work often recalls ancient symbols and religious allusions, striving for the rejuvenation of these motifs in contemporary form.

Robert Reynolds, owner and namesake of Reynolds Fine Art, will be showing a series of abstract works and landscapes in this exhibition (see image). His abstract oil paintings are executed over old blue prints, representing his upbringing surrounded by the building profession. These abstract works are formed from a quick sketch that is then transformed into expressive brush-stokes of bold, contrasting color.

Susan Roberts’ jewelry is an eclectic collection of artistically designed bracelets, necklaces, and earrings created from hand-cut precious and semi-precious stones and metals. Her jewelry creates a resonant and breathtaking addition to any ensemble. All are limited editions.

Barbara Marks’ canvases are remnants of what she has seen and experienced. These moments are then translated as her mind recalls them into colors and shapes, provoking the viewer to take note of the ordinary through her abstract approach. Through her work, she seeks to convey the sensation and memory of an experience.

Steve Crohn’s paintings use color to create an emotional response from their abstract relation to landscapes, feelings, situations, and ideas. He explores the variations in reference to the viewer's perception and challenges one to experience new feelings and ideas in reaction to his work. Through the dimension of color used in his work, the viewer can relate to and enjoy his paintings on multiple levels. He strives to create a universal emotional current, giving his work a profound presence.

Located on 96 Orange Street, the mission of Reynolds Fine Art is contribute to the economic and cultural ecosystem through vibrant samples of artwork, not only in our home neighborhood, but in the Lower Chapel district and in New Haven as a whole. Periodically, shows, demonstrations, lectures, workshops and art sessions will be held to infuse New Haven with the different aspects of the art world.

Neider exhibit opens Saturday at gallery 305K

2011-11-09T14:21:00.002-05:00

Gallery 305K
305 Knowlton St., Bridgeport, (203) 814-6856
Alan Neider: Curtains and Dresses—The Fall Collection
Nov. 12—Dec. 17, 2011.
Artist Reception: Sat., Nov. 12, 3:30—6:30 p.m.

Press release

Gallery 305K is proud to present Curtains and Dresses: The Fall Collection, opening Sat., Nov. 12, with an artist reception from 3:30 until 6:30 p.m.

Throughout his career, New Haven artist Alan Neider has constructed two and three-dimensional objects and textural surfaces in order to paint on and into them. These objects include lamps, curtains, chairs as well as completely non-objective forms. Neider explores the subject of fashion and glamour intimately by utilizing the tools of the trade in the construction of his sculptural installation drawings and three-dimensional paintings

With his site specific Curtain installation, Neider will investigate and question about how we 'frame,' visualize and ultimately see the world, and continues his life-long examination of how paint and light affect shape and form.

Neider’s interest in fashion and glamour stems from a project he collaborated on with a fashion designer while living in Chicago in 1980. He has since created numerous series of drawings based on the themes of fashion and glamour. This series of ten drawings titled “Dress and Jewelry” explore the darker side of Fashion/Glamour by exposing the excess inherent in that industry. He utilizes the sewing machine, a unique tool, to 'draw' line and because it is reflective of the way garments in the fashion industry are fabricated.

The four Wall Dresses and one Floor Dress in this exhibition are three-dimensional paintings with internal light sources. In creating these pieces, fashion issues and ideas concerning movement, color as it defines form, and illumination are explored and exaggerated. Internal light sources serve to describe shape, planes, and texture. The light plays with and defines color, patterns, layering, and transparency. The resulting shadows cast on the walls, floor, and ceiling are integral elements that dramatize the work.

The Gallery will open the show as part of the 2011 Bridgeport Art Trail. T¬he show will also be open from 11 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Normal Gallery Hours are from 11 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., Thursday through Saturday.

Open Studios at American Fabric Arts Building in Bridgeport this weekend

2011-11-07T13:28:00.002-05:00

American Fabric Arts Building
The Bridgeport Commerce Park, 1069 Connecticut Ave., Bldg. 4, Bridgeport 06607, (203) 894-1018
Open Studios
Nov. 12—13, 2011, 10 a.m.—5 p.m.

Press release

The American Fabrics Arts Building in Bridgeport will open its doors to the public for an OPEN STUDIOS event on Saturday and Sunday, November 12—13, from 10 a.m.—5 p.m.

The event, now in its fifth year, will showcase more than 27 artists in their studios. Last year the event attracted more than 500 art lovers, young and old alike, to meet the artists in their studios.

Each studio reflects the artist’s personal style and is where the creative process happens. AFA has a diverse group of artists. Many practice what you would expect: painting, illustration, photography, sculpture, jewelry, quilting and ceramics. But you can also learn how Neil Pabian, a woodturner, crafts his custom writing instruments, how Trunket manufactures specialty iPhone skins, how Emily Larned uses her vintage letterpress for printing and her husband, Chris Ruggerio makes handmade audio equipment, or how Debra Crichton adheres artwork to her retro style handbags. All will share their techniques and process, while offering work for sale

In a few studios, demonstrations will be happening throughout the weekend. Kevin Ford will be making his signature drawings with a BB-gun. The Cotton Press will be demonstrating t-shirt/textile screen-printing as well as machine knitting, and Jocelyn Braxton Armstrong will be throwing pots in her ceramic studio.

This year, sure to draw a crowd is the AFA FREE ART RAFFLE. In exchange for sharing your email you could win: Stationary and notepad from Denyse Schmidt Quilts, hand printed fabric from The Cotton Press, ceramic vase by Jocelyn Braxton Armstrong, or specialty wood skin for iphone from Trunket.

If you are a patron of any of the AFA artists, and purchase artwork, you will have a chance to win: a handmade exotic wood pen by Neil Pabian , a novelty handbag from Artbags by Debra Crichton, an unframed artist proof linoleum cut, "Standing Horses," by Janine Brown, or faceted citrine and carved bone pendant necklace by Tamara Wood.

The AFA FREE ART RAFFLE prizewinners will be drawn on Sun., Nov. 13, at 5 p.m., on the 4th floor. You do not have to be there to win.

A dedicated crowd is expected for Denyse Schmidt Quilts well-attended Annual Sample Sale held on the 4th floor during the weekend.

The Bridgeport restaurants, Two Boots and Epernay, will be serving delectable treats on the 3rd and 4th floors during the event.

Admission and ample on site parking are free. For more information please call 203-894-1018.

American Fabrics Arts Building Open Studios is part of the 2nd Annual Bridgeport Art Trail running Wednesday, November 9 through Sunday, November 13. Visitors can follow the Art Trail map to view 10 visual arts venues throughout the city, meet the artists, tour open studios, buy original art, follow a historic walking tour of downtown art and architecture. Participating venues include: The newly formed Bridgeport Arts and Culture Council, The Reads Building ArtSpace, City Lights Gallery, The Center for Public Art, The Gallery at Black Rock, Crescent St. Gallery, FrameMakers, and others to be announced.

For calendar of activities, artist profiles, directions and info on the Bridgeport Art Trail, become a fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-American-Fabrics-Building/161218001954?ref=ts

Stray observations from 2011 CWOS Weekend 3, the Alternative Space(s)

2011-11-02T13:11:00.004-04:00

Artspace
City-Wide Open Studios
50 Orange St, New Haven, (203) 772-2709
City-Wide Open Studios
Through Oct. 30, 2011.

I had to miss the first day of the Alternative Space to attend a funeral (not because of the snow) but I did check out the Alt Space on Sunday.

First stop was the room where my former New Haven Advocate colleague Craig Gilbert was displaying his "Flow" series, minutely detiled drawings of pebble-like shapes of various sizes. He orchestrates the composition by creating clusters of bubble-like shapes, proceeding from large shapes to small to tiny.

In his Artist Statement posted on the wall, Gilbert wrote that "perception is solely within the mind of the individual." The drawings invite individual interpretation: are they foam, pebbles and rocks, views of the Earth from the sky?

Gilbert told me that he had a chaos theorist visit.

"He told me that what he did was based on chaos theory and it bore a strong similarity to my work," said Gilbert. "I said 'Okay, that wasn't what I was thinking about it but I see where you're coming from.'"

"It's meditative. You really have no connection to time. You just do it and do it, then two hours have gone by and it's time to eat and then you go back to it," Gilbert said when I asked how long it took to complete one of the drawings.

•••

Artist Ellen Hackl Fagan, according to her Web site, "uses synesthesia, digital media and interactive performance as tools for developing a corresponding language between color and sound in her paintings." During Open Studios and at other venues, Fagan often conducts a game with willing visitors, inviting them to correlate color swatches with musical notes.

"I really want to let people begin to talk to me about color" in a simple, non-threatening way, Fagan told me. She looks for mathematical averages of color-sound correlations and bases paintings on that data. "I call it pseudo-science. But it motivates painting." The palette for a particular abstract painting may be based on the selections from her gathered data, giving her work a seemingly science-based randomness.

One of the works resulting from this process—"ColorSoundGrammar_Figment"—was on display, a beautiful abstract work (see image). Next to it, Fagan displayed a poster printed from a scan of the painting so viewers could contemplate the distance between the original and the reproduction.

Fagan also displayed some results of her experiments with the pseudo-science by which commercial Web sites use algorithms to determine what additional products they can peddle to consumers based on the choices already made. Fagan scanned some of her paintings and uploaded them at Art.com to find out what the algorithmic response would be to the question, "What is similar?" Up popped imagery of tire treads and wood grain among others, imagery that Fagan printed out and posted on the wall.

•••

A detail from Insook Hwang's "All You Need Is Love":

•••

Across the street at 195 College Street, artist and architect Mohamad Hafez, a native of Syria, had created an installation dealing with torture. The white walls of the two darkened rooms were splattered with red paint and streaked with red handprints. A half-dozen boxes were mounted on the walls in the semi-darkness. There were small, discreet openings in each of the boxes for viewers to peer inside at convincingly realistic miniature tableaux created by Hafez depicting the harsh bleakness of the torture chamber.

In some there are figures—one features several photos of the U.S. crimes at Abu Ghraib—but most convey the inhuman threat of torture without overt human presence. The form was intrinsic to the content of this installation. Viewers have to voyeuristically make the effort to glean glimpses into the illuminated boxes, into this hidden world of repression and violence.

Hafez, originally from Damascus, Syria, said the work "started with homesickness." He had started making facades with plaster that mimicked those of places he remembered from home. As a full-time architect, model-making is part of his professional skill set.

"I took that expertise and brought it into political work," Hafez told me. "The way they're cracking down on peaceful demonstrations make it a very good time to show this work."

Hafez had been stuck in the United States for eight years with working visa issues but finally was able to return to Syria for a visit this past spring. "Through these eight years, I've been longing to be part of that fabric," he said.

"Some of this work is geared toward raising consciousness about what's going on," said Hafez. "I want it to be a bit spicy but I want it to leave a mark."

"I've been following very closely the revolution in Syria and seeing the footage coming back on YouTube and it's even more horrible than this," declared Hafez. "We as humans have to stand up to fight these regimes not because these countries have oil" but because it is the right and moral thing to do, argued Hafez.

The boxes, Hafez said, "are something that raises your curiosity to get you to look into it and gets your imagination to put yourself in that space. Every day in my country, Syria, this happens every day."

•••

Karleen Loughlan, who teaches at Cheshire academy, was showing paintings and prints. Many of the paintings were created with oil and clay on canvas or paper. Loughlan coats her surface with a ¼"-thickness of clay then works it with a palette knife, scraping the clay away to create lines and abstract shapes. When the cay is dry, Loughlan paints using translucent colors to define the shapes created by the scraped clay.

One untitled work—this one painted with oil on paper—had a rich, lively surface. It looked almost like an old wall of a sun-bleached Mediterranean ruin, pitted and mottled with layers of translucent colors, the composition like a hybrid of Cubism and Russian Constructivism.

City-Wide Open Studios, weekend two

2011-10-27T22:56:00.005-04:00

Artspace
City-Wide Open Studios
50 Orange St, New Haven, (203) 772-2709
City-Wide Open Studios
Through Oct. 30, 2011.

I couldn't get to Erector Square the first weekend because I was out of town at a family wedding. This Saturday and Sunday are the final weekend with various artists showing in the Alternative Space at the Coop Center for Creativity, 196—212 College Street in New Haven.

(Note: As of Thursday night when I am trying to post this, Blogger is giving me trouble with including images. So I'm posting it now without images and hope to add them soon.)

(UPDATE 11/2/11: Added images.)

I started off the second weekend by dropping by the studio of photographer Linda Lindroth. Lindroth had a wide array of her work spanning decades available to be viewed. But we spent our time discussing new work—large color digital images of objects like worn antique boxes, bunched-up vinyl shorts and fluorescent temporary yellow road stripes.

Lindroth shot the objects at extremely high resolution and then silhouetted them in Photoshop and blew them up to very large size. Many of the images have art historical references—Mark Rothko, Howard Hodgkins, Richard Serra.

A conical bowl made out of spun aluminum with a crackle texture surface reminded Lindroth of Richard Serra drawings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Serra used an oil stick, Lindroth tells me, so the surface of his drawings feature prominently.

On the facing wall, Lindroth displayed two images, one from the inside and one from the outside of an old gift box for a strand of pearls. The outside is aquamarine-colored with worn edges. The inside is the real treasure. The aquamarine coating of the splayed edges of the box is peeling off like old paint on a house, curling and flaking. The inner square is yellowed cream framed by a thick swirl of aged, dried mucilage glue—swirled and congealed, the color ranging from mustard to amber to deep caramel. Although they are flat images, they are richly tactile.

The ostensible subject of another image was the cover of a 19th-century photo album that used to hold the postcard-sized portraits one would get at a studio. The cover had been covered with red velvet and stuffed with cotton batting. But it had fell apart after 100 years. The velvet was degraded to the extent that there was only a smattering of tufts around the middle. Stray fibers were spun out from the frayed edges along with protruding cotton batting turned orange with age. With its subtle, shifting shades of red, the image suggested a painting by Rothko.

"I'm really excited about this," Lindroth told me. "When you're working on a series and it keeps reinforcing you and making you happy, you forget about all the difficulties and go with the flow."

•••

Constance LaPalombara was showing cityscapes, still lifes and evocative landscapes. She has an upcoming show so most of her newest works were not on display, being held in reserve for that exhibition.

One of the most recent works that she did have on display—"Evening at the Pool"—was one of the results of a resident fellowship last fall at the Heliker-Lahotan Foundation on Great Cranberry Island in Maine. LaPalombara did studies in Maine and finished the large, square painting in her New Haven studio.

She told me, "It felt good to paint something big again. I hadn't done that for a while." LaPalombara said she had been "creeping up on it" and pointed to a medium-sized painting of a cityscape on a parallel wall.

"Evening at the Pool" is a serenely meditative work, low contrast and suffused with soft, pink light. The lagoon in the foreground is studded with jetties of squat rocks. A couple of small cottages nestle amid the forested horizon line. The sky is filled with the kind of light that promises night is just around the corner. The painting is deceptive. It looks simple but is rich in painterly detail: moss on the rocks, multi-color light reflections on the water's surface.

•••

In his 39 Church Street studio, Gerald Saladyga was showing a range of work from minimalist geometric paintings made in the 1990's to current works in progress. Among the newest works was a suite of drawings on brown wrapping paper that Saladyga jokingly referred to as the "Wheelchair Series." Working with India ink markers, Saladyga made the drawings when he was incapacitated by injuries to his right leg and foot, now thankfully on the mend.

"I was like a kid with a crayon box—nothing more, nothing less—and your imagination kind of runs with it," Saladyga told me.

Increasingly, figurative elements have been returning to his work. His primitivist figures feature prominently both in the "Wheelchair Series" and in his new "100 Days in Eden," a series about the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Saladyga is an artist in constant, restless creative motion. His work is always evolving, going through permutations.

•••

I dropped by Silas Finch's studio. Finch is constantly acquiring objects that resonate with a sense of the past and offer him a platform to let his wild imagination take flight. His representative work in the main exhibition at Artspace incorporated horseshoe crab shells and, sure enough, he had more crab pieces in his studio.

His experimentation with using horseshoe crab pieces is an extension of his fascination with antiques and the past into organic parts derived from one of the oldest still existing species on the planet.

It's a challenge for Finch because the claws and molted shells are quite fragile. One idea he has is to layer the helmet-like shells, which appear either metallic or ceramic, so they look like Japanese shoulder armor.

On the same table where Finch has stacked piles of horseshoe crab shells, he has a half-dozen or so yellowed "Wanted by the FBI" flyers he picked up at a large flea market in Stratford. All the "wanted" flyers are for fugitives sought for "interstate flight"—among other crimes—and Finch envisions a work or series with that title.

•••

Other work I enjoyed at 39 Church; Ken Lovell's digital paintings and prints, Jo Kremer's paintings and the paintings and drawings of James Jasiorkowski.

•••

On Sunday I stopped by John Keefer's apartment/studio in Westville. It was a beautiful day and Keefer had paintings outside on the porch as well as lining his walls and propped against the wall on the floor. There were quite a few paintings from a new series Keefer has been working on that he termed, with a bit of a mischievous grin, his "ten-prong cock attack" paintings. Each painting was defined by the use of two colors and the design—a double set of interpenetrating fingers or, um, cocks.

Keefer told me he "wanted to make paintings really fast. I wanted them to be really simple." They are finger paintings—one color for each hand.

"Both sides are painted at the same time. I put stretches of color on each side and work towards the edges," Keefer said. He said they are "very satisfying objects to make." He doesn't have to think about the composition—he can just be in tune with the energy of it. One of the series was mounted on the wall near the entrance. Painted in opposing and complementary red and black, it had a vibrant energy with swirling trails of color.

Keefer continues to work on large paintings based on photographs and laid out on the basis of the classic grid system and has also been doing a lot of drawings. One complete work—or almost complete, Keefer isn't sure—depicts his late German Shepherd Casey standing in shallow water. Like most of Keefer's paintings, the application of paint is raw, unfussy. He uses brushes, yes, but also his fingers, the former business end of a spatula and his forehead. (He acknowledged that the latter painting instrument wasn't particularly effective.)

"It's best for me to do a couple of different things in close temporal proximity to each other," Keefer said.

•••

Over at West Cove Gallery, I spoke with sculptor Jonathan Waters. We talked about one of his sculptures, a large, free-standing work in the middle of his big studio gallery that is part of his "Portal" series. As waters originally built it, wide boards painted black framed a large, open space. The addition of two thin verticals added a powerful dynamic. There was now a visual flow occurring within the frame and the open (positive) space became a type of S-shape.

"What happens is that you get pieces that are generative for a lot of other work," Waters said. "You open up and go, 'Oh, here we go again,' and this one is in that category."

Artists' reception Saturday at UConn Stamford for two-person show

2011-10-19T13:29:00.002-04:00

The UConn Stamford Art Gallery
One University Pl., Stamford, (203) 251-8400
Color and Line: On and Off the Wall: Sam Wiener and Lori Glavin
Oct. 21—Nov. 23, 2011.
Artists' reception: Sat., Oct. 22, 2—4:30 p.m.

Press release

Color and Line: On and Off the Wall includes recent works by sculptor Sam Wiener and multimedia artist Lori Glavin. Wiener exhibits sculptures and collages united by vibrant color and a feeling of whimsy. Glavin's works include new polystyrene constructions and related color studies in oil. Bright color, strong line, and energetic patterns complement Wiener's sculptural works; the result is a complex interplay of color and line.

There will be an artists' reception for this show this Sat., Oct. 22, from 2—4:30 p.m.

Reception for show of Puerto Rican artisan masks this Saturday

2011-10-19T13:11:00.003-04:00

CaRo Art Studio and Gallery
290 Pratt St., #48, Meriden, (203) 886-6809
Los Vegitantes: Cultural Artisan Masks by Angel Sanchez Ortiz
Oct. 15—Nov. 5, 2011.
Opening Reception: Sat., Oct. 22, 4—8 p.m.

Press release

Angel Sánchez Ortiz is a master artist in the Puerto Rican tradition of vejigante mask-making—the colorful spiky paper mâché "mascara" worn during carnival. His striking, fantastical masks of boldly painted paper mâché depict animals, legendary people, and sometimes spirits and monsters that are imbued with cultural meaning. He builds the body of the mask on a form, often a balloon, a basketball, or a plaster form he shapes for this purpose. Decorative elements such as horns, protruding eyes, and articulated jaws, also made from paper, are added to the base form to create the mask's character.

Meet the artist this Saturday at the opening reception, from 4—8 p.m. There will be a mask-making workshop with the artist on Sun., Nov. 6. Call the gallery for information on time and tuition cost.

Poster Boy show, censored by Trinity College, opens tomorrow at Real Art Ways

2011-10-19T13:07:00.002-04:00

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Poster Boy: Street Alchemy 2.0
Oct. 20—Jan. 20, 2011.
Opening reception during Creative Cocktail Hour: Thurs., Oct. 20, 6—8 p.m. Admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Press release

Real Art Ways presents an exhibition by Poster Boy who comments upon the wide array of political issues. Armed with a razor blade, Poster Boy manipulates vinyl advertisements to create startling, harsh or even humorous mash-ups.

An opening reception on Thurs., Oct. 20 from 6—8 p.m. will be held as part of Creative Cocktail Hour, Real Art Ways' monthly third Thursday gathering. Creative Cocktail Hour is from 6-10 p.m.; admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

The installation Street Alchemy 2.0 is an immersive spatial experience created with altered billboards. The typical relationship between individual and billboard is a curious one. Billboards traditionally loom over individuals seducing them through promises of success, security and savings. Poster Boy subverts this relationship, neuters these imposing images by bringing them down to eye level within a gallery space. The billboards in Street Alchemy 2.0 no long hold any power over consumers. We can laugh at their attempts to dupe us while relishing the clever and snide reconfigurations of Poster Boy's handiwork.

The works for Street Alchemy were originally designed for an exhibition at Trinity College. But school administrators canceled the show in mid-September. Real Art Ways has a history of championing artists and artistic expression and promoting dialogue about censored works.

Poster Boy describes itself as an artist collective based in Brooklyn, New York. Poster Boy is known for manipulating and repurposing self-adhesive advertisements in the platforms of New York City subway stations to create satiric, collage-like street art. Combining disparate elements of multiple advertisements into one composition the work calls attention to the oversaturation of commercially driven media that individuals are exposed to on a daily basis. There is always an element of humor in Poster Boy's work, and it is usually sardonic and politically driven. Critical of corporate and celebrity culture the work is a raw and spontaneous form of culture jamming inspired by "mash-ups" and the impromptu nature of hip hop "freestyling."

City-Wide Open Studios, sponsored by Artspace, begins this weekend

2011-10-12T14:44:00.002-04:00

Artspace
City-Wide Open Studios
50 Orange St, New Haven, (203) 772-2709
City-Wide Open Studios
Oct. 12—30, 2011.
CWOS Festival Exhibition
Through Oct. 23, 2011.
Opening Reception and CWOS Festival Kickoff Party: Fri., Oct. 14, 5—8 p.m.

Press release

Artspace is pleased to announce that the CWOS festival, now in its 14th year, will run October 12—30, with three consecutive weekends of studios open to the public. CWOS unites artists from all over Connecticut to celebrate their practice, share their creative process, and showcase the vitality and diversity of New Haven as creative hub.

Friday, Oct. 14, 5—8 p.m. • The Grand Opening Reception kicks off three weekends of studio visits this Friday night at Artspace. From 5—8 p.m., take the opportunity to meet the artists, tour the CWOS Festival Exhibition and also visit other local galleries that will be staying open late including Ninth Square's Project Storefronts.

Artspace is located at 50 Orange Street at the corner of Crown Street in Downtown New Haven and serves as the CWOS festival hub. Volunteers will be on hand all weekend to assist you with your studio visit planning and mapping.

Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15—16, 12—5 p.m. • The first weekend is devoted to showcasing the artists in Erector Square in New Haven's Fair Haven neighborhood. Some 100 artists will be displaying and discussing their work in studios and gallery spaces in the old factory complex where Erector Sets were once built. There will also be artists demonstrations throughout the complex.

Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 22—23, 12—5 p.m. • This is the "Passport Weekend." Get your documents in order to travel throughout New Haven and the suburbs—West Haven, North Haven, Hamden—meeting artists in their private and group studios that are normally closed to the public. Studio demos, talks and performances. Artist-designed passport stamps for adventurous explorers, prizes for frequent fliers. Guided bike tours will be led by the Devil's Gear, leaving at 12:30 pm from their location at 151 Orange Street in the rear of the 360 State Street building.

Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 29—30, 12—5 p.m. • Experience what the world could be like if art intersected with the environs of everyday life. The final CWOS weekend is devoted to the Alternative Space, an empty building repurposed for immersive, site-specific installations. This year's Alternative Space is at the Coop Center for Creativity, located at 196—212 College Street in the heart of downtown New Haven.

Over the past fourteen years, City-Wide Open Studios (CWOS) has drawn thousands of visitors to explore New Haven's neighborhoods while discovering artists, galleries, and the treasures of our city. City-Wide Open Studios celebrates contemporary art in all its myriad forms, and is undoubtedly Connecticut's leading visual arts event. Art dealers and curators from the region and beyond have used CWOS as a resource to discover new artists, plan upcoming shows, and buy art. As one of the largest Open Studios programs in the country, CWOS connects hundreds of local artists with the greater New Haven community—and beyond.

City-Wide Open Studios is a program of Artspace, a Connecticut non-profit organization presenting local and national visual art, providing access, excellence, and education for the benefit of the public and the arts community.

Sunday reception for photography show at Kehler Liddell

2011-10-12T14:40:00.002-04:00

Kehler Liddell Gallery
873 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 389-9555
Seven: An Exhibition by Seven Photographers
Oct. 13—Nov. 13, 2011.
Opening Reception: Sun., Oct. 16, 3—6 p.m.

Press release

Kehler Liddell Gallery is pleased to present Seven, a group show by seven photographic artists. Featuring the work of Rod Cook, Matthew Garrett, Andrew Hogan, Keith Johnson, Hank Paper, Alan Shulik, and Marjorie Wolfe, this unique exhibition is a testament to the diversity of styles and esthetics within the photographic medium. The diverse methods used by the seven artists include Platinum palladium process, multiple image printing and photojournalism.

Rod Cookʼs photographs offer rare moments of surreal beauty. Each image is a glimpse into an intimate gesture—sometimes haunting, other times reminiscent of a comforting memory. Using the Platinum/Palladium process—a technical process in which a light sensitive emulsion is coated directly on the surface of a sheet of paper—Cookʼs photographs exhibit a stunning, soft luminosity that evoke a deep emotional response within the viewer.

Matthew Garrett is a photographer who extracts uncanny and strange images from urban and suburban environments. His photographs isolate murmurs from the rhythms of our daily surroundings. Garrett transforms familiar spaces into mysterious, meditative spaces. His compositions play with light intensity and utilize spatial juxtapositions to create signature, dramatic visual effects.

Andrew Hogan's photographs capture fleeting moments of emotion that are indefinable by words alone: Mere glimpses or gestures that can suggest an entire life story. His photographs reveal fleeting moments of personal history and their underlying emotions that are undiminished by time. Hogan captures these powerful emotional stories in their beauty and mystery. His images uncover what is hidden in our everyday lives, and show how time and distance affect our personal realities and perceptions.

Keith Johnson makes photographs that are an investigation of extended imagery. By printing multiple images on a single piece of paper, Johnson is able to push the photograph beyond the single print, into a grid work that creates new frames and connections between images. The juxtaposition of multiple pictures steers the viewerʼs focus to the idea of the image—toward the imageʼs string of potential suggested by layers of graphic detail.

Hank Paperʼs photographs are from a series entitled “Island Life.” Paper shoots in an intuitive, photojournalistic style that allows the true nature of his subjects to be seen, often in juxtaposition with their absurd nature. Paperʼs photographs can be viewed as testimonies of people in their everyday life. However, his often humorous images do more than just expose the ordinary. They puncture the viewerʼs preconceived notions of his fellow man by revealing his subjects in unexpected roles and contexts that both surprise and sometimes astonish.

Alan Shulik (see image) paints with the lens of the camera in such a way as to produce abstract-surrealist images that conjure up ethereal, dream-like experiences. The images he will exhibit in this show are landscape photographs depicting the coastlines of Maine and Connecticut. Possessing a quiet, ethereal quality, these images are at once fleeting glances and moments of stillness.

Marjorie Wolfeʼs approach to photography, though simple and direct, reveals a hidden world. Wolfeʼs photographs were all taken at the same pond in Marthaʼs Vineyard, a place that the artist visits often. However, despite familiarity with the location, through Wolfeʼs sensitive visual esthetic, she is able to use the camera to expose the subtle contrasts around her—near and far, old and young, clamor and peace.

Printmaking exhibition at new venue Institute Library; artists' greeting Friday of next week

2011-10-12T13:35:00.003-04:00

The Institute Library
847 Chapel St., New Haven, (203) 562-5045
Identifying Marks
Oct. 15—Nov. 5, 2011.
Greeting of the Artists: Fri., Oct. 21, 6—8 p.m.

Press release

The work of six local print makers—Oi Fortin (Web), Aniko Horvath (Web), Fethi Meghelli (Web), Roxanne Faber Savage (Web, see image below), Thomas Stavovy (Web), Jonathan Waters (Web)—introduces a new gallery space in downtown New Haven. Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa, this exhibition is an example of the library's commitment to offering a venue for small scale works by artists in the greater New Haven community.

Two shows open Saturday at Hygienic in New London

2011-10-10T15:02:00.001-04:00

Hygienic Art
83 Bank St., P.O. Box 417, New London, (860) 443-8001
Hang In There Poster Show
Hygienic Art Show Archives
Oct. 15—Nov. 12, 2011
Opening reception: Sat., Oct. 15, 7—10 p.m.

Press release

Hang In There Poster Show has been organized by Hygienic Artist in residence, Patti Murphy. Murphy has brought together some of the top graphic designers and illustrators in the region through her connections with AIGA and her passion for art + design. Hang In There is a poster show, showcasing typographic and illustrative designs around the theme of positivity + encouragement. Each designer is individually designing posters around this theme. Prepare to be uplifted + inspired by each designer’s style and interpretation.

Hygienic Art Show Archives: Digging through the Archives spanning over thirty years, Hygienic Art President A. Vincent Scarano and Rich Martin, Hygienic Art Show organizer and manager, have culled through 33 years of poster art. Their selections will be featured in the Underground Gallery at Hygienic Art.

Hang In There Poster Show Artists:

Julia Balfour
Mark Bevington
David Cushman
Vaughn Fender
Peter Good
Amy Graver
Nick Healy
Karli Hendrikson
Susan Hickman
Rich Hollant
Matt Hunsberger
Tomasz Kazmierczak
Noemi Kearns
Katie Kerrigan
John Lepak
Magdalena Lutoborska
Patti Murphy
Kat Murphy
Troy Monroe
Eric Panke
Chris Piascik
Tracie Valentinormes

Barnes & Waters shows open Thursday at Giampietro Gallery

2011-10-10T14:47:00.003-04:00

Fred Giampietro Folk Art, Antiques and Contemporary Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Mary Barnes: Recent Work
Jonathan Waters: Selected Work 2008—2011
Oct. 14—Nov. 10, 2011.
Opening Reception: Thurs., Oct. 13, 5—8 p.m.

Press release

The Giampietro Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition from October 14 to November 10 of contemporary artworks by Mary Barnes and Jonathan Waters.

Mary Barnes' pieces make vivid use of wet and dry media, including pencil, inks, pastels, oils, pen, and matt mylar, to revisit her experiences in nature. Among her influences, she counts Kandinsky, Twombly, Scully, Rothenberg and Dine.

Jonathan Waters' collages and sculptures challenge viewers' inborn senses of perspective. His collages are flat, however they appear to float in space; and his sculptures can be interpreted as three-dimensional expressions of his collages, with edges appearing as linear elements that shift according to one's position.

There will be an opening reception on Thurs., Oct. 13, from 5—8 p.m. Normal gallery hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m.—4 p.m, and Saturday 11 a.m.—4 p.m.

Reception for Michael Morand photo show tomorrow evening

2011-10-10T12:57:00.001-04:00

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Michael Morand: @MimoCT :: btc
Through Oct. 14, 2011.
Artist's reception: Tues., Oct. 11, 5:30—7:30 p.m.

Press release

Michael Morand has been in New Haven since about 10,214 days ago. He gets around and has been on stage, in front of the cameras or at the microphone more than a few times in a variety of roles—as an alderman, activist, chamber of commerce chair, library board member, and university representative.

Once in a while, though, he’s behind the camera. This show at the New Haven Free Public Library offers a selection of some of the shots he’s taken in recent years as part of his ongoing, deeply rooted affection for the Elm City. @MimoCT :: btc expresses Michael’s fundamental belief that there is no better place to be, to live, to learn and to grow than our beloved community of New Haven.

One savvy photographer and cultural critic, Christopher Brownfield, has said previously of Michael’s photography: "His work possesses a consistent use of creative focusing and indifference to compositional convention that evoke a sense of surrealism and spontaneity." Maybe. It certainly has a consistent commitment to celebrating the many facets of the marvelous mosaic that is our hometown.

In the words of Harry Caudill, emblazoned at the entrance of the public library Whitesburg, Kentucky, one of Michael’s favorite places beyond our own borders, “Come look for yourself.”

The icing on the cake: Clint Jukkala's paintings at Giampietro Gallery

2011-10-06T11:15:00.002-04:00

Fred Giampietro Folk Art, Antiques and Contemporary Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Clint Jukkala: Even If and Especially When
Through Oct. 7, 2011.

Clint Jukkala's work, as I've known it, has always been defined by its expressive geometric abstraction. Earlier paintings often brought to mind—for me, at least—computer circuitry or networks. And yet, Jukkala's commitment to the quirkiness of the hand-painted line lent those paintings an engaging warmth that balanced their technological allusions.

Geometric abstraction and the wandering nature of the line still characterize Jukkala's paintings. But the series showing in the Giampietro Gallery evidence a fundamental evolution in Jukkala's approach, particularly in reference to texture.

The title of the show—Even If and Especially When—is taken from the title of a 1990's album by the psychedelic garage band Screaming Trees. While I would hesitate to call these paintings "psychedelic"—despite the often bold and sometimes clashing colors—their abstract depiction of portals does bring to mind Aldous Huxley's "doors of perception."

As I recall Jukkala's older works, I remember them as featuring flat fields of color. Here, Jukkala—often using both oils and acrylics—ranges from painting watery, translucent expanses of paint to thick impasto building on the surface like cake frosting.

His use of color and the materiality of the paint is further enriched by blending different hues in some areas and striating the surface in others. Jukkala's play with texture and coloration creates tension between a perceived sense of depth and, at the same time, a perceived flattening of the surface.

In paintings like "Mirage" and "Common Occurrences," it feels like we are looking through a window at, respectively, a gradient blue sky over a turbulent blue sea or a yellow sky streaked with washes over a foreground of thickly applied red, brown and orange riven with horizontal ravines. Still, these suggestions of landscape are contained within framings that resist representational interpretation. Jukkala manages a fine balancing act between kineticism and control.

Opening reception for Al Coyote Weiner at New NEST Art Center Saturday night

2011-10-05T15:44:00.002-04:00

The New NEST ART CENTER
1720 Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport
Crazy Quilt: the Human Condition—Artworks by Al Coyote Weiner
Sat., Oct. 8, 2011, 5—9 p.m.

Press release

"As an artist," Al Coyote Weiner writes, "I view life, nature, and the human condition as a crazy-quilt of interpretation and artistic choice. Some things, as superficial as a mouse entering an aperture, or the forces of nature determining our ultimate fate, are both integral to our journey.

"Irony, joy, love, and humor are some of the elements of the human trial. Hopefully, my aesthetic will broaden the viewers' perspective and enhance the freedom of choice. My wish is to employ my particular voice, and to achieve art that is fearless and uncompromising."

Actor, singer, writer, professor, and artist, Al Coyote Weiner has been involved in the art and entertainment world for over thirty years, from New York to Florida, and England. In the 60’s, he landed several minor acting roles, and secured a place with Lee Strasberg, a prominent acting coach, for lessons and advice.

Living in Coconut Grove, FL, he wrote and published his poetry, and then returned to the University of Bridgeport to study literature and writing. He furthered his studies in Europe after a Fulbright Scholarship offer for studies in India and Africa, earning his MACW in Creative Writing at Antioch International University, in Oxford and London, England. He creative work includes copywriting, songwriting, voice-overs, freelance articles, and screenwriting. His one-act play was accepted for production at the National Theater of Australia. He studied as a playwright at Yale Drama School, and served there as an adjunct professor in film studies. He has completed two albums of original, contemporary music.

Weiner has had 10 one-man shows, participated in group exhibitions, and been accepted for numerous juried shows.

Saturday's show will also include music presentations by Joseph Higgins (tonal keyboard) and Warren Bloom (guitar and harmonica).

Artist reception Thursday of next week at Middlesex Community College

2011-10-05T15:24:00.001-04:00

Middlesex Community College Pegasus Gallery
100 Training Hill Road, Chapman Hall, Middletown, 1-800-818-5501
Jennifer Wheeler: Recent Works in the Pegasus Gallery
Through Oct. 31, 2011.
Artist reception: Thurs., Oct. 13, 11:30 a.m.—1 p.m. in Pegasus Gallery.

Press release

Jennifer Wheeler employs bright, saturated colors and dislocating compositions of both formal and narrative themes. Paintings in Wheeler’s Wonderland series are hallucinogenic riffs on the horror vacui ("fear of empty space") traditions of Celtic and Islamic art in as much as the abstract space of a kaleidoscope. Here however, fragmented imagery of the “Alice in Wonderland” narrative collide within a world of both implied violence and imaginary play. Whirling and tumbling Alice figures, menacing cats, rabbits and mushroom forms are engaged by Godzilla, baby dolls and Barbie. Upturned dresses and suggestive paper cutout imagery are threatened by long dramatic shadows. In this series Alice's adventure is a loss of innocence and references more expansive issues of childhood trauma

Wheeler holds a BFA from the Lyme Academy College of Art where she currently teaches. She earned an MFA from Western Connecticut State University and also teaches at the University of Connecticut and Three Rivers Community College.

Mary Lesser show opens at City Gallery this Sunday

2011-10-03T12:01:00.002-04:00

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Mysteries: New Work by Mary Lesser
Oct. 6—Nov. 6, 2011.
Opening reception, Sun., Oct. 9, 2—5 p.m.

Press release

City Gallery is presenting Mysteries: New Work by Mary Lesser, (Web), an exhibit of paintings, prints and new media from Oct. 6 through Nov. 6, 2011. The opening reception is on Sun. Oct. 9, 2—5 p.m.

The work represents thoughts and emotions inspired by the poems of Taije Silverman, Jane Kenyon, Charles Beaudelaire and others. The theme is the mysteries of life, death, nature and regeneration. The exhibit includes acrylic paintings, monotypes, artist books and other media new for the artist.

"Take 5" show at Branford Artists Cooperative

2011-10-03T11:40:00.004-04:00

Branford Artists Cooperative
211 Montowese St., Branford, (203) 589-6995
Take 5 @ BAC
Through Oct. 28, 2011.

Press release

(I missed getting this info up in time for the preview party and Open House but the show is up through Oct. 28. HH)

Check out TAKE 5 @ BAC!, an exhibition of five Branford artists hosted by the Branford Artists Cooperative (BAC) beginning with a preview party and open house on September 30 and October 1. The show features member artists Scott Paterson, Ray Mathews, Dana Baldwin Naumann, Owen Sea Luckey, and Kristin Merrill.

Painter Scott Paterson's work over the last 40 years has been nonobjective. His current paintings, however, represent his recent foray into figurative themes, painting simple, small, homemade sculptures he makes from wood, cardboard, wire, etc. Scott has shown in numerous one and two-person shows in California and Connecticut. His work is in many private collections.

Ray Mathews has been creating fine, hand-blown art glass since 1975. His work can be found in some of the finest galleries both nationally and internationally. Ray offers glass blowing classes, workshops and rents furnace time to experienced glassblowers at his studio at the Glass Hut in Branford.

Sculptor and painter Dana Baldwin Naumann creates fanciful sculpture, mostly crafted from lead sheets coated with copper or zinc patinas. Art Critic Steve Starger from the Azoth Gallery wrote "Naumann's finely wrought sculptures aren't depressing or oppressive. He draws on African and mythological references to create monolithic faces that are inspired by ritual masks and statuary, like monuments or totems left by a long-vanished civilization. These elongated faces appear aloof and ascetic, but are also strangely poignant, and each emanates a sense of mystery and longing."

Textile artist Owen Sea Luckey has been focusing on "RE-DO," her latest creations of recycled, gently worn sweaters. These are deconstructed and embellished with one-of-a-kind, hand-knit, felted collars, cuffs, embroidery and antique buttons. It is a labor of love and fun. She continues to explore hand-knitting, felting and unusual outcomes from creating basic functional wearables.

Kristin Merrill's passion is creating art from natural materials. Her necklaces and earrings have a soft, fluid and delicate appeal even though they are constructed of fused sterling silver, semi-precious stones and pearls. Her sculpture work has grown and expanded from adorned driftwood to wood and found object pieces and altars.

The show runs through Oct. 28 and is free and open to the public. The BAC gallery is located at 211 Montowese Street in Branford, and open Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m.—3 p.m. and other times by appointment. Branford Artists Cooperative provides working studio space and art exhibits to the public. BAC fosters the development of local artists and promotes arts in the community.

Four new shows open Sunday at Silvermine Guild Art Center

2011-09-21T11:39:00.006-04:00

Silvermine Guild Art Center
1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, (203) 966-9700
Director's Choice: Larry Lewis
Nancy McTague-Stock: Fragments of the Aquatic
Roxanne Faber Savage: Bird(ish)
Joseph Saccio: Memory and Metamorphosis
Sept. 25—Nov. 4, 2011.
Opening Reception: Sun., Sept. 25, 2—4 p.m.

Press release

The fall season brings four new exhibits to the Silvermine Arts Center, located in New Canaan, CT. Opening on Sept. 25 these new exhibits provide a look at the work of an artist whose work comes to awareness posthumously, reflections on the coexistence of nature and industry, and expressions of myth and reality. All are welcome to the opening reception on Sun., Sept. 25 from 2—4 p.m. The exhibits will run through Nov. 4.

The Director’s Choice exhibit features works by reclusive artist Larry Lewis as seen in his collage books, which he began in the late 60’s and continued to produce until his death in 2004. His niece and heir to the artwork, Sharyn Prentiss Laughton, shared that Larry never finished any of his books, but rather worked randomly and haphazardly through each one, and showed them only to her. The totality of his work was only discovered after he died. A member of the Silvermine Guild of Artists for a brief period of time in the 1960’s, very little is known about him personally or artistically. His artistic progress is sketchy at best as he rarely dated his work and rarely exhibited. As a member of the Guild, he exhibited some of his gouache work, however, there is no record that indicates whether he ever exhibited his collage books at Silvermine. A reclusive and unassuming person, his books took on another life with brilliantly hand ink colored pages created from photocopies of collected Victorian images, movie stars from the 1920’s and 30’s, and newspaper ads for elixirs, potions, ways to get rid of wrinkles, address sagging waistlines, pinch back ears and body remedies. Each page and spread was composed as a painting unto itself.

Fragments of the Aquatic showcases works by Silvermine Guild Artist Nancy McTague-Stock, a resident of Wilton, CT. McTague-Stock is an artist who works in a variety of media. She shares her interest in creating imagery that offers a glimpse of unnoticed rhythms of the natural world, with deep-rooted connections in ecology, psychology and sociology through drawings, paintings, printmaking, new media and writing. In its many forms, water plays a vital role for all of us. Water offers us properties of sustenance, potential for destruction, meditative moments, athletic opportunities and artistic vision. Her preoccupation with natural water occurrences in daily life is evident in this series of work. “By focusing on fragments available to me in a singular moment, I invite the audience to share in a multi-sensorial exhibition. I hope they will engage, reflect and contemplate how water plays critical and numerous roles in their lives,” says McTague-Stock. “The works of art in this exhibition offer the viewer an opportunity to play with their own perception of reality.”

Visual artist and printmaker, Roxanne Faber Savage has had an on-going fascination and attraction to birds and utility wires, which has taken on a life of its own. Bird(ish) is an exhibition of prints based on highway vistas, bird imagery and daydreams culled from her daily drives on I95 and rural roads. This show is a unique documentation of images shot, drawn, copied, stretched, pressed and printed, depicting the co-existence of nature and industry in the modern landscape. Savage will present interpretive exhibition programming in the gallery on Wednesdays from 3—5 p.m. for the run of the show (9/28, 10/5, 12, 19, 26 and 11/2). Each Wednesday she will engage gallery goers to “print, talk, draw and bird watch.”

A resident of Fairfield, Savage, whose work is comprised of traditional etchings, silk aquatint monoprints and a transfer technique called paper lithography, says that a “stream of consciousness and a rich store of personal memories are the starting place for my prints and drawings. My interests in energy and freedom, in the widest sense, provide a central theme through which I channel my experiences. I value the emotive power of color, and layer my prints with saturated color and energy related imagery: strewn power lines, loopy crayon scribbles and scratchy surface textures. I make prints because I love the possibilities presented in the combinations of multiple printmaking techniques, and the physicality of using an etching press.”

Memory and Metamorphosis, an exhibit of sculptural works in a variety of sizes and materials by Joseph Saccio, expresses the artist’s personal feelings associated with myth and ritual, loss and rebirth. “I’m interested in the idea of great power joined to fragility and vulnerability, a very human, and indeed, mythic combination,” says Saccio. “This is reflected in the choice of weighty, large materials literally joined with, or in association with, fragile materials such as paper or fiber bindings especially noted at the physical connections among parts of my sculptures.” The dark somber pieces are expressive of loss and rebirth, and for the artist, associated with myth and ancient ritual, leading the viewer through the changing process, producing forms that are abstract but resemble a living organism.

Rescheduled "Quick & Painful" tattoo event this Saturday at Hope Gallery in New Haven

2011-09-21T11:05:00.004-04:00

Hope Gallery
835 Woodward Ave., New Haven, (203) 467-1622
Quick and Painful
One night only: Sat., Sept. 24, 2011, 7—11 p.m.

Press release

Hope Gallery, one of the most prestigious tattoo art galleries, will feature the work of more than 15 important artists and designers with backgrounds in fine art, graffiti, and illustration in a unique exhibition. This event—which was originally scheduled for Sat., Aug. 27 but had to be postponed because of the arrival of Hurricane Irene—will be held this Saturday night, Sept. 24, from 7—11 p.m.

Quick & Painful will feature today’s most elite low-brow artists doing original Tattoo Flash. “Flash” is a set of tattoo designs classically printed or drawn on an 11″ x 14″ piece of paper or cardboard. Flash is either drawn by the individual tattooer for display and use in his own studio, or traded and sold among other tattooers. By the turn of the new century, most tattoo studios have become custom shops with the flash serving as more of a reference for ideas.

Among the artists and designers that will be presenting Flash Prints for the exhibition are Alex Pardee, Amanda Visell, Brandt Peters & Kathie Olivas, Camilla D’Errico, David Horvath, Devilrobots, Frank Kozik, Greg “Craola” Simkins, Joe Ledbetter, Junko Mizuno, Ron English, Sam Flores, TADO, Tara McPherson, and Tokidoki co-founder and Creative Director Simone Legno.

Quick & Painful was curated by Nichole East of Hope Gallery. East reached out to iconic artists from her Pop Art background. Each artist was given the confines of 11 x 14 inch platform to create their own unique set of tattoo flash.

“After years of working in the low-brow and pop art scene, I started to see how many fans were getting tattoos of my favorite artists. It seemed a natural urge to make sure it was done right,” said Nichole East.

The first event took place at Crewest Gallery in Los Angeles on Sept. 3. Subsequent Quick & Painful events will be held at Rotofugi Gallery in Chicago on Oct. 8; and during Art Basel in Miami, Dec. 1—4. World-renowned tattoo artists like Joe Capobianco, Eric Merrill, Julio Rodriguez, Jime Litwalk, Dan Smith, Patrick Cornolo, and Sean Adams, will be tattooing fans this Saturday with their favorite designs chosen right from the wall. The nights will also be filled with events, giveaways, and contests for fans of Tattoos and Pop Art.

All of the Flash Sets created for Quick & Painful will be available for purchase at each of the show dates and available online at The Hope Shop starting Oct. 9.

Hope Gallery is custom tattoo and art gallery located in New Haven, CT. Established in 2002 by artists Joe Capobianco, Eric Merrill, and Julio Rodriguez, Hope is home to the most experienced and awarded tattoo artists in the industry today. Along with resident artists Phil Young, Tim Harris, and Christian Perez; each have over 15 years tattooing experience.

Artist talk and brown bag luncheon with James Reed at Bridgeport Arts & Cultural Council on Wednesday

2011-09-19T23:13:00.002-04:00

The BACC Gallery in the Historic Arcade Mall
1001-12 Main St., Bridgeport, (203) 552-4154
James Reed: (Mostly) Crows
Through Sept. 29, 2011.
Artist's Talk & Brown Bag Luncheon: Wed., Sept. 21, 12:30—1:30 p.m.

Press release

The works in the exhibit (Mostly) Crows were created during James Reed's residency at I-Park in December 2010. I-Park is a non-profit organization devoted to fostering excellence in the fields of music composition, the visual arts, and creative writing. It is located on a 450-acre nature park in East Haddam, CT.

Reed, who holds a Bachelor of Arts from University of Missouri and a Master of Arts from San Francisco State University and Tamarind Institute, is the owner and Master Printer at Milestone Graphics in Bridgeport, CT. As a master printer, he has worked at print shops throughout the United States, Mexico and France and has collaborated with over two hundred artists during a career that spans over forty years. Also an accomplished artist, Mr. Reed's personal work is included in the collections of IBM, General Electric, Tamarind Institute, Achenbach Print Foundation, New York Public Library, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. He has received a Ford Foundation Fellowship and a Rockefeller Research Grant.

The Bridgeport Arts and Cultural Council, a non-profit organization, was founded to advocate for cultural and arts organizations by promoting participation of the community in arts and cultural activities in Bridgeport. In addition, the BACC provides exhibition opportunities and promotion for area artists and artisans. Exhibitions and events at the BACC are sponsored by private and public funding partners. To become a member, to make a donation, or to learn more about the BACC call 203.522.4154 or email info@bridgeportarts.org

Artists' & Scientists' reception Thursday evening at Haskins Laboratories

2011-09-19T23:00:00.003-04:00

Haskins Laboratories
300 George St. 9th Floor, New Haven, (203) 772-2788
Rules of Conversion: Artists Explore Encoded and Embedded Language
Sept. 22, 2011—Jan. 25, 2012.
Artists' and Scientists' reception: Thurs., Sept. 22, 5-7 p.m.

Press release

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, in collaboration with Haskins Laboratories, presents Rules of Conversions: Artists Explore Encoded and Embedded Language at Haskins Laboratories, 300 George St., 9th floor, New Haven. This exhibition will be on display September 22 through January 25, 2012. Regular viewing hours are Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. An artists’ and scientists’ reception is scheduled for Thurs., Sept. 22, from 5—7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

Curated by Carol Padberg (Web) and Debbie Hesse (Web) with Curatorial Assistant Steven Olsen, Rules of Conversion explores encoded and embedded language. Increasingly, artists find methods to manipulate, find meaning in, and apply the structures of language as they conceptualize and create new work. In Rules of Conversion, each individual piece will provide context, with Haskins Laboratories providing a larger context for the collection as a whole. Where Haskins Laboratories studies the mechanisms that allow ideas and information to be shared, Rules of Conversion examines the myriad methods of delivery.

Some featured artists include Amaranth Borsuk (Web), Qian Lin, Karen Shaw (Web), Jeanne Criscola (Web), and Laurie Frick (Web, see image below). A full artist list will be available closer to the opening day of the exhibition.

Haskins Laboratories is an independent, international, multidisciplinary community of researchers conducting basic research on spoken and written language. Exchanging ideas, fostering collaborations, and forging partnerships across the sciences, it produces groundbreaking research that enhances our understanding of—and reveals ways to improve or remediate—speech perception and production, reading and reading disabilities, and human communication.

"Being Present" at Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery in New Haven; reception in October

2011-09-19T15:04:00.002-04:00

Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery
70 Audubon St., 2nd floor, New Haven, (203) 772-2788
Being Present: Connecticut artists living with Alzheimer’s
Sept. 23—Nov. 10, 2011.
Artists' reception: Wed., Oct. 12, 3—5 p.m.

Press release

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Resource Center of Connecticut, presents Being Present, an exhibition in the Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery, 70 Audubon St., 2nd floor. The exhibition will be on display during business hours from September 23 through November 10. A public reception is scheduled for Wed., Oct. 12, 2011 from 3—5 p.m.

Being Present is an exhibition of prints and paintings by Connecticut artists living with Alzheimer’s. Featured artists of the Alzheimer’s Resource Center of Connecticut have used their art and their creations to express themselves and manage their illness. These artists are creative and inspiring individuals. They all live with Alzheimer’s disease or another related dementia, but they are all able to express themselves through various artistic mediums. Some of these artists reside at the Alzheimer’s Resource Center, either in an assisted living community or one of four skilled nursing communities.

Being Present allows the artists to utilize and draw upon their unique talents in an artistic process and environment that helps find hope and courage. The freeing process of the process allows the artists to explore their inner strengths and triumphs.

The Alzheimer’s Resource Center is a nonprofit organization that provides a specialized source of research, information and health care. Since 1990, the Center has done pioneering work studying dementia and caring for people with Alzheimer’s disease. By sharing innovative approaches with family care providers, other organizations and professionals, the Center promotes a new standard of enlightened dementia care.

Fundraiser for artist Rita Valley this Friday at Artspace

2011-09-19T13:18:00.004-04:00

Artspace
50 Orange St, New Haven, (203) 772-2709
Rita Valley fundraiser
Fri., Sept. 23, 6—10 p.m.

Press release

Artist Rita Valley, a woman of tremendous talent (her Artspace artist page) and a person who is a real joy to be around, had a serious accident recently (see below). There will be a fundraiser to help defray some of her expenses this Friday at Artspace in New Haven. If you can't attend, please consider sending her a donation at: Rita Valley, 965 Jeremy Swamp Road, Southbury, CT 06488.

From Rita:

On June 11th of this year, I had a truly freak accident at home, in which a section of wire fence snapped back and punctured my left eye. I endured two surgeries to stabilize my eye and replace my left lens, but I require a corneal transplant in order to see clearly again. At present, I have approximately 15% vision in my left eye. For anyone, the idea of eye accidents or vision impairment is traumatic; for me as a visual artist, it is devastating. What has buoyed me along, (in addition to the emotional support of my partner Bob, my dog Jules and my wonderful friends and family!) has been the understanding that I will be able to get that corneal transplant and be able to move beyond these particularly awful and challenging few months.

At present, I am unable to do many things we all typically take for granted. To name a few, I have poor depth perception, cannot drive at night and I am having trouble reading. Ironically, my job is photographing antiques—not easy with one eye. Perhaps most trying of all is how difficult it has been to continue my studio practice. I cannot emphasize deeply enough how important this transplant is to me.

I know that I am more fortunate than some, in that my job provides health insurance. However, I am enrolled in an HSA (Health Savings Account) and have a high deductible. As luck would have it, I sustained my injury in June and my policy runs September to September. This means that I have to come up with my deductible again this fall. (And I will add that the insurance company changed my policy and raised the deductible). Therefore, it was suggested by several friends and family members that a fundraiser be organized to help defray my very necessary and rapidly mounting medical expenses.

Will you please help me out with a donation? Attend my party if you can, and enjoy performances by Forrest Harlow, The Chupacabras and Armando Erba. The event is at Artspace (which has generously donated the space for the evening… my everlasting thanks to Helen Kauder). It should be a great night and will surely cheer me along on my way to recovery! If you are unable to attend and would like to help out with a donation, please send to Rita Valley, 965 Jeremy Swamp Road, Southbury, CT 06488.

Event schedule:

Friday, September 23, 6—10 p.m.

7 p.m. • Forrest Harlow & his Band. CD: "Kennedy & Kings"

8:30 p.m. • Performance Art by ARMANDO Erba "A Priori Stories of the Third Sex, or Move On Over, Simone de Beauvoir."

9:15 PM • Jon Morse Band — The Chupacabras, with Weylin Jones, Carlos Carrion, & John Voog Wood.

JodiAnn Strmiska • Mistress of Ceremonies

Artist reception for Naumann show at New Haven Public Library Tuesday

2011-09-19T12:51:00.004-04:00

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Holocaust Memorial: An Exhibition of Lead Sculptures by Dana Baldwin Naumann
Through Sept. 26, 2011.
Artist's reception: Tues., Sept. 20, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

Dedication: "To my friend, the late Sigmund Strochlitz (1916-2006), a survivor of the Auschwitz death camp, who realized that the world was beginning to forget the Holocaust."
— Dana Naumann

Dana Baldwin Naumann creates fanciful and fabulous sculpture, mostly crafted from lead sheets coated with copper or zinc patinas. Naumann's hammered sculptures are studies in texture, soft and warm looking even as metal surfaces, and depict religious, mythic, and archetypal scenes. Until 1994, Naumann had a successful career as Vice-President of Sales and Marketing with the Westinghouse Corporation in Pittsburgh, but then determined to devote his life to his art, a decision he says he has never regretted.

Naumann's works are in the permanent collections of The Aetna in Los Angeles, CA, and in Hartford, CT, and Villanova University, Villanova, PA. He designed and contributed sculptures to the permanent collections of United States Special Olympics, and a piece created on the theme of the Holocaust was given to the Thomas Dodd Center, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. Other gifts of work were made to the East Shore Adult Day Care Center in Branford, CT, and to the Aids Project in New Haven, CT.

Art critic Steve Starger wrote about his work: "Naumann's finely wrought sculptures aren't depressing or oppressive. He draws on African and mythological references to create monolithic faces that are inspired by ritual masks and statuary, like monuments or totems left by a long-vanished civilization. These elongated faces appear aloof and ascetic, but are also strangely poignant, and each emanates a sense of mystery and longing."

The Dedication: Sigmund Strochlitz (1916 - Oct. 16, 2006) was born in Bedzin, Poland. He survived several concentration camps, including Auschwitz, where his parents and sisters were killed. In 1978, Elie Wiesel recommended him to become a member of President Jimmy Carter's Commission on the Holocaust, and he and Wiesel worked together to create the National Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. In 1981, he and his wife Rose endowed the Chair and Institute in Holocaust Studies at Haifa University in Israel. In 1986, Strochlitz was named the second recipient of the Elie Wiesel Remembrance Award, and he later was a member of the Board of Directors of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. In 2006, Mr. Wiesel attended his funeral in New London, CT.

Edgy photo show up through this Saturday

2011-09-15T20:47:00.005-04:00

A-Space Gallery at West Cove Studios
30 Elm St., West Haven, (203) 627-8030
At The Edge of Things: Twenty-Four Photographers
Through Sept. 17, 2011.

At the Edge of Things is a rather open themed photographic show in the A-Space Gallery at West Cove Studios curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa. Through Kobasa's eyes, the show is organized around poetic interpretations of the concept of "edge"—formalistic, emotional, sociological, political. These edges are more rough than smooth.

In work like Marion Belanger's "Rift #41," the white boundaries of an astroturfed miniature golf hole carve out the domesticated edge of nature, holding at bay unruly grasses and dandelions.

Phyllis Crowley's ominous "Moonlight" is a seascape of black water in the foreground rippled with lunar reflections. Clusters of clouds cloak the moon. The edge of the world—or horizon line—is just barely visible in the nocturnal murk.

A much different kind of edge is suggested by Paul Bloom's "Francisco Franco's Prison, Barcelona, Spain." The knife's edge of oppression and human suffering haunts this grainy image of a claustrophobic brick corridor with chains hanging from the ceiling.

There's more—much more—by many of the area's most respected photographers: James Ayers, Christopher Beauchamp, Joy Bush, Paul Duda, Ashley Estep, Joan Fitzsimmons, Andrew Hogan, Aniko Horvath, Keith Johnson, Clare Kobasa, Linda Lindroth, Eric Litke, Meredith Miller, Roy Money, Hank Paper, Thomas Peterson, Mark Savoia, Jess Smith, Maria Tupper, Marjorie Wolfe and Stefan Znosko.

The show is up through this Saturday, Sept. 17.

Opening reception at Gallery 195 Tuesday evening

2011-09-12T13:46:00.002-04:00

Gallery 195
195 Church St., 4th floor (First Niagara Bank), New Haven, (203) 772-2788
Sharon Butler & Geoffrey Detrani
Sept. 14—Dec. 9, 2011.
Opening reception: Tues., Sept. 13, 5-7 p.m.

Press release

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven presents an exhibition of works by Connecticut artists Sharon Butler and Geoffrey Detrani at Gallery 195 at First Niagara Bank, 195 Church St., 4th floor, New Haven. The exhibition will be on display during bank hours from September 14 through December 9, 2011. An artists’ reception is scheduled for Tues., Sept. 13, from 5—7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

The exhibit will feature work by Sharon Butler and Geoffrey Detrani. Butler uses a juxtaposition of brilliant color against stark backgrounds to evoke the linear state of natural life; many of her pieces are first inspired by the shape of everyday objects. Detrani depicts images of the natural world in explosive colors and “in a state of flux”, in an effort to capture the beauty of the world, but also its fleeting and entropic nature.

Sharon Butler is an artist and writer. Her grants and awards include a Connecticut Artist fellowship, Vermont Studio Center residency grant, and Connecticut State University research grants. Butler is an art professor for Eastern Connecticut State University and also maintains the award-winning art blog Two Coats of Paint, as well as contributing to numerous other publications. Her work has been included in galleries and exhibitions around the world.

Geoffrey Detrani is an artist, writer, and poet from Hamden, CT. Geoffrey’s work has been featured in numerous collections and galleries and has been the featured artist for such publications as The New England Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, and Artscope Magazine. Geoffrey has received multiple grants and awards such as the 2006 Chashama Visual Arts Studio Award and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation residency grant. He is a contributing writer for the New Haven Advocate and a teacher in New Haven, CT.

Jukkala show opening tonight at Giampietro Gallery

2011-09-09T12:19:00.002-04:00

Giampietro Gallery — Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Clint Jukkala: Even If and Especially When
Sept. 9—Oct. 7, 2011.
Opening reception: Fri., Sept. 9, 5—8 p.m.

Press release

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to present Clint Jukkala: Even If and Especially When, an exhibition of recent paintings opening September 9 and on view through October 7.

Clint Jukkala’s new paintings offer portals into sensory worlds of color, geometry, and remembered experience. Ostensibly abstract, they refer to the real world, suggesting interior spaces, windows, and landscape vistas. Through framing and reframing, the paintings unfold, creating pictures within pictures and spatial ambiguities.

Emerging from the tradition of geometric abstraction, Jukkala’s work plays with its conventions, making paintings that are at once reflective and irreverent. Rationality gives way to the realm of psychology, memory, and daily life. Structural forms are painted with a direct and wobbly hand. Hints of sky and water are squeezed between lines and rectangles, offering a possible escape from a reductive flatland.

While super-saturated color has long been the driving force in Jukkala’s work, his recent paintings introduce the element of highly textured surfaces. The play between flatness and illusion is heightened as paint alternates between thin, dyed grounds, and heavy impasto. The varied surfaces expand the sense of pictorial depth and the physicality of the paintings.

Suggesting both doubt and conviction, Even If and Especially When, evokes possibility and the yearning for future things to come. Taken from the album title of the psychedelic garage band, the Screaming Trees, Even if and Especially When, echoes the desires, contradictions and ambiguities inherent in Jukkala’s work.

Clint Jukkala (born 1971, Missoula, MT) received his BFA from the University of Washington in Seattle, and his MFA from Yale University. His work has been shown at Feature Inc., and Envoy Enterprises in New York, The deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln, MA, Tiger Strikes Asteroid in Philadelphia, PA, and Soil Gallery in Seattle. He lives and works in New Haven, CT.

Opening reception Saturday at Kehler Liddell For Jacobs and Dubicki show

2011-09-09T12:08:00.002-04:00

Kehler Liddell Gallery
873 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 389-9555
Emilia Dubicki & Blinn Jacobs
Through Oct. 9, 2011.
Opening reception: Sat., Sept. 10, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

Kehler Liddell Gallery is pleased to present a two-person exhibition of new work by Emilia Dubicki and Blinn Jacobs.

Emilia Dubicki uses intuition and memory to determine composition, color movement and brushwork in her abstract paintings. While her imagery references water and landmass, she avoids true representation. For her second show at Kehler Liddell Gallery, Dubicki will present a series of paintings that investigate the idea of a collective memory.

Philosopher Maurice Halbwachs (Wikipedia entry)wrote extensively on collective memory in post WWI Europe, explaining it as “a current of continuous thought” governed by sociological qualities, irreducible to individual memories and physical existence. The Surrealists similarly took up these ideas. In this new series, Dubicki activates shared, subconscious landscapes, by expressing moods or feelings in visceral movements of paint that seek to resonate within her viewers.

Dubicki received a residency grant from the Wurlitzer Foundation, Taos, N.M. in 2000 and 2003, as well as a Vermont Studio Center residency grant in 2004. Her work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, California, Utah, Korea and Japan. She has been published in the New Haven Advocate, New Haven Register, New Haven Independent, Big Red and Shiny, Connecticut Art Scene, and NY ARTS Magazine. Last April she was interviewed on WNPR and this summer her paintings will appear on the USA network TV show “Royal Pains.” Dubicki currently lives and works in New Haven, CT.

Blinn Jacobs explores the ways that color, line, shape and surface may inform movement, balance and weight in her minimalist works. For her fourth show at Kehler Liddell Gallery, Jacobs will present new work from the "Counterpoise Series," new work from the "Tie Rod Ribbon Series," new drawings and a never before exhibited corner installation.

Early on in her career, Blinn Jacobs became interested in the Suprematist master, Kazimir Malevich. Malevich used the black square as a protagonist and generator of other forms that dipped and spiraled about his picture plane. Jacobsʼ works similarly lack the horizons and gravity systems of the black square, and take issue with the space that art occupies. Her corner installation specifically addresses the relationship between the site of the work and the sight of the viewer.

Jacobs studied at the Yale School of Art as a special student for four years and received her MFA in painting from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993. Her work as been in numerous one-person shows, including the University of Wyoming Art Museum in Laramie, WY, Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, VA, Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven, CT, and the Kunstlerhaus in Schwandorf, Germany. She has received awards from the CT Commission on the Arts, the Slivermine Arts Center, and fellowships from the Virginia Center for Creative Arts and the Oberpfalzer Kunstlerhaus in Schwandorf, Germany. She was recently invited to exhibit in the 2011 Florence Biennale. Jacobs lives and works in Branford, CT.

"Greeting of the artists" at A-Space Gallery rescheduled for this Sunday

2011-09-01T12:07:00.003-04:00

A-Space Gallery at West Cove Studios
30 Elm St., West Haven, (203) 627-8030
At The Edge of Things: Twenty-Four Photographers
Aug. 25—Sept. 17, 2011.
Greeting of the artists: Sun., Sept. 4, 2011, 6—8 p.m.

Press release

Because of Hurricane Irene, the "greeting of the artists" for At the Edge of Things originally scheduled for last Sunday, will take place this Sun., Sept. 4, from 6—8 p.m.

Arranged and installed by Stephen Vincent Kobasa, At the Edge of Things showcases meditations on various ways in which photographs can render boundaries both blurred and precise, real and imagined.

The featured photographers are James Ayers, Christopher Beauchamp, Marion Belanger, Paul Bloom, Joy Bush, Phyllis Crowley, Paul Duda, Ashley Estep, Joan Fitzsimmons, Andrew Hogan, Aniko Horvath, Keith Johnson, Clare Kobasa, Linda Lindroth, Eric Litke, Meredith Miller, Roy Money, Hank Paper, Thomas Peterson, Mark Savoia, Jess Smith, Maria Tupper, Marjorie Wolfe and Stefan Znosko.

An environment for creating art

2011-09-01T11:43:00.009-04:00

Artspace
50 Orange St, New Haven, (203) 772-2709
Marie Celeste
Through Sept. 16, 2011.

Thematically, the works in Marie Celeste, the current show at Artspace, are connected by their engagement with contemporary issues of ecology and the human footprint on the environment. Specifically, Marie Celeste references "colony collapse disorder"—the disappearance of worker bees from their colonies, a phenomenon that threatens key pillars of the food chain.

The works are drawn from a range of media and practices from the traditional (drawing, painting) to the current 21st century moment (installation, interactive art).

Of particular note in the latter category is Mayumi Nishida's (Web) "Introduction to Water." Employing LED lights, monofilament, water, ceramic pot, solar panel, galvanized tank and wooden dippers, "Introduction" invites the viewer to experience directly the human impact on a [constructed] natural world.

In the darkened space, visitors can grab one of the wooden dippers, fill up their cup with water from the steel tub and pour it into the squat ceramic vase situated on a platform in the middle of the tub. The action of pouring the water into the vase activates a series of circuits and sensors—powered by a solar collector in a nearby window—and cause tiny lights hanging overhead to blink in a random fashion.

"Introduction" is powerful on two inter-connected levels. First, it is a visual delight. There is a backyard simplicity to the almost altar-like presence of the water-filled tub with the floating wooden ladles and the earthenware vase on the platform in the middle. When the lights are activated, their pinpoint flashing evokes thoughts of summer fireflies, stars or crystalline drops of rain. The work is deepened on the conceptual level: Human intervention has consequences. In the case of this artificial natural system, human agency is salutary. But that's not always—perhaps isn't even often—the case. "Introduction" reminds us that we are a part of the system whether we consciously recognize it or not.

Nick Lamia's "Cities for our Kids' Kids' Kids' Kids' Kids' Kids'" also invites interaction. This work, which occupies a large corner of the main Artspace gallery, also has an ongoing video component. Lamia's work combines wall drawing, the display of two abstract geometrical paintings on canvas, a framework of parallel lines of yellow string and hundreds of colored wood blocks. Visitors are invited to rearrange the blocks; a camera will record the variations over time to be sequenced into a video when the show is over. In this work, the landscape is an object of both contemplation and interaction. It is a landscape that references the contemporary urban environment in its geometric forms, and the natural environment in its wealth of color. When I visit this afternoon it is an environment in which chaos and randomness are only intermittently broken up by the imposition of order by Lamia's contributions and those of the viewers.

In the same large gallery, there is a wise curatorial juxtaposition: Erika Blumenfeld's photographs of Antarctica with Shari Mendelson's sculptures made out of discarded and reused plastic, aluminum foil and acrylic polymer. The works share a bright transparent luminosity that contrasts with the rich colors of the surrounding works in the room.

Blumenfeld's photos revel in the abstract undulations of layered frozen forms in Antarctica—the play of sunlight and shadow on a glacial surface, the dimpling and striation of ice. But as cold as these images look, they don't look cold enough. The light on the surface of overlapping layers of ice, cracks and fissures, glimpses of almost Caribbean blue—all these things hint at climate stress on the region's delicate eco-system.

Mendelson's works recycle contemporary waste material and antique forms; in the gallery shared with Blumenfeld, there is a sculpture of a supine pig ("Reclining Animal") and a large vase flecked with shiny infusions of aluminum foil ("Silver Vessel"). Mendelson is playing with cross-referencing tropes here—the relics of antiquity being reincarnated in the trash of today. It's a cheeky conceit. After all, the objects she is referencing are what survived hundreds of years in ruins; sometimes they have literally been found in excavated garbage dumps. What cultural signifiers will we be leaving behind? I've got one word for you, Benjamin: Plastics.

Joseph Smolinski's (Web) drawings depict a world in which nature and technology are in conflict. In his stark, draftsman-like imagery, animals like snapping turtles, woodpeckers and blue whales appear to be trying to get us to hang up the phone by disconnecting the cell phone transmitters disguised as tree branches. This is high brow kitsch, streaked with queasy irony.

Stephen Bush's two paintings depict beekeepers in luridly colored environments. Dressed in their protective outfits, they look like members of a haz-mat spill cleanup team. Bush's vistas are pastoral but chemically charged, bringing to mind the line in Don DeLillo's novel White Noise that "ever since the airborne toxic event, the sunsets had become almost unbearably beautiful." Eva Struble's (Web) paintings find anarchic beauty in post-industrial rubble. "Cambridge Iron I" is a veritable cacophony of discarded appliances, metal cables and wires and other refuse.

Artist Alison Williams is also a committed gardener and that passion is reflected in her art practice. "Glasshouse #3" is a ragged, hand-built greenhouse or potting shed, assembled from discarded scrap lumber, door frames and windows. Visitors are invited to enter the structure, which has shelves laden with transparent vials of caramel, amber and burgundy colored fluids.

Williams' back-to-the-land inventiveness extends to The Lot near the corner of Chapel and Orange streets. Williams conceptualized and oversaw the public art installation "Homage to Guerrilla Gardening." (See Wikipedia for info on the "guerrilla gardening" concept.) This project recycles discarded and donated household materials into a quirky and life-affirming community garden that enriches this public space. Planters—some made from old sinks sunk into the ground—overflow with basil, mint, marigolds and ore. A couple of toilets are flush with dirt and find new use as planters. There are artsy benches built from discarded wood and ringed with planters salvaged from old oil drums.

"Homage to Guerrilla Gardening" is a perfect coda to a provocative show—an artistic intervention that the community that brings modern art into everyday life in a way that is thought-provoking, life-affirming and accessible. In fact, the presence of this art park and sculpture garden in downtown New Haven seems almost…natural.

Arts Council of Greater New Haven announces September "Somewhat Off the Wall" fundraising event

2011-08-22T13:52:00.001-04:00

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven
70 Audubon St., 2nd Floor, New haven, (203) 772-2788
Somewhat Off the Wall fundraiser
Sun., Sept. 18, 2011, 5—9 p.m., Works available for viewing online as they become available and Fri., Sept. 16, from 4—7 p.m. at the Odonnell Company space at 760 Chapel St. in New Haven.

Press release

The Arts Council’s longstanding gala fundraising event is back and more exciting than ever!

Somewhat Off the Wall, a unique art exhibition and party from which guests will take home original works of art, will be held on Sun., Sept. 18, from 5—9 p.m., at 760 Chapel St., New Haven, in the spectacular space that is home to the Odonnell Company.

This year’s event features drawings, jewelry, paintings, photography, pottery, prints, sculpture, and fiber by 52 outstanding artists who have each donated three pieces of their work. These works will be on display on Fri., Sept. 16 from 4—7 p.m. for a sneak peak and can also be viewed online at www.newhavenarts.org as they become available.

Then, at 7 p.m. on the night of the party, numbered premium tickets will be drawn at random. As each premium ticket-holder’s number is called, he or she will select a piece of original artwork to take home.

Each of the 52 participating artists will be given a premium ticket making only 104 premium tickets, at $100 each, available to the public! An unlimited number of tickets to the event are available for $35 (these will not include artwork).

Participating Somewhat Off the Wall artists include Mell Boesch, Maryelle Braunstein, Janine Brown, Joy Bush, Sharon Butler, Alice Chittenden, Kathy Conway, Jayne Crowley, Leila Daw, Theresa Dezso, Jessica Dickens, Laise Doria, Eileen Eder, Richard Eugene, Michael Fedikovich, Kathryn Frederick, Francine Funke, Justin Gerace, Lori Glavin, Sara Gustafson, Luke Hanscom, Kenneth Hanson, David Harlan, Deborah Henchel, Lisa Hess Hesselgrave, Aniko Horvath, Jennifer Jane, Todd Jokl, Daniel Kaminski, Hannah Leckman, Martha Lewis, Karleen Loughran, Owen Luckey, Sabrina Marques, Ray Mathews, Molly McDonald, Roslyn Meyer, Christopher Mir, Kerry O'Grady, Thomas Peterson, Pat Rist, Ronnie Rysz, Nomi Silverman, Kim Sobel, Anita Soos, Mark St. Mary, Ken Stabile, Karissa Van Tassel, Brittany Whiteman, JoAnne Wilcox, Robert Wilkinson, Joan Zamore.

Call the Arts Council at (203) 772-2788 or visit www.newhavenarts.org for more information about Somewhat Off the Wall and to purchase tickets.

High-resolution images can be viewed online and are available upon request.

Somewhat Off the Wall is sponsored by Affiliated Foot and Ankle Surgeons, Cygnus Medical LLC, L. Suzio York Hill Companies, Madison Polymeric Engineering Inc, New Haven Advocate, Odonnell Company & The Potocsny Finacial Group of Wells Fargo Advisors.

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven, publisher of The Arts Paper, is a regional nonprofit arts agency that provides leadership to and advocates for member artists and arts organizations and connects them to one another, to audiences, and to the Greater New Haven community.

Saturday night: "Quick & Painful" at Hope Gallery Tattoo

2011-08-22T13:28:00.004-04:00

Hope Gallery
835 Woodward Ave., New Haven, (203) 467-1622
Quick and Painful
One night only: Sat., Aug. 27, 2011, 7—11 p.m.

Press release

Hope Gallery, one of the most prestigious tattoo art galleries, will feature the work of more than 15 important artists and designers with backgrounds in fine art, graffiti, and illustration in a unique exhibition that will be held in New Haven, CT; Los Angeles, CA; Chicago, IL; and Miami, FL; for one night only with dates starting Aug. 27.

Quick & Painful will feature today’s most elite low-brow artists doing original Tattoo Flash. “Flash” is a set of tattoo designs classically printed or drawn on an 11″ x 14″ piece of paper or cardboard. Flash is either drawn by the individual tattooer for display and use in his own studio, or traded and sold among other tattooers. By the turn of the new century, most tattoo studios have become custom shops with the flash serving as more of a reference for ideas.

Among the artists and designers that will be presenting Flash Prints for the exhibition are Alex Pardee, Amanda Visell, Brandt Peters & Kathie Olivas, Camilla D’Errico, David Horvath, Devilrobots, Frank Kozik, Greg “Craola” Simkins, Joe Ledbetter, Junko Mizuno, Ron English, Sam Flores, TADO, Tara McPherson, and Tokidoki co-founder and Creative Director Simone Legno.

Quick & Painful was curated by Nichole East of Hope Gallery. East reached out to iconic artists from her Pop Art background. Each artist was given the confines of 11 x 14 inch platform to create their own unique set of tattoo flash.

“After years of working in the low-brow and pop art scene, I started to see how many fans were getting tattoos of my favorite artists. It seemed a natural urge to make sure it was done right,” said Nichole East.

The first event will take part at Hope Gallery in New Haven, CT on Aug. 27, from 7—11 p.m. Subsequent Quick & Painful events will be held at Crewest Gallery in Los Angeles on September 3rd; Rotofugi Gallery in Chicago on October 8th; and during Art Basel in Miami December 1st-4th. World-renowned tattoo artists like Joe Capobianco, Eric Merrill, Julio Rodriguez, Jime Litwalk, Dan Smith, Patrick Cornolo, and Sean Adams, will be tattooing fans the night of the opening with their favorite designs chosen right from the wall. The nights will also be filled with events, giveaways, and contests for fans of Tattoos and Pop Art.

All of the Flash Sets created for Quick & Painful will be available for purchase at each of the show dates and available online at The Hope Shop starting Oct. 9.

Hope Gallery is custom tattoo and art gallery located in New Haven, CT. Established in 2002 by artists Joe Capobianco, Eric Merrill, and Julio Rodriguez, Hope is home to the most experienced and awarded tattoo artists in the industry today. Along with resident artists Phil Young, Tim Harris, and Christian Perez; each have over 15 years tattooing experience.