Artist reception Sat., Nov. 1, for Occupy New Haven photo show at New Haven Free Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
$ NOT FREE SPEECH: Photographs of Occupy New Haven by Byron Lembo-Frey Oct. 29—Dec. 3, 2014.
Artist's reception: Sat., Nov. 1, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Azoth Gallery

Photographer Byron Lembo-Frey's photographs of the Occupy New Haven activist encampment will be on view in the Business/Periodicals Room of the New Haven Free Public Library through Dec. 3. The artist's reception is Sat., Nov. 1, from 2—4 p.m.

Byron Lembo-Frey was born in Nuremburg, West Germany in 1987. Through his childhood, he did drawings that featured a lot of colors, lines and symbols. He received a fellowship to Vermont Studio Center in August 2009 and graduated from Johnson State College in May 2010. His senior college exhibition focused on abstract art. Witnessing poverty, animal abuse, child abuse, alcoholism, domestic violence and arrests in his community, Byron felt a strong empowerment to focus more on social issue art to better his community.

Artist statement:

Occupy New Haven was a very controversial, but insightful movement that should be remembered. The people who really cared about this movement believed in creating a better world: They wanted more awareness of social, political and economic injustices; they wanted equal economic redistribution and political justice; they wanted healthcare for all people; they wanted to see an end to wars and job creation.

I attended an Occupy New Haven meeting to honor my grandmother, whom I promised at her wake that I would make something of myself. The first night I went to Occupy New Haven, I saw two homeless people share a cupcake; still to this day, it breaks me up inside to see how selfless they were and to see how much they reminded me of who I really was. After that experience, I felt an obligation to document Occupy New Haven.

Byron Lembo-Frey: "$ NOT FREE SPEECH—Occupy New Haven"

I graduated from college in 2010 and I struggled with finding a full time job for three years. I found part-time work at a place where I endured and I witnessed much unprofessionalism: supervisors publicly berated me and other employees; managers sabotaged workers; I was assigned embarrassing jobs as mopping the sidewalk; I was intimidated into doing my bosses’ work; supervisors manipulated employees into stopping shoplifters and then disturbingly scared employees to avoid giving them the ‘stopping the shoplifter’ bonus; supervisors made jokes about when guns were aimed at me during a robbery and also made jokes about my grandma passing away.

There was a robbery committed by the store guards. When it happened, a female boss was assaulted and a gun was aimed at her head, and two guns were aimed at my chest by two police officers. I earned little as $16 a week sometimes, so I survived on fruit from clearance sales, from which I had to cut off the molds. The situation made me depressed, ill, furious, feel objectified and devalue myself, but my father’s guidance, my promise to my grandma and seeing the goodness in people at Occupy New Haven, brought out the best in me again.

I also photographed Occupy New Haven because I felt connected with the movement through my experiences, and I want to be a symbol of perseverance for people who are going through same situations that I had endured.

As I documented Occupy New Haven, I watched many social issue movies: "Midnight Cowboy," "A Panic in Needle Park," "The French Connection," "The Harder They Come," "Last Tango in Paris," "Taxi Driver," "The Deer Hunter," "Talk Radio," "Born on the Fourth of July," "Boyz in the Hood," "American History X" and "North Country." "Midnight Cowboy" is my all-time favorite film, because it unflinchingly depicts poverty, depicts a character with traumatic experiences, humanizes homeless people and it is a realistic take on the American Dream; it pushed me to bravely take pictures of my content.

I was also strongly influenced by Soviet Montage Theory directors. Sergei Eisenstein believed a film shot can be crafted to create a metaphorical effect. I used this technique when I photographed Occupy New Haven and the Trayvon Martin protestors together, with the statue behind them. The statue looks down at all of them and it looks sad. Since the statue represents justice, the image is a metaphor of justice being saddened by the verdict.

Show of Carolina Guimarey paintings opens Sat., Sept. 7, at New Haven Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Carolina Guimarey: Forgotten Roses
Aug. 29—Oct. 3, 2013.
Artist's reception: Sat., Sept. 7, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Azoth Gallery

Essay by Mercedes Arensberg, Art Historian:

Carolina Guimarey, a CT professional visual artist will have a One-Woman Art Exhibition at the New Haven Public Library with opening reception Saturday, September 7, from 2-4pm, at Ives Main Library, 133 Elm Street, New Haven CT 06510. The exhibit will run from August 29, to October 3, 2013 and is curated by Johnes Ruta of Azoth Gallery.

Guimarey's work is included in collections across the United States, Argentina, Italy and Spain. From an early age, she received art training directly from master artists in her native Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as at University of Connecticut where she studied drawing, sculpture, painting and photography.

Her work captures the viewer’s attention immediately with a sense of quiet dignity filled with tamed yet intense passion. To walk through her studio and gallery exhibitions, one gets the sense of being conveyed, through deeply intellectual perspectives, and strong emotional and philosophical components, to an encounter which captures the facets of human experience. These components reveal an underlying social commentary.

Carolina Guimarey: "Beyond the Restraints"

In "Hidden Realities II" we see several boxes filled with what appear to be rolled up little papers, scrolls. The repetition of the small scrolls as well as that of the boxes where they are contained speak of individual identities, which have been packaged and limited by externally imposed limitations and structures. These trapped and restricted “individual parts” are easily associated with in the viewer's mind, but also in the context of an art historical discourse. In the explanation of her work, she relates these visual perspectives with the state of contemporary society and culture, where communication has become limited by the computer screen, the IPhone touchpad, the frame of the text message, the profile on the social media, the space allotted to the tweet, and the confines of the small apartment in the booming urban city. One is made conscious of the state of affairs where, even though there are more inhabitants on earth than ever before, it is prevalent for communication and interaction among them and with the world, to take place in confined and limited virtual or factual spheres and spaces. Thus the global consciousness is characterized by a sense of isolation and confinement.

Guimarey’s work presents itself, softly, stoically and with great dignity, it is reminiscent of Jorge Luis Borges writings and of Eva Hesse’s unforgettable sculptures. Yet, in spite of its systematic construction, its soft, pleasant, texture, and the humility and quiet which exudes from the pieces—within every one there is visually described an act of courage, a statement of rebellion, a call to awareness.

For instance, in "Behind the Restraints," even though the vibrant blood red hue is hidden behind the stitches of restraint, societal norm, and indoctrination—towards the bottom of the picture plane we can see these stitches seem to be coming undone, and a larger triangular area of red coming through, symbolizing the inevitable escape of the individual consciousness from the Status Quo.

An exhibition not to be missed, one of the most inspiring and surprising artist of our times.

Opening for Markley painting show at New Haven Free Public Library Saturday

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
The Emotion of Color: Paintings by Mason Markley
July 18—Aug. 27, 2013.
Artist's reception: Sat., July 20, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Azoth Gallery

Paintings by Mason Markley will be on view in the gallery of the New Haven Free Public Library from July 18 through Aug. 27. An artist's reception will be held Sat., July 20, from 2—4 p.m.

Mason Markley: "Birds of a Feather"

Mason Markley's artist statement:

My art comes from a place of feeling. I am always trying to capture how I feel about what is going on in my life. I love to use a lot of color, thick paint, and be a little messy. I never quite feel that art must be perfect. I believe that we are messy people, with messy feelings and that confusion is what makes life interesting and beautiful.

After a short stint at Hastings College in Nebraska and Purdue University in Indiana, I moved back to New Mexico and attended the University of New Mexico graduating in 2001 with honors in Cultural Anthropology and History. I have taken courses in art and am looking into various MFA programs, but I believe that most of my training has come from traveling and living in various places, meeting other artists and my life experiences. All told I have been in every state except Alaska and lived now in nine US states. In 2010 I settled down and bought a house in Connecticut where I have a studio in my barn.

Artist's reception Sat., June 1, at New Haven Public Library for lively Zallinger painting show

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Color Out of the Blue: Paintings by Kristina Zallinger
May 30—Jul. 2, 2013.
Artist's reception: Sat., Jun. 1, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Azoth Gallery

Paintings by Kristina Zallinger will be on view in the gallery of the New Haven Free Public Library from May 30 through Jul. 2. An artist's reception will be held Sat., Jun. 1, from 2—4 p.m.

Kristina Zallinger: "Flash in the Pan"

"My paintings are all about color and texture," says Kristina Zallinger. "I live in a world surrounded by it. With each of them I try to dazzle the viewer with delight! I have been told that my work makes people happy. That is my intention. Often people miss the presence of color. I like to remind them of it. I isolate a flower garden, a piece of glass, my approach to a waterfall and any images that I see in my mind. The color and texture both create a feeling of depth within the canvas. I often quip that 'color is my middle name!'"

Saturday reception for Sullo painting show at New Haven Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Color Is Life: Abstract Paintings by Stanislao Sullo
Through Mar. 13, 2013.
Artist's reception: Sat., Feb. 16, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Azoth Gallery

Stanislao Sullo is a New Haven artist, born in Panni, Italy. Sullo is a self-taught artist who works in watercolors, oils, and acrylics. He studied ancient art and worked in the fashion world in Bologna, Italy for many years. working in that world on both Broadway, New York City and New Haven. There will be an artist's reception for Sullo on Sat., Feb. 16, from 2—4 p.m.

"In my works," says Sullo, "Color is life. Color represents the mood of a person, and gives emotion to figures. Abstract colors give a personal interpretation of emotion, a variety of color-identification: the mood of the day—morning, afternoon and evening..."

Stanislao Sullo: "The Kiss"

Artist reception Saturday for Vanilia Majoros at New Haven Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Vanilia Majoros: Blue
Through Feb. 15, 2013.
Artist's reception: Sat., Jan. 12, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Azoth Gallery

Vanilia Majoros came from Hungary to the US in 2003. She lives in New Haven, and teaches Printmaking at Creative Arts Workshop. An exhibit of her prints, Blue, is now on view at the New Haven Free Public Library. There will be an artist's reception for Majoros on Sat., Jan. 12, from 2—4 p.m.

"I love to explore my own self and image; this is the culmination of the fusion of science and art for me," writes Majoros. "I try to see things in my own way, shaped by my life and my experiences. For each viewer this experience an entry into this personal world through visual or mental images, can be uniquely his own."

"When I left Hungary, I thought my professional career would continue in the US," writes Majoros. "My husband had applied for a deanship at The New School University in New York City and had hoped his new position would create a job for me in the Art and Design College at New School or at Parsons School of Design. Teaching in the graduate program in one of these sounded very good for an art historian like me: I received my Ph.D. in Art History in 1997 in Budapest, and worked there as a scholar and as head of the Art Collection of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. I have written six books and more than one hundred articles about European Modernism.

Vanilia Majoros: "Xoxo"

"But my husband's dream did not come true; though by 2004 he was a Professor of Sociology and Political Science at Yale. I spent my time at the Yale Libraries researching and at home writing my largest book about one of the best Hungarian painters, Lajos Tihanyi, who died in Paris in 1938. My book was published in Budapest in 2004, and this was a changing point in my professional life. My dream to become a Yale professor did not materialize, but a new dream about being an artist was born. I decided to learn something new. After eleven solo shows of my photos in Hungary, I determined art as a new field of pursuit, and I began my studies of Calligraphy with Martha German and of Printmaking with Barbara Harder at the Creative Arts Workshop.

"From 2006, I was a guest student in the Yale School of Art, in the first year completing all of the Printmaking classes with Norm Paris. After finishing the Graduate Printmaking Seminar with Rochelle Feinstein, I was invited to teach printmaking in the Creative Arts Workshop. Since 2005, I've participated in group shows in New Haven, and in 2009 my first solo show took place at the DaSilva Gallery. In 2010, the Arts Council of New Haven invited me for a show in Gallery 195 in the First Niagara Bank, and The New Haven Register published a complimentary article about Barbara Marks' and my works in this show. In 2011, I was the first exhibitor at the Mitchell Library in Westville."

Majoros' prints are in private collections in the US, Hungary, Austria, Australia, China, Japan, Switzerland, Ireland and Germany. Some of her unique woodcuts, carborundum, and solar prints are in the Collection of the National Gallery of Hungary, the Literary Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.

"My unique prints are not only monotypes, but mono prints by woodcut, carborundum, linoleum cut, lithograph and etching. I make prints connected to Architecture, Music, Literature and Fine Art, a series dedicated to Gehry, and portraits about Gyorgy Ligeti, Anna Netrebko, Joan Sutherland, Paul Auster and Chuck Close. My Connecticut Garden series is based on Nature, but I like semi-Abstraction."

Artist reception Saturday at New Haven Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Rosebud & Ebenezer
Nov. 17—Dec. 27, 2012.
Artist's reception: Sat., Nov. 17, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Azoth Gallery

A show of the work of artists Rosebud Ebenezer and Ebenezer Sunder Singh opens this Sat., Nov. 17, from 2—4 p.m. at the New Haven Free Public Library.

Rosebud Ebenezer:

Rosebud Ebenezer: "Byway"

"My recent acrylic on canvas series New York is my rumination over my New York City life," writes Rosebud Ebenezer. "Born and raised in a very quiet countryside of South India, I moved to New York a few years ago. The concrete jungle that New York is famous for baffled my senses at first and later I started seeing the quintessential abstract and geometrical patterns that was hiding behind the physical facade of the city.

Rosebud Ebenezer continues:

Abstraction to me is the essence of my innermost feelings that stand with color and form. The subtle forms in my work hold a physical presence of the cityscape yet truly an inner manifestation of my own self of the objective exterior. I prefer to make sketches from my walk in Manhattan and other high-rises around Brooklyn area then transfer them on to my canvas to convert them as my personal images.

The bright colors that are characteristic of my palette help me bathe in vivid shades till I complete a work. I move to and fro between delicate color variations and intense shades until the form and the color converge to become a unique whole.

In Chennai, India, 1992, Rosebud Ebenezer earned her B.Sc. in Ceramic Design at Government College of Arts and Crafts, and an award for Excellence at the Victoria Technical Institute. During 2012, Rosebud has had two shows at A. Jain Marunouchi Gallery, on West 57th Street, New York City: Yudh Abhyas and New Beginnings.

Ebenezer Sunder Singh:

Ebenezer Sunder Singh, a Fulbright scholar from Madras, India, constructs images with allegorical/religious references, displaying metaphysical aspects of Shiva, angels, and the human figure, with a mastery of texture, equilibrium, tonality, and rhythm. His references cross several cultures because he comes originally from the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India, studying at the Madras College of Art there, and at the Art Institute of Boston.

Building references in his writing to "elemental forces," the "Body's compulsions," "matter & energy," "memory packages," and "spiritual plethora," his artwork is committed to developing a visual vocabulary of his spiritual experience. His evocative figures each fall within a fixed translucent geometric form, visualizing personal thought and the intimacy of human emotions, such as the mutual sharing of breath and the experience of sexual parity in free-fall.

Working on hand-made paper in tempera, acrylics, or acrylic emulsion, Ebenezer explores the inner color complexity of the human torso: contrasts of blue, red, and orange blend to manifest the throat chakra and a mandala centered over the navel chakra. He describes a visionary experience invoking the symbolism of the Snake, representing its mythic history and the creation of the Universe. His writing is included in three catalogs: Fibre Glass Sculptures and Painted Books, The Hollow Men, The Stuffed Men, and Inspirationen.

Both Rosebud Ebenezer and husband Ebenezer Sunder Singh are currently represented by A. Jain Marunouchi Gallery on West 57th Street, New York City, and have their studios in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY.

Reception for "Mondoexpressionism" show at New Haven Public Library Saturday

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Elisa Vegliante: Mondoexpressionism
Aug. 6—Sept. 8, 2012.
Artist's reception: Sat., Aug. 11, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Azoth Gallery

Welcome to the world of “Mondoexpressionism” a term created by artist Elisa Vegliante that can be roughly translated as "Beyond ‘The Scream.’" Reaching for words to describe her massive, iconoclastic body of work, clichés like "poignant", "provocative" and other recycled expletives are impotent and absurd.

Arty Fields of The Patterson Review of Art notes that by “combining the expressionism of Edvard Munch with the personal visual documentation of Frida Kahlo, Vegliante’s … [oil on canvas] paintings merge elements of inner psychology with events in the material world to form a haunting, disturbing, enlightening and completely unique body of work… Her paintings vividly illustrate the psychological and philosophical underpinnings of characters and events, the spiritual motivation behind things, rather than the things themselves. Her bold and shameless paintings make for an ongoing cultural diary of Western Civilization’s mass hysteria at the breaking point.”

Vegliante also stars in husband Ace Fronton’s backyard films as the eccentric actress, Yahuba Daley, such as in the astonishing (to this viewer), feature-length "Seven Ghastly Sins." These films, like Vegliante’s paintings, are multidimensional vignettes of psycho/social commentary in motion picture format, giving voice to another facet of the artist’s boundless creativity. A sampling of these video films will be shown at the artist's reception, August 11th.

Reception for show of paintings by Michael Kozlowski this Saturday at New Haven Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Michael Kozlowski: The Symbolism of Places
Through Aug. 1, 2012.
Artist's reception: Sat., July 7, 2—4:30 p.m.

Press release

"My inspiration" says artist Michael Kozlowski, "has always come from painters who have the ability to create and display another world that not only allows you to visit but draws you in and bars the door behind you. Whether this is done through the intrigue created by the symbolism and careful technique of Edward Hopper, or through the visual attack that comes from many paintings by Turner, creating work that has this type of arresting power and presence is my goal.

Michael Kozlowski is an award-winning Fairfield County-based artist. He studied art at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven and more recently at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Kozlowski has studied everything from drawing and painting (in oils, acrylics, and watercolors) to traditional darkroom and digital photography, computer graphics, and even advertising, but painting has remained his primary artistic focus. While art has been a part of his life since early childhood, he has only recently begun exhibiting work.

"Most of my work deals with places—typically interiors or at least man-made spaces. Saying that I allow the places I paint to choose me may sound trite, but it would not be incorrect. They are places which have all made an impression on me in one way or another and the way I choose to present them—and the situations I depict within these settings—reflects, and hopefully to some extent conveys, those impressions they gave me. However, rather than dictate a particular meaning or point of view, the intent is to provide the catalyst for a dialogue between the viewer and the work. Each person brings his or her own history and ideas to the work and therefore the images can suggest an endless array of interpretations that may change and evolve over time. My paintings are composed carefully and often over long stretches until they reach a "critical mass," at which point they can be assembled on the canvas. I attempt to incorporate contemporary elements into representational painting to make it more dynamic, more expressive, more emotive, and more appealing to a modern viewer. It has always been my contention that the best artwork strikes a balance among good composition, an intriguing execution and style, and at the heart of each work, unique and individual ideas. These points, coupled with an intent toward originality, are what has guided my work."

Many of his recent paintings have been large scale, immersive works depicting store windows and interior spaces executed in varying styles to evoke different feelings and emotions. These works are left intentionally oblique so that, rather than dictate a particular meaning or point of view, they can be the catalyst for a dialogue with the work. Kozlowski continues to push his art in new directions, recently experimenting with portraiture and mixed media.

The exhibition will be on display through Aug. 1. There will be an reception for the artist Sat., July 7, from 2—4:30 p.m.

Sundra painting show reception Saturday at New Haven Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Michael Sundra: Relationship With Time
Through June 18, 2012.
Artist's reception: Sat., May 12, 2—4:30 p.m.

Press release

"I respond to things that are in relationship with time," says Michael Sundra. "Words in a dream that came one morning in early 2007 soon after I began investigating the arch form (the oldest man-made form in the world), as subject matter for a new direction in my work: 'More than geometry, strength, mystical meaning in sacred western architecture. Vesica Piscis (Pisces).'

"In painting, the object, the idea is only pretext. The act of painting is in direct relationship with time. The essence of which (not only form) is really what is being explored. The painting usually finds its way—if you allow it to happen."

Michael Sundra was born in 1948 in Cleveland, Ohio and resides in Farmington, Connecticut. In 1972 he graduated from the Paier College of Art in New Haven with a degree in Photography. His work has been featured in national and international exhibits. One of the most notable appearances of his work was as a part of “Americans on Americans,” the photographic tour that opened at the Kiev Museum of Art in Kiev, Ukraine in 1997, and featured work from his Venice Beach, California series where his art was displayed alongside works by Annie Liebowitz, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Herb Ritts, Berenice Abbot, and “Beat” poet Allen Ginsberg.

As a photographer, Sundra is most known for his black and white conceptual portraits and mixed media art that incorporate his B&W portraits as pretext for painting. He has worked commercially for many national clients and Fortune 500 companies, out of his former Colt building studio, in Hartford, for twenty years. Many of his fine art photographs reside in corporate and private collections.

Sundra’s interest in painting began in 1990 in mixed media and he has gradually made painting his primary focus as an artist. In "Relationship With Time," his current work embraces ancient architectural forms, primarily the arch, in it’s relationship to primordial, mystical, and spiritual energies; it’s strength, and the influence the arch has had on civilization over time as both aesthetic and utilitarian elements.

Artist reception at New Haven Free Public Library this Saturday

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
The Urban & Aquatic Adventures of Mickey Wolve: Paintings by Nick Grossmann
Through Mar. 31, 2012.
Artist's reception: Sat., Mar. 17, 2—4:30 p.m.

Press release

Nick Grossmann (b.1980), aka Mickey Wolve, is an artist and sculptor from Norwalk, Connecticut.

"It all started as a child (ha ha). I was really into heroes like Batman," says Nick Grossmann, alias "Mickey Wolve." " I used to make up my own evil villains and I would try to be as creative as possible as to their unique super powers. Come middle school, I was very misunderstood. I had a few good friends but was definitely part of the anti-establishment. I discovered Punk Rock at the age of fourteen and fell completely in love with the music because it was non-conformist as I was and am. I took up the hobby of writing and composing music, calling myself a troubadour and playing country/punk. Life wasn't easy. I felt like an Outlaw. I can’t look at it any other way because I didn’t know what it was like to be a 'typical' person. I still don't.


"As I got older, I remaine troubled and got into some major…let's just say some Outlaw issues that took decent, wasted chunks of time away from my life. Eventually I started getting tired of this lifestyle. I believe that when you're an artist, you are different and it's hard when you’re not accepted and a lot of us become rebels in our own way. Things changed a lot when my son Dylan came along and some friends have also changed my life as well. I came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth getting in trouble anymore. I happened to go to a Native American Indian Pow Wow just to go buy some art or crafts from them and ended up in a powerful conversation with a man there who was a Shaman and he told me that I was gonna go on a journey to find myself. Well after that, some unexplainable, mystical things happened and I became even more of a loner. I went on long hikes, meditated and played music, alone. It was really spiritual to have all that time to myself as well as to having a son. If I can say I have a spiritual belief and categorize it, it's looking out for others more then myself. I believe in helping the sick, Homeless and animals because that’s worth more to me then all the money in the world."

"One day about three years ago, out of the blue, I went to the art store and bought supplies and started painting. I did five or six oil paintings and people really loved them. I discovered I truly loved painting memories, dreams and visions on canvas. It became a huge part of my spiritual life. I dedicate much of my time to my art because I feel passionate about the arts and my paintings. My favorite color is purple and I use it a lot. I like capturing the little things in life that are absolutely breathtaking to me."

Nick Grossmann has shown his artwork at many venues, including Umbrella Arts, NYC; The Nest Arts Factory in Bridgeport; Rosie in New Canaan; the Bridgeport Arts Fest; Visions of Hope for Japan; and Caffeine in South Norwalk.

Gordon Skinner painting show reception Thursday at New Haven Public Library

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.

Historical photography show reception at New Haven Library Saturday

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.

Reception for Michael Morand photo show tomorrow evening

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.”

Artist reception for Naumann show at New Haven Public Library Tuesday

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.

Artist's reception tomorrow at New Haven Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
The Circus of Life: An Exhibition of Acrylic Artworks by Hugo Lara
Through Aug. 19, 2011.
Artist's reception: Tues., Aug. 16, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

Through arrangement with the Minister Consul General of Ecuador in Connecticut, the Gallery of the New Haven Free Public Library is proud to present the work of the artist Hugo Lara.

This exhibit will only be up for a short time. The reception for the artist will be held Tues., Aug. 16, from 5—7 p.m.

Hugo Lara was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador in 1949, and lives in Playas. He explains that his work is indebted to the anxieties experienced through the historic study of the path of his ancestors, their ethnic origins and activities as common men, artists or politicians, in particular moments of their lives.

This information as a building element of his work can be traced back to the year 1965, when his creation of a mature work of art, at the age of sixteen, combined with his personal anxieties of wanting to fix the world, whether through a philosophical approach or by his direct participation in activities, some of which to him would not be compatible with the identity of a free thinker.

The Circus of the Life is an explosion of visual irony, a graphic testimony that cannot be relegated in Ecuadorian art history, and is the product of the artist's daily struggle for 46 years in his artistic task. Its narrative conclusions are based on the humanistic knowledge of a society being degenerated in time, and represents, with the simple scenes of small characters, an intention to maintain equilibrium, or to maintain a position on the rustic rough but brilliant surface of a world with rock in its interior. This is accomplished by the content that each human being can give the world when becoming a good architect of their life. Hugo Lara presents scenes of characters falling, and holding on to a thin cord as an umbilical that maintains a united society full of color. Each character shares that permanent competence of capacities or influences in this great circus. In a world in which "all of us are actors," we each assume the role that we have accepted by our capacities or limitations.

Artist reception at New Haven Public Library Thursday evening

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Tearing Silk: Recent Silkscreens by Miguel Trelles
Through Jul. 12, 2011.
Artist's reception: Thurs., June 16, 5:30—7:30 p.m.

Press release

Tearing Silk is an exhibition of recent silk-screens that showcase contemporary Pop interpretations of Meso-American icons. The show will also include "gestural" silk-screens depicting Afro Caribbean rhapsody, and a colorful rendition of "Bayamanaco," the Taino deity for fire. Miguel Trelles' work approaches contemporary Latino portraits as well as Pre-Columbian icons through the lingua franca of American visual pop.

Miguel Trelles is a painter with a studio presence in Manhattan's Lower East Side. His ongoing Chino-Latino painting series addresses Caribbean and Latino subjects through Chinese references. He is also an adjunct professor of Visual Arts, Modern Languages, and Comparative Literature at CUNY, where he teaches at Hunter College and Baruch College.

"Rather than merely pursuing radical innovations, I favor revolutionary archaism in painting," writes Trelles, "Personally meaningful references and amenable formats from the history of art help me to depict and to frame those intuitions about nature and humanity which I have been rendering with crayon, ink and brush since infancy. Those references are then 'telescoped' into new conceptual contexts and combinations, but always within the purview of traditional painting/printmaking methods."

Tearing Silk consciously straddles “the tremendous potential energy of difference” Europe unknowingly and willfully instilled between the four Americas. These silkscreens reflect a respectful and well-informed appropriation of Meso-American icons, Afro-Caribbean literary sources, and American Pop. They constitute yet another rough draft towards a Pan-American suma, a model that will not deny Europe but which will encompass more.

His exhibitions have been reviewed in various art publications such as Arte al Dia, Art in America, Art Nexus, and YISHU: Journal of Contemporary Art.

Trelles' work has been exhibited extensively in New York, New Haven, and San Juan. His paintings have traveled to Miami, Havana, Santo Domingo, Tegucigalpa, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, Beunos Aires, and Paris.

Artist reception for Tom Scippa Saturday at New Haven Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Tom Scippa: Memories of Folks in Transit
Through Feb. 17, 2011.
Artist's reception: Sat., Jan. 15, 2—4 p.m.

Press release

Born in Bridgeport in 1943, Tom Scippa attended the Art Students League, taught by Edwin Dickenson. He then attended Silvermine College of Art and Yale University where he obtained his Masters Degree in Fine Arts.

"During these years, and after," Scippa writes, "I've been working in foundries on pieces in bronze, clay and wood. My models are people from a bygone era. I am attracted to the way that they held themselves and dressed. For the last 10 years I found paper a suitable medium for my bas-reliefs."

Mr. Scippa, an Adjunct Professor of Art at Housatonic Community College since 1994, has taught sculpture at The New School for Social Research and Parsons School of Design, and the Sculpture Center in New York City. In the past, he also taught sculpture at the Culinary Institute of America, and Silvermine College of Art in Connecticut, and at the Scarsdale Art Center, Scarsdale, NY.

He has had one-person exhibitions in New York City at The New School, Benevy Gallery, Atelier 14, and The White Box; and in Connecticut at Wooster Art, Nieman Gallery, and Half Moon Gallery. He's been in group exhibitions at The Yale Alumni Show, Housatonic Gallery, and Allied Artists.

There will be an artist's reception for this show on Sat., Jan. 15, from 2—4 p.m.

Rogoff painting show reception Thursday at New Haven Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Herb Rogoff: The Way It Used to Be and Is Now
Through Dec. 29, 2010
Artist's reception: Thurs., Dec. 9, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

Herb Rogoff is a polymath of art and illustration, as a painter, illustrator, filmmaker, lecturer, editor, and publisher. Born in the Bronx, he attended the High School of Music and Art, then the NY State College of Art and Science. He received his BA from City College, and later studied with Reginald Marsh at the Art Students League. As an illustrator, his work was published in books by Doubleday, Berkeley, Scholastic, and Dell; and in magazines like New York, Redbook, Psychology Today, Intellectual Digest, Playboy, Playgirl, Opera News, and Astrology Today. His illustrations have appeared on such record labels as United Artists, RCA Victor, Vox, Folkways, Caedmon, and Vanguard; and on television shows like Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, Star Trek, Marvel Comics shows, and NBC Sports. His storyboards are seen in the advertising campaigns of Nabisco, Lufthansa, Nescafe, the New York Times, and L’Oreal.

Since 2006, Herb Rogoff has been concentrating on a series of paintings entitled, My America: the Way it Used to Be and is Now, with themes on Coney Island, New York City’s Lower East Side, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Stork Club, baseball, and carousels. As a lecturer, he has given over a hundred talks at various venues on these themes. For the last 20 years, he has been publishing a Baseball magazine, One More Inning (the entire run of which is in the Baseball Hall of Fame), and two monthly magazines, one on trivia, and another on films. He has turned out 6 films, which have appeared in over 80 film festivals around the world, and some have won awards.

Herb Rogoff is represented by ACA Gallery, voted by the NY Times as one of the ten most prestigious NYC galleries. Major retrospectives have recently taken place in New York State at the Lotus Gallery, Woodstock; The Glen Rock Gallery, Glen Rock; 21st Century Gallery, Nyack, the Kanner-Kurzon Museum, New Rochelle; and at the Rockland J.C.C.

Rogoff enjoys giving talks on the newspaper comics and comic books, the history of baseball, the “screw-ball” film comedies of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, the Jewish traditions throughout history, and many movements and schools of art history of the US and around the world, and he will speak at his reception on some of these topics. He lives in Garnerville, NY.

There will be an artist's reception for this show this Thurs., Dec. 9, from 5—7 p.m.

Saturday artist reception at New Haven Free Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Art Gallery
133 Elm St., New Haven
Our Experinced Struggles: Paintings by John Favret
Through Sept. 30, 2010
Artist's reception: Sat., Sept. 18, 2—4 p.m.

Press release

"The human form has been a dominant feature of my work for many years," writes John Favret. "I am interested in the struggles we experience in our lives and how one situation can be viewed or interpreted in different ways. I try to create a sense of tension through an unusual vantage point or a distortion of space, and often introducing subtle humorous elements. I am influenced by expressionism for its emotional energy and ability to describe the struggles and excitement of living. My goal is to work life-size. I try to surround the viewer with the images, so they can be fully engaged by the content of the pieces and the richness of the surface."

Many of Favret's pieces are derived from his life experiences. His narratives are told through images that are conjured from his memory and imagination.

Using a large format for his ideas allows the viewer to experience each narrative as a participant. His most recent work experiments with constructions using wood, plaster, paint, and miscellaneous objects, exploring ways to work off his canvases three dimensionally in a series using doorways as a metaphorical transition.

Mr. Favret has been Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Housatonic University (HU) in Bridgeport,CT since 1999, and is presently Coordinator of the Art Program there. He holds an M.F.A. from Texas A&M Commerce, a B.F.A. from Bridgewater State College, and a Certification in Computer Graphics from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he was also an Instructor from 1998 to 2003. He has had solo and two-person shows at the Bert Chernow Gallery at HU, the 30/30 Park Gallery in 2004, and at The Paul Mellon Art Center at Choate, Wallingford in 2002, and at the York Square Gallery, New Haven, in 1995 (with this curator). He has been in important group exhibitions at the Slater Museum, RISD, the Hygienic Art Center in New London, and other venues. He lives in Uncasville, CT.