Saturday opening reception for "Making Room" at Institute Library

The Institute Library
847 Chapel St., New Haven, (203) 562-5045 
Making Room: Ten Interpretations
Oct. 6—Nov. 3, 2012.
Reception: Sat., Oct. 6, Noon—2 p.m.

Press release from Institute Library

Ten contemporary artists integrate their work into a 186 year-old space, emphasizing historic integrity while exploring new connections. The artwork exists between two and three dimensions, is site-specific and responds to the issues of material ingenuity, color, architecture and reductivist aesthetics. Making Room was curated by Suzan Shutan.

Exhibiting artists are Richard Bottwin (NY), Melanie Carr (CT), Kevin Daly (CT), Robert Gregson (CT), Adam Lister (VA), Faber Lorne (CT), Debra Ramsay (NY), Karen Schifano (NY, see image), Paul Theriault (CT) and Jill Vasileff (CA). The show will be on display from Oct. 6 through Nov. 3. There will be an artists' reception on Sat., Oct. 6, from noon to 2 p.m.

New shows open at Silvermine on Sunday

Silvermine Guild Art Center
1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, (203) 966-9700
Bob Gregson: Full Tilt
Collective Vision
Silvermine, Milestone Graphics and the American Print Renaissance, 1979-1989
Aug. 5—Sept. 16, 2012.
Opening Reception: Sun., Aug. 5, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Silvermine Arts Center

Summer might be drawing to a close, but the new exhibits opening at the Silvermine Arts Center, located in New Canaan, CT, are in “full tilt.” Opening Aug. 5, the new exhibits at the arts center feature an all guild juried show, an historical exhibit of prints, and the first look at recent works by Robert Gregson. The new exhibits will run through Sept. 16 and all are invited to the opening reception on Sun., Aug. 5, from 2—4 p.m.

Bob Gregson is a bit of a provocateur. His new show of recent works, entitled Full Tilt, begs the question of being off-kilter or askew. The walls of the gallery are filled with plywood constructions—all or parts of which are tilted—which will visually energize the space. While Gregson’s pieces are thoughtfully planned and solidly geometric, he includes panels that can be rotated and mirrors that extend the edge of the picture plane. This is key to the creative tension. He teases the viewer into actively playing with the work by attracting them with color to turn panels or play hide and seek through the holes in his sculpture. Gregson started his career in the 1960s by creating art experiences that involved sound and projections. This evolved into games and events integrated into cities and communities. For the last 15 years he has been refining his work, making wall constructions and models for sculpture projects that challenge the boundaries between artist and viewer.

When talking about his work, Bob states, “I like to engage people in different ways. My work is a conversation between me and the people who experience it. The ambiguous territory between artist and audience sparks a creative energy. To do this the work must exist on several levels at once. It must be an invitation that provides permission to be involved. It must intrigue and provoke. It must be generous. The act of creation is a balancing act between autonomy and connectedness. Like a theater piece that is reinvented each time it is performed, I like the idea that the work is never actually completed but continually reinterpreted and refreshed through those who encounter it."

The new Guild show, Collective Vision, juried by Cynthia Roznoy, Curator at the Mattatuck Museum Arts & History Center, Waterbury, CT, incorporates three different themes. The first theme "Double Vision" focuses on the collaboration between pairs of artists. The pieces submitted by the artists function as a diptych (works that join together), as well as functioning as separate works of art. "Symbol and Reality" explores how we use symbols as language to communicate today, acknowledging that from Egyptian hieroglyphs to computer emoticons, we are surrounded by symbols. The third theme, "Impermanent Markings," explores mark making as the chosen means of artistic expression. Perhaps the most basic of artistic acts is drawing. From simple sketching to intensely labored works, drawing takes advantage of a variety of materials, including ink, pencil, charcoal and pastel.

In the ongoing celebration of Silvermine’s 90th anniversary, the historical exhibition Silvermine, Milestone Graphics and the American Print Renaissance, 1979-1989 consists of a selection of prints made by Guild members from Fairfield County during this time period. Prints exhibited by a selection of Guild Artist members, both past and present, include Ann Chernow, Alberta Cifolelli, Margaret McKinnick, Jack O’Hara, Bernard Riley, Barbara Rothenberg, Lucy Sallick and Harvey Weiss. All of these artists are connected through Milestone Graphics, the oldest fine art printmaking workshop in Connecticut, owned by Jim Reed, who at the time had the only local printmaking studio available. Jim Reed, a Guild Artist member, is serving as advisor.

Bob Gregson retrospective reception tomorrow at City Lights Gallery in Bridgeport

City Lights Gallery
37 Markle Ct., Bridgeport, (203) 334-7748
Just a Phase: Artist's Retrospective of Bob Gregson
June 16—July 30, 2011.
Opening reception, Thurs., June 16, 5:30-8 p.m.

Press release

Bob Gregson, of Orange, has many sides to his artistic personality, but his best-known may be that of a creator of participatory art -- pieces that have movable parts that viewers are encouraged to touch and move, continually altering and changing the piece's composition.

The story of Gregson's creative career includes drawings, paintings, playful interactive constructions and "art situations." Viewers of all ages are invited to come and play with the art. Join us for an artist's reception, Thurs., June 16, 5:30—8 p.m.

A retrospective gives the viewer and the artist an opportunity to reflect back over decades of creative efforts. Themes and content are reworked. Ideas and imagery can be observed in different stages and forms. Gregson considers art an ever-changing process with various threads, phases and reoccurring connections he calls "art echoes," Featured works include, "The Bicker Box" and "Turning the Tables" and constructions called "Offshoots" that encourage creative play.

The "Bicker Booth" is divided into two sections with a small window between. Two participants enter either side of the booth and come face to face. Each side has a Rolodex file with approximately 300 theatrical clichés inspired from soap operas and movies. For example, "We'll never resolve this," "It's time you grow up," to "I don't care anymore," and I've had enough of your crap." A dramatic sound track sets the theatrical tone to bicker.

"Offshoots" are designed with moveable modules that the viewer can pivot to rearrange the composition. Also on exhibit are 2d and 3d plans for architectural environments to be set in nature. These plans include designs to be constructed over water, high grass or in the treetops. The architectural models and 2d renderings (fine pieces of art in and of themselves,) invite the viewer to take what is presented a step further, to imagine these clean, playful designs in nature, seeing and smelling the water and waves below, feeling the sea breeze, or hearing the leaves rustling in the wind. Then imagine yourself and others within these environments. Gregson's dream is to actually construct these environments in public places.

Under "Turning The Table" visitors discover a traditional-looking table rendered useless with four circular cut-outs and a spinning X-shaped bar. Four "monkey-boards" (used for automotive repairs) invite people to lie down and slip under the table. Underneath visitors find mirrors reflecting them and other participants and colors. The spinning bar can be seen as it passes over the holes creating another optical effect.

Art openings!

Hiatus is over! This weekend marks the opening of what appears to be a busy fall visual arts season.

Northwestern Connecticut Community College
Gallery at Founder's Hall
Park Place, Winsted
Bob Gregson: Ambiguous Territories
Aug. 27—Sept. 28, 2007.

There are, in fact, a couple of openings today. As I write this, they are probably cleaning up the snacks at Bob Gregson's opening for his Ambiguous Territories show. The exhibit, in the Gallery at Founder's Hall of Northwestern Connecticut Community College in Winsted, will run through Sept. 28. Gregson, who has been written about before on Connecticut Art Scene, describes the "ambiguous territory" thus: "the place between the artwork and the viewer...a place where multiple meanings exist simultaneously."

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Mandell Jewish Community Center
Chase/Freedman Gallery
335 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford, (860) 231-6339
In the Midst: Paintings by Anne Hebebrand & Kim Sobel
Sept. 6—Nov. 4, 2007
Opening reception: Thurs., Sept. 6, 5—8 p.m.

This evening, from 5—8 p.m., there will be an opening in the Chase/Freedman Gallery at the Mandell Jewish Community Center in West Hartford for In the Midst, a show of paintings by Anne Hebebrand and Kim Sobel. I wrote about Sobel in June in the context of a painting and drawing show at the John Slade Ely House.

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Brick Walk Fine Art
322 Park Rd., West Hartford, (860) 233-1730
Anne Hebebrand: Recent Work
Sept. 8—Oct. 20, 2007
Opening reception: Sat., Sept. 8, 2—5 p.m.

Hebebrand also has a show of paintings, Recent Work, opening this Saturday, Sept. 8, at Brick Walk Fine Art in West Hartford. That opening will be held from 2—5 p.m. The show runs through Oct. 20.