Support Gorky's Granddaughter IndiGoGo fundraising drive

Since 2009, artists Christopher Joy and Zachary Keeting have interviewed artists in their studios, posting over 200 videos of these encounters on their Gorky's Granddaughter site. These videos are smart, informative, often funny, warm, engaging. They are currently pursuing a crowd sourcing campaign on IndieGoGo to enable them to expand their efforts.

From their appeal:

We (Chris Joy and Zach Keeting) established Gorky's Granddaughter in 2009 as a way to engage in and intensify artistic discourse. Through making video documents of working artists and publishing them on the web, Gorky's has established a large and dedicated audience of artists, art-world practitioners, collectors, and art lovers.

By providing access to artists in their personal studios, we create a safe space for intimate and in-depth conversations that don't happen anywhere else. Both intensely focused and refreshingly informal, our conversations get to the heart of artists' thoughts as well as the complex meanings that surround the work they show us.

In a sense, we see ourselves as creating a visual, living version of long-form catalogue essays in an engaging, accessible, and entertaining format.

Please consider contributing to this very worthwhile project.

Two shows open Friday at Giampietro Gallery

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Beck Yazdan: Recent Work
Christopher Joy: Recent Work
Mar. 1 —29, 2013.
Reception: Fri., Mar. 1, 5—8 p.m.
Artists' Talk: Sat., Mar. 23, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Giampietro Gallery

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to present new work by artists Becky Yazdan and Christopher Joy.

Becky Yazdan lives and works in NYC. She received her MFA from the NY Studio School, studying with Bill Jensen and Graham Nickson, and her Bachelors of Fine Art from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her work is in response to industrial grit, juxtaposing elements of nature, as it attempts to reclaim its territory. Yazdan’s work has been exhibited throughout the East Coast and New York. Becky has received many prestigious awards including the Emma Strain Award, Top 100 Artists by GLAAD, and the Hohenberg Travel Award.

Becky Yazdan: "Ticker Tape"

Sculptor Chris Joy lives and works in New Haven, CT. Joy explores the juxtaposition of raw, off-the-shelf and discarded objects.

Christopher Joy: "Easy As 1-2-3"

Joy received his Masters of Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York and his Bachelors of Fine Art from the University of Connecticut. His work has been exhibited throughout New England.

Artists' Talk for "The Guy Show" at Artplace in Fairfield this Sunday

Artplace Gallery
11 Unquowa Rd., Fairfield, (203) 292-8328
The Guy Show
Through Feb. 26, 2011
Artists’ Talk: Sun., Feb. 13, 3 p.m.

Press release

Artplace Gallery is pleased to announce dates for the first curated show in its new gallery space. Entitled The Guy Show the exhibit runs from February 1—26, 2011 at 11 Unquowa Rd. in Fairfield and is unique in that it will exclusively feature regional male artists from Fairfield and New Haven counties. The opening reception was held this past Saturday, Feb. 5, but there will be an artists’ talk this Sun., Feb. 13, at 3 p.m.

“We selected these ten artists for their professionalism, clarity of vision as well as their ability to move beyond limits set by traditional art,” says Gerald Saladyga, who is curating and organizing the exhibit. Saladyga is a member of ArtPlace and has curated exhibits on religious art, art and AIDS and redefining “landscape” in art. He notes that The Guy Show is not about “male issues” but about the direction male artists are now moving in.

“We chose five painters, three sculptors and two photographers who demonstrate a wide range of work as well as age and visibility—some are beginning their careers and several are already established,” he says.

Most of the artists featured are New Haven-based with two from Norwalk and one from New Fairfield. The painters include Chris Durante, a member of Norwalk Community College Art Department; Christopher Joy (Web) and Zachary Keeting (Web), co-founders of “Gorky’s Granddaughter,” an artist video interview site; Felandus Thames (Web), a painter and silk-screen printmaker who was recently represented by the Jack Tilton Gallery at Art/Basel/Miami 2010; and Jonathan Waters (Web)whose work has been exhibited at Art in General in NYC and locally at the Ivoryton and Madison Sculpture Miles.


Photographers Keith Johnson (see image above) and Jeremy Keats Saladyga have also been included in important exhibitions: Johnson in three Ground/Cover exhibits in Arizona, Washington and Wyoming and Keats Saladyga at The Michael Foley Gallery, NYC and the Museum of The City of New York.

Joseph Saccio (Web), a largely self-taught sculptor, received the “Best in Show” award at Silvermine’s Art of the Northeast USA exhibit in 2010, while Silas Finch (Web, see image below), a young New-Haven based sculptor, will see his work featured in the up-coming indie film by Stephen Dest, My Brother Jack.


Finally, Joseph Fucigna (Web), also a member of Norwalk Community College, held a recent one-man exhibit of his constructions at the Sculpture Barn in New Fairfield, CT.

“This show presents cutting-edge art not usually represented in Fairfield,” says Saladyga. “Visitors to the show will see art that is not usually exhibited in a private gallery.”