Two shows open Fri., Nov. 21, at Giampietro Gallery at Erector Square

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Elizabeth Gilfilen: Laid Ledge
Jeremy Chandler: Prone Positions
Nov. 21—Dec. 20, 2014.
Reception: Fri., Nov. 21, 6—8 p.m.

Press release from Giampietro Gallery

FRED.GIAMPIETRO Gallery is pleased to present Laid Ledge, an exhibition of new work by Elizabeth Gilfilen and Prone Positions, an exhibition of new work by Jeremy Chandler. This is Elizabeth's and Jeremy's first solo shows with the gallery.

Elizabeth Gilfilen writes:

The title of this exhibition, Laid Ledge alludes to the painting act, and to locating the physical and perceived edge of uncertainty. With paint, I move fluidly through the work, and I record each misstep. Accumulated marks grow and deviate; torquing forms emerge based on the decisions I make. A kinetic energy can overwhelm, yet I strive for a tension in the marks that is sprung almost as tight as the coils and tendons that create them. It is the alternating recognition of corporeal form and its immediate denial that causes me to revisit the work over many months. Over time, the scaffolding of marks can collapse into overlapping landscapes, defined by risk and just out of reach.

Artwork by Elizabeth Gilfilen

Elizabeth Gilfilen received her BFA from the University of Cincinnati and her MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. Awards include: Yaddo, The Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation Space Program, Gallery Aferro Studio Residency, The Bronx Museum's AIM Program, and the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop SIP Fellowship. Exhibitions include: Morgan Lehman Gallery, NY, Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, VA, the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, CT, and the Hunterdon Museum of Art, Clinton, NJ. Her work will be published in New American Paintings; and has been reviewed in Two Coats of Paint, The Boston Globe, The Newark Star-Ledger and The New York Times.

In a recent statement, Jeremy Chandler describes his work:

My art practice has grown out of a desire to express my own personal history; experiences, relationships, and identity through a prolonged engagement with place and a process that emphasizes shared experiences with those I photograph. I create content through a variety of conceptual and formal approaches, such as straight photography, tableaus and documentary and narrative film projects. Throughout, futility, ritual, sublimity, land use and methods of concealment are all recurring themes in my work. My visual language is informed by my own memories, cultural mythology, and depictions of masculine identity through cinema, art history, and popular culture. I am interested in subverting ritualized expressions of masculinity to reveal a more nuanced idea of maleness and how culture and myth can often intertwine to create altered perceptions of space and place.

Jeremy Chandler: "Ghillie Suit (Pine Straw)"

In my most recent photographs, I construct images by repurposing methods utilized by hunting and military culture, turning otherwise weaponized techniques into benign aesthetic devices. I activate spaces that are typically already known to me, through the introduction of people, found and homemade props, and cinematic methods of storytelling.

Jeremy Chandler received his BFA from the University of Florida and his MFA from the University of South Florida. Jeremy's work has been exhibited in many prestigious galleries and museums both nationally and internationally. Chandlre's work will be published in Ellen Mueller's new publication titled, Elements and Principles of 4D Art and Design; and has been reviewed in Oxford American Magazine, The News Herald, and The Daily Loaf. Chandler's work can be found in The Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, CO, All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL and other public and private collections.

Dow, Gunderson show opens Friday at Giampietro Gallery in New Haven

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
91 Orange St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Cross Currents: Karen Dow and Laurie Gunderson
Oct. 10—Nov. 22, 2014.
Reception: Fri., Oct. 10, 6—8 p.m.

Press release from Giampietro Gallery

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to present new works by Karen Dow and Laurie Gundersen in an exhibition titled Cross Currents. This show will be on view at the 91 Orange St. location in New Haven from Oct. 10 through Nov. 22. There is an opening reception on Fri., Oct. 10, from 6—8 p.m.

Jeff Bergman writes:

Karen Dow makes flat work, yet the architectural and sculptural elements within belie their flatness. The distinct layers in the artist's newest body of work act in surprising ways, exposing forms while ghost images reveal themselves under marble dust gray. Like exposed composite rock segments, striations appear. Stacked and patchworked forms assert themselves as the gray fogs over layered and masked formations. Most of these solid forms are the final layer, completing the balancing act. Within Dow's painting, there is always the possibility of imbalance and irregular shapes ready to topple at the slightest breeze.

Art by Karen Dow

Dow has spent the last few years using printmaking techniques to create unique works on paper. The act of creating these monoprints itself has influenced the artists approach to the painting process. By inking hand cut materials, variable color and texture appear in the print process. Dow has recreated this indeterminacy by masking her canvas laid affixed to board with a hand cut frisket, an opaque vinyl material that adheres to the surface. The hand cut line wobbles, making both the mask another way for the artists hand to come across. By painting over all but these masked areas, the artist creates an "Aha" moment when she excavates the relics left behind. Louise Nevelson's irregular forms, composed of collaged remnants, serve as both an apt comparison as well the artists’ inspiration. Rather than work with collage, the artist builds a thorough world beneath and chooses her own remnants.

"Signal," 2014 is a multi­tiered work, containing several blocks of color. In the upper left, a square is divided black on the left and gray on the right. It appears to be right at the front of the plane, helped some by a red/orange layer behind it. This small area recalls Barnett Newman's zips as well as Pat Steir's large nearly monochromatic diptychs. The red and orange area in the middle left of the plane, also propped on a ledge, is a focal point and causes the eye to draw up to the dark area and then over to the right to view the "flag." The flag is an area with a four segment square. All around the gray midtone, adds a muted field of light. With "Signal," soft, dusty colors recede and bring to mind Giorgio Morandi's Etruscan palate. The dominant colors, autumnal yellow and orange and gauzy sky blue, light the way. Everywhere a counter balance of color is assumed, dispersing weight around the plane.

Laurie Gundersen writes in a recent statement:

I am a utilitarian folk artist: a dyer, spinner, weaver, quilter and basket maker. Primarily self-taught, I have explored these various media by diving into materials close at hand. Fascinated by the creative ways of making folk art from scrap, I make textiles reflecting that spirit and my love for blending contemporary designs with traditional techniques.

This collection of small textiles has helped me reflect and remember the people whose work in textiles have inspired me and provided movement in my life. Annie Albers, Lenore Tawney, Mary Hambridge, Randall Darwall, Hiroko Harada & Yoshiko Wada to name a few. Over the past decades my craft has slowly evolved, eventually leaving the art-to-wear movement behind. However, I have been gathering textiles over the last three decades in hopes of constructing art with it. Here is the new beginning of that process.

Gundersen lives and works in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Her studio/showroom is called Appalachian Piecework and is located at the train depot in Staunton.

Kathy Kane painting show reception Sat., June 7, at City Gallery in New Haven

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Kathy Kane: LIFE—LINE
June 5—29, 2014.
Opening Reception: Sat., June 7, 2—5 p.m.

Press release from City Gallery

City Gallery presents LIFE—LINE featuring artist Kathy Kane, June 5—29, 2014. The opening reception is Sat., June 7, from 2—5 p.m.

Kathy Kane: "Interstices"

The exploration of line, its delicate nature and ambiguous presence in the landscape bring punctuation and life to Kane's new work.

William Bailey show opens at Orange St. Giampietro Gallery May 30

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
91 Orange St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
William Bailey: Paintings and Drawings
May 30—July 12, 2014.
Reception: Fri., May 30, 6—8 p.m.

Press release from Giampietro Gallery

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of works by William Bailey. This is his first showing at the gallery. The exhibition includes still life paintings and figure drawings that reflect nearly sixty years of exploration by the artist. Bailey studied under Joseph Albers at the Yale School of Art following his service in the Korean War. He began his studies at the University of Kansas School of Fine Arts and graduated from the Yale School of Art. Bailey has taught widely including at the University of Indiana at Bloomington. He held a long tenure at the Yale School of Art from which he retired in 1995 as the Kingman Brewster Professor Emeritus of Art.

Bailey's still life paintings present seemingly everyday objects, including bowls, pitchers, and cups, in groupings that conjure the familiar world while offering a metaphysical timelessness. Although they focus on a realm that is idealized, the works explore a mnemonic or remembered space where drawing, proportion, measure, and color find voice in Bailey’s expansive ability to capture light...light that illuminates the recognizable world while seeming to belong to an undefined, distant place. In contrast to a Realism of everyday life, Bailey offers us an integrated world of autonomous interiority, stating, "I am trying to paint a world that is not around us."

William Bailey: "Soldier"

Like the poet filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, who viewed art-making as a necessary effort toward perfection in an imperfect world, Bailey's images reflect the history of imaging and clarifications of his craft. His work links us to the past of Piero, Corot, or Hopper yet guides us to a perpetual here and now through his use of color and light. In this way he challenges our notions of both time and space.

The still life paintings suggest an environment grounded in Bailey's imagined world of things. With sustained viewing these images suggest landscape, architecture and groups of figures that seem, subtly, to generate an atmosphere of color giving them both space and breadth. These suggestions allow us to come to terms with the impermanence that defines our need for remembrance.

The works of William Bailey reveal themselves through a complex shifting of time and perception. Bailey's particular focus on drawing allows an unfolding of varied duration within the continuity of space. Attention in the imaginative act is shaped by the appearance and reappearance of forms. The paintings also derive information from his ongoing practice of observing the figure. Just as the pictures seem to sustain the tension of approaching absence, likewise, through the attention to delicate shifts of shadow and light, they seem to breathe with the presence of objects, figures and places.

K. L. Sinanoglu, New Haven, April, 2014

Ramon, Angelis shows open at Giampietro Gallery May 16

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Peter Ramon: Inherent Collisions
Michael Angelis: Collective Memories
May 16—June 11, 2014.
Reception: Fri., May 16, 6—8 p.m.

Press release from Giampietro Gallery

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to present new works by Peter Ramon and Michael Angelis. Inherent Collisions is Ramon’s second solo show at the gallery and Collective Memories is Angelis’s first. These solo exhibitions run from May 16 through June 11, 2014.

Peter Ramon has always been captivated by the constant changing of the positive, negative, and colorful shapes casted in nature by sunlight. Each of Ramon’s compositions embodies the intention to document his responses to these brief moments, sideways glances, and fleeting thoughts. Those experiences are expressed through a beautiful and complex handling of layers, colors, textures, and shapes.

Peter Ramon: "Out Under the Sun"

Peter Ramon lives and works in Branford, CT. Ramon received his MFA from Indiana University and his BFA from the University of Hartford, Hartford Art School. His work has been included in numerous exhibits, including the Moody Art Gallery at the University of Alabama and The New Britain Museum of American Art. His work can be found in many private collections.

In a recent artist statement, Michael Angelis explains that his on-site paintings of the urban landscapes in and around New Haven have dominated the focus of his work over the past 5 years. The series began as a study of the street level experience underneath the overpasses of Route 91. Working directly in the environment influences the aesthetics in a much richer way than if the work were to be completed in the comfort of a studio setting, where it may simply imitate the photographs being used for reference. The paintings in the series often focus on environments in flux, whether they are actively changing or less obviously changing.

Michael Angelis: "Earth"

Michael Angelis lives and works in New Haven, CT. Angelis received an MEA from the Teachers College at Columbia and his BFA from SUNY Purchase. His work has been included many local exhibits.

Shows open Sat., Apr. 26, at Gallery on the Green in Canton

Gallery on the Green
Corner of Dowd and Route 44, Canton, (860) 693-4102
The Eighth Annual Maxwell Shepherd Memorial Invitational Exhibition
Judy Cantwell: Ten Years Later
Genti Bushi: Recollection!
Apr. 25—May 25, 2014.
Reception: Sat., Apr. 26, 6—9 p.m.

Press release from Gallery on the Green

The Eighth Annual Maxwell Shepherd Memorial Invitational Exhibition will take place at the Gallery on the Green in Canton from Apr. 25 through May 25, 2014. This year's invited artists are Connecticut residents Mary Kenealy and Richard Klein. The public is warmly invited to an opening reception from 6—9 p.m. on Sat., Apr. 26. The artists will give an informal talk about their work prior to the reception, at 5 p.m.

Mary Kenealy, registrar at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, Connecticut, has shown widely throughout Connecticut in solo exhibitions including those at Real Art Ways and Trinity College in Hartford. She has also been included in several group shows such as those at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the National Collection of Fine Arts in Washington, D. C., the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, and the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Kenealy has also served on the faculty of Central Connecticut State University and Fairfield University. She works largely on paper creating intricate and engaging patterns of color.

Mary Kenealy: "All the Hours #10"

Richard Klein, exhibitions curator since 1999 at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, has had works shown in numerous museums and galleries, notably at the Neuberger Museum of Art at SUNY Purchase, Caren Golden Fine Arts in New York City, and Tufts University Art Gallery in Medford, Massachusetts. Working with found glass and everyday objects, Klein fuses them to create works that are ethereal and transcendent while remaining grounded in the commonplace.

Richard Klein: "Black Friday"

Walter Kendra, Professor Emeritus of Art at Central Connecticut State University and Mark Snyder, Associate Professor of Visual Design at the Hartford Art School curated the exhibit. The Annual Maxwell Shepherd Memorial Invitational Exhibition is sponsored by the Maxwell Shepherd Memorial Arts Fund, Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the fine and performing arts. For further information about the Fund please write to MSMAF, Inc., 16 South St., Collinsville, CT 06019 or telephone 860.693.2762.

Also on exhibit Apr. 25—May 25 are two new shows in the upstairs galleries by Judy Cantwell and Genti Bushi.

Judy Cantwell: "Ferns and Oak Leaves"

Cantwell's show, Ten Years Later in the Spotlight Gallery includes found objects such as old wood and rusted metal that are given new life as simple constructions. Her digital photographs, gel transfers and mixed media woven paper pieces are full of colors, patterns and intriguing images. She has found that using more than one medium at a time allows her to better translate the images of the world around her into works of art. She is a member of a group of Ct./ Ma. mixed media artists known as MIXUS as well as a member of the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts.

Inspirations for Genti Bushi's exhibit, Recollection!, in the main Upstairs Gallery come from objects, landscapes and images from his memories —those shapes and colors that have been tucked away but never forgotten. Bushi's acrylic and oil paintings are rich in vivid colors and lively compositions.

Receptions for two shows at Middlesex Community College on Tues., Apr. 8

Middlesex Community College Pegasus Gallery
100 Training Hill Road, Middletown, 1-800-818-5501
Mari Skarp-Bogli: Architecture of a Memory in the Pegasus Gallery (Pegasus Gallery is located within the library on the first floor of Chapman Hall)
Mar. 24—May 3, 2014.
Kevin Fletcher: Glass Works—Linear Radiation in The Niche (The Niche is located in Founders Hall across from the Registrar’s Office.)
Mar. 24—May 8, 2014.
Reception for both shows: Tues., Apr. 8, 6—7:30 p.m.

Press release from Middlesex Community College

Two new shows at Middlesex Community College will have their artists' receptions on Tues., Apr. 8, from 6—7:30 p.m.

Mari Skarp-Bogli’s Architecture of a Memory addresses the subject of memory and its operation within the human brain. Skarp-Bogli's paintings, sculpture and interactive drawings employ abandoned locations, discarded materials and objects that transmit associations of loss, abandon and decay. These works are assemblages of memory evoking relics of attics, basements, barns and the garages of home in as much as representations of the physiological, psychological and neurological functions they interpret.

Mari Skarp-Bogli: "Synaptic Plasticity II"

Skarp-Bogli earned her M.F.A. from Maine College of Art and B.F.A.’s in both painting and sculpture from the University of Hartford. She is an adjunct art instructor at Tunxis Community College and at the University of Hartford.

Kevin Fletcher’s sculptures unite the complex and associative nature of line and the dynamic energy of glass. Works like "Radiate" exploit the similarities between the animate light of neon with that of molten hot glass.

Kevin Fletcher: "Radiate"

Fletcher has a B.F.A. in Glass from the Appalachian Center for Craft and a B.A. in Business Administration from Marist College. He has also studied glass at Penland School for Crafts, Urban Glass and Franklin Pierce University.

Reception Sun., Apr. 6, for "Explorations in Embellishment" at Mercy Center gallery

Mercy Center at Madison Mary C. Daly, RSM Art Gallery
167 Neck Rd., Madison, (203) 245-0401
Rachel Hellerich: Explorations in Embellishment
Mar. 31—Apr. 25, 2014.
Artist's Reception: Sun., Apr. 6, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from the Mercy Center at Madison

Explorations in Embellishment is the second solo exhibition for Milford-based artist, Rachel Hellerich. The show will include more than 20 drawings and paintings spanning from 2005 to the present. Hellerich’s work will be on display at the Mary C. Daly, RSM Art Gallery, Mercy Center at Madison, 167 Neck Road, Madison, CT from Mar. 31—Apr. 25.

Rachel Hellerich: "Emerald Erosions"

With a background heavily rooted in sculpture and installation, Hellerich’s return home to Connecticut in 2004 marked a new phase of creative development focused on drawing and painting on canvas and panel. From its conception, this body of work has been influenced by the themes and aesthetics of Asian art, science fiction, fashion and military history. Her drawings have been a source of reflection, serving as blueprints for larger scale, atmospheric paintings. The work encompasses a range of media including watercolor, ink and vinyl paint, each painting or drawing considered three-dimensionally from the compositional development of their subjects to their physical realization with brush, pen and palette knife. The process of working in multiples on a modular level, with repetitive, textile-like references, has been a recurring exercise; as an obsessive means to connect with each piece physically, providing a gateway to meditate and reflect on a particular memory or place.

There will be an opening reception on Sun. Apr. 6 at the Mercy Center from 2—4 p.m. Both the exhibition and the reception are free and open to the public.

Chuck Webster show opens at Giampietro Gallery at Erector Square Sat., Apr. 5, from 6—8 p.m.

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
91 Orange St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Chuck Webster: Shelter with works by Martín Ramírez, Thornton Dial, William Hawkins, and Marsden Hartley
Apr. 4—May 3, 2014.
Reception: Sat., Apr. 5, 6—8 p.m.

Press release from Giampietro Gallery

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to announce the solo-exhibition of new works by artist Chuck Webster. The shows will be on view from Apr. 4—May 3, with an opening reception on Sat., Apr. 5, from 6—8 p.m.

From Ross Simonini, a writer, artist and musician based in New York and Interviews Editor for The Believer Magazine:

Chuck paints on wood. Sometimes he uses paper, which comes from wood, but mostly he works on thick, pale panels made of birch. Some of them are small enough to be handheld. Others are so large they could be mistaken for walls, and he heaves and slides these around his studio with chest-puffing exertion. He lays panels on the floor so he can pour liquids that accrete in a thin meniscus on their wooden surfaces. If he wants to paint outside the studio, he'll strap a panel to the roof of his Volvo station wagon, drive out to Rockaway Beach, and set himself up to work alfresco. The painted canvas is often described as a window; For Chuck, the wood panel is a roof, wall, and ceiling.

When he works, he puts the paint onto the wood with brush and hands. If he doesn't have gloves, he uses bare fingers and the pigment gets trapped under his nails for days. Even when he scrubs his hands feverishly with corn oil, the color stays put. Sometimes he'll make a painting in 2 hours, slathering on translucent textures that echo the whorling wood grain beneath the gesso, hues ranging from romantic, demonic maroon to thick, frosting-like applications of periwinkle.

Chuck Webster: "Perfect Home"

When he's finished, the images look like portraits and landscapes, a form of abstraction that remains connected to the physical world, governed by gravity. They often appear architectural, as houses upon undulating earth. Sometimes they're figures. He resists the term characters - preferring the more open-ended term "souls" - but embraces the possibility of narrative, and uses the words, "whip-tail" and doingle" to describe the ornamentations that flutter around his souls. Recently he's become compelled by a particular soul: a small octagonal shape with an ocular hole at its bellybutton that he stacks and bends, leans and constellates. It appears in almost every drawing and painting he makes.

The wood that surrounds Chuck is his home. He coats it with the full-armed technique of mural painting, something he was involved with for six years in the Barnstormers collective. He makes work near constantly - along the side of the highway, sitting the gallery during his exhibitions, or in a hotel room, where he recently got evicted and escorted from the premises for spilling paint on the desk and floor. When not creating, he is hungrily looking: at art in galleries or in the monographs stuffed into shelves of his studio at home. He curates often. Recently, he packed a gallery with small drawings by Picabia, Richard Tuttle, Mary Heilman and countless others. Soon, he will fill a space with devotional art by contemporary artists.

The works in this show by William Hawkins, Martin Ramirez, Marsden Hartley and Thornton Dial resonate with Chuck's sturdy, wooden, structural approach, and all of them have served as inspiration for his own paintings. He refers to these artists as "heroes," and he has spent considerable time poring over their works. They are his shelter. They are the foundation and building within which he constructs his own images. Under the roof of this gallery, his works and the work of his artistic architects can cohabitate.

Lytle, Jacobs exhibits open Fri., Feb. 28, at Giampietro Gallery

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Blinn Jacobs: New Work
Richard Lytle: No Still Life
Feb. 28—Mar. 29, 2014.
Reception: Fri., Feb. 28, 6—8 p.m.
Artists' Talk: Sat., Mar. 15, 2 p.m.
Press release from Giampietro Gallery

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to announce the solo-exhibitions of new works by artists Richard Lytle and Blinn Jacobs. The shows will be on view from Feb. 28—Mar. 29 at the Erector Square location at 315 Peck St., with an opening reception on Fri., Feb. 28, from 6—8 p.m. and an artists' talk on Sat., Mar. 15, at 2 p.m.

No Still Life, is the first solo show by Richard Lytle at the gallery. Discovery is the first thing that comes to mind when experiencing one of Richard Lytle’s virtuosic oils on canvas. Imagine walking deep into the forest and stumbling on a utopian vista. A silent, solitary, awareness comes over you. This is for the moment, if you turn away, it could vanish. The extraordinary grounding power of this work evokes a sense of solitude, mystery and place.

Richard Lytle: "Quartet"

Richard Lytle has been exhibiting his work internationally since the 1950’s. He was a Teaching Assistant for Joseph Albers at Yale University School of Art. His work has been included in many solo and group exhibitions including; the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, CT, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Coral Gables, FL, American Embassies around the world, Harvard University, Boston, MA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, NY, and the Worlds Fair in Seattle. Lytle has been awarded many prestigious awards including the Saint Gaudens Medal and the Citation for Professional Achievement from Cooper Union. His work is included in many public and private collections including Yale University, the Albrecht Gallery Museum of Arts, Columbia University, the DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN, the Museum of Modern Art, NY, The National Museum of Art, Washington, DC and the Rockefeller Collection in NY.

Blinn Jacobs describes her work in a recent statement as being, "a dialogue between polygonal shaped canvases and the use of 'painterliness' in regard to the interaction of color. Some of the works retain surface clarity; others become saturated by manipulation of graphic marks and various media. All involve a process-oriented manner that allows for discovery and a freedom to extemporize. I am interested in using a variety of materials. Sometimes a whimsical and playfulness undermines the geometric formality of the work. Whether it is delicate weavings of ribbon or intersecting planes of transparent color where the hard edges are cajoled into an animated rhythm, I hope to merge movement with stability, transparency with opacity, and labor with play."

Blinn Jacobs: "X"

Blinn Jacobs received her BFA from the Yale University School of Art and her MFA in painting from the University of Pennsylvania. Blinn’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. Jacobs has been awarded many prestigious awards, grants, and residences including the State of Connecticut General Assembly Citation, The Dr. Thomas Ayoub and Christine Dombrowski Awards, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Residency in Sweet Briar, VA, and the Oberpfalzer Kunstlerhaus Fellowship, International Residency in Schwandorf Germany.

Shows open Sun., Feb. 23, at Silvermine Arts Center

Silvermine Guild Art Center
1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, (203) 966-9700
Jistin Wiest: Dreams Waking
Ashley Andrews and Natasha Karpinskaia: The Art of Mark Making
The Gabor Peterdi International Print Collection
Feb. 23—Apr. 5, 2014.
Opening Reception: Sun., Feb. 23, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Silvermine Arts Center

Silvermine Arts Center, located in New Canaan, CT will be opening a new set of exhibits February 23rd, including the dreamlike imaginings of Justin Wiest; the collaborative exploration of Abstract Expressionism by Ashley Andrews and Natasha Karpinskaia; and Selections from the Gabor Peterdi International Print Collection. The shows run from Feb. 23—Apr. 5, and there will be an opening reception on Sunday., Feb. 23, from 2—4 p.m.

In Justin Wiest's Dreams Waking, the artist will present paintings which seek to elevate furniture to the role of a primary character. "I’m enjoying the freedom to experiment and search for the limits of painting by scrubbing at the film of familiarity," says Wiest of his current work. While objects are traditionally used as props in portrait painting, here they become an active part of the narrative. People and their environment are involved in a complex story that invites us to look past, as the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote, "The mist of familiarity (which) obscures from us the wonder of our being."

Justin Wiest: "The Doctors"

In The Art of Mark Making, Ashley Andrews and Natasha Karpinskaia collaborate on a series of paintings that revisit Abstract Expressionism. "We intend to show the positive effect of teaming up to make new intriguing marks," the artists said of their partnership. The paintings become a dialogue between the artists, as one begins by making her marks and the other responds. As the process repeats, the marks are changed until they no longer belong to Andrews or Karpinskaia alone, instead becoming something exciting and new.

In 2012, Silvermine Galleries officially named its print collection The Gabor Peterdi International Print Collection, in honor of Silvermine’s print collection founder, Gabor Peterdi. Peterdi started the printmaking department at Yale University and, in 1956, established the National Print Biennial competition at Silvermine. For many years, from the beginning of the competition, the award winning print was purchased forming a permanent print collection. In subsequent years, additional prints were added to the collection via donations and bequests. Recent efforts have enabled the Galleries to conserve the collection, while actively growing its holdings.

Last year, The Gabor Peterdi International Print Collection received several significant works by renowned artists. A Josef Albers piece was purchased with funds honoring the late Guild Member, Tina Rohrer. In addition, we received a Robert Cottingham screened print, and a Gabor Peterdi Print donated by the Gabor Peterdi Estate. This year Silvermine has seen continued growth in the print collection donations and this February's exhibition will be the second show this year highlighting selections from the print collection with recent acquisitions by James Flora, Charles Hinman, and Liliana Porter.

Opening reception at Gallery on the Green in Canton Saturday, Feb. 15

Gallery on the Green
Corner of Dowd and Route 44, Canton, (860) 693-4102
Love and Chocolate
Bob Gingras: …a time ...a place ...a memory
Rozanne Hauser: Sky Light
Feb. 14—Mar. 16, 2014.
Opening Reception: Sat., Feb. 15, 6—9 p.m.

Press release from Gallery on the Green

Love is in the air at the Gallery on the Green in Canton as the gallery presents a special month-long tribute to the spirit of Valentine's Day. Love and Chocolate, a members' themed show, opens on Valentine's Day, Fri., Feb. 14, and runs until Sun., Mar. 16. There will be a gala opening reception on Sat., Feb. 15 from 6—9 pm. with both sweet and savory treats including chocolate from the Bridgewater company. The public is warmly invited to attend this free event.

There are 3 shows running concurrently. The main exhibition in the Founders Gallery—Love and Chocolate—features art work inspired by those subjects we associate with Valentine Day, themes that many famous artists have addressed throughout the ages. Members will interpret the theme in their own unique ways using the medium of their choice.

In addition, Bob Gingras has a show titled …a time ...a place ...a memory in the Upstairs Gallery. He attended the University of Hartford, Hartford Art School and graduated from Paier College of Art, is also a Gemologist and a senior member of the National Association of Jewelry Appraisers. Gingras says, "I am a realistic acrylic painter. I like to focus on subjects or places that I have been that I connect with emotionally. Once I have the composition and color palette mapped out I fastidiously apply layers of color, and details. So the viewer is enticed and invited to walk into the painting and enjoy the scenery. I like to leave the feeling of 'wow' and have the viewer say, 'I thought it was a photograph.'"

Robert Gingras: "Tuscany"

Rozanne Hauser’s show Sky Light is featured in the Spotlight Gallery. She has studied with many fine instructors on both the national and local level. Hauser states, "I am guided by my love of color and the effects of light. The ever-changing cloud patterns and the variations in the colors of the sunset are my muse; they catch my breath and I know I must try and capture that feeling. My work is in pastel with an occasional watercolor underpainting to make it glow."

William Butcher painting show opens Fri., Feb. 7, at Reynolds Fine Art in New Haven

Reynolds Fine Art
96 Orange St., New Haven, (203) 498-2200
William butcher: Allegories of the Heart and Mind
Feb. 7—Mar. 14, 2014.
Artist Reception: Fri., Feb. 7, 5—8 p.m.

Press release from Reynolds Fine Art

Reynolds Fine Art is pleased to present Allegories of the Heart and Mind, a solo exhibition by the artist, teacher and profound thinker William Butcher. Butcher paints out of Connecticut and has been teaching at Suffield Academy for the past 30 years. He holds both BFA and MFA degrees from the Drake School of Fine Arts, studying under the internationally recognized artists Jules Kirschenbaum and Cornelis Ruhtenberg.

William Butcher: "The Reflection"

William Butcher finds the inspiration to create by allowing his subconscious visions and imagery, generated by the heart and mind, to come to the surface. The thoughts and ideas that present themselves to the artist, via our visual world, take form in his paintings and sculptures. His work is constantly in the process of reaffirming itself. Butcher states that he "is driven to bring these to life in a visual form... It is only in allegory that I can hope to garner a meager understanding of the hidden forces that drive my compulsion to create." The praxis of unfolding one's inner thoughts and feelings into visual language has become William Butcher's attempt in exploring the mysterious and spiritual curiosities of human life and nature.

The show will be on display from Feb. 7—Mar. 14 at Reynolds Fine Art located in New Haven’s historic 9th square on 96 Orange St. The show's opening reception will be held on Fri., Feb. 7, from 5—8 p.m.

Voisine exhibit opens Friday at Giampietro Gallery on Orange Street

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
91 Orange St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Don Voisine: New Work
Jan. 10—Mar. 1, 2014.
Reception: Fri., Jan. 10, 6—8 p.m.

Press release from Giampietro Gallery

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new paintings by Don Voisine. The exhibition is Don Voisine's first solo show at the gallery. The show will be on view from Jan. 10—Mar. 1, with an opening reception on Fri., Jan. 10, from 6—8 p.m.

Don Voisine: "Flicker"

Voisine's hard-edged, overlapping, tilted-shaped abstractions, with interplays of matt and glossy surfaces, invite viewers to meditate on the relationship between form and texture. His powerful but often small-scaled work seems larger than life. Much like the work of sculptors such as Nonas, Andre and Serra, Voisine's paintings typically interact with and energize the spaces they occupy. His meticulous work expands on the hard-edged, purely abstract work of the modern masters and seems both fresh and timely.

Don Voisine has been exhibiting his work nationally and internationally since the 1970’s. His recent exhibitions include group shows at the National Academy Museum in New York, the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA, the Hôtel de Sauroy in Paris, Galerie Lindner in Vienna, as well as solo exhibitions at Alejandra von Hartz Gallery in Miami and Gregory Lind Gallery in San Francisco. Voisine has been awarded many prestigious awards including the Hassam, Speicher Betts and Symonds Fund Purchase Award from American Academy of Arts and Letters in NY, The Portland Museum of Art Biennial Purchase Prize, the Henry Ward Ranger Fund Purcahse Award from the National Academy Museum in New York and an Honorary BFA from Maine College of Art.

The exhibition will take place at the Fred Giampietro Gallery’s new downtown location, 91 Orange St., in the historic 9th-Square district. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, from 11 AM to 6 PM.

Nancy Eisenfeld finds artistic harmony with nature

Paul Mellon Arts Center
333 Christian St., Wallingford, (203) 697-2000
Nancy Eisenfeld: Dynamic Cycles—Freeze to Thaw
Through Dec. 15, 2012.

For years, Nancy Eisenfeld—in her drawings and paintings—has created whirlwinds of color and line evocative of natural forms. These works were mostly abstract, if referential. Several years ago, Eisenfeld began taking a sculptural approach to her compositions, engaging in a kind of found object collage.

In her show Dynamic Cycles at the Paul Mellon Arts Center at Choate Rosemary Hall, Eisenfeld exhibits both types of her work. The show is divided into two sections: a sculptural display in the Gallery and a painting/drawing exhibition on the curved wall of the theater.

It's not unusual for an artist to employ the texture of paper or canvas to aesthetic effect. What is clear in contemplating Eisenfeld's sculptural works, such as "Under Cover" and "Under the Skin," is that the natural found objects (and manufactured, in some cases) are for her another form of canvas or paper with which to realize her visions.

Nancy Eisenfeld: "Under Cover" detail

Eisenfeld lets her surfaces and objects sing. But she finds ways—through juxtaposition, arrangement, judicious and bold applications of paint—to harmonize with them. She valorizes the materiality of concrete, bark or rusted steel much as any other artist would the viscous pigment of oil paint or the tooth of a fine paper.

Blizzard Nemo and its aftermath inspired the drawings and paintings. One of the things that strikes me about them is the dense layering of texture, ink and paint. Eisenfeld sets the tone with the first of these, "It's on the way," utilizing whites, blacks, grays and blues to represent the color palette of a "major winter weather event." It's a tour de force, a swirling maelstrom of pooling pigments and coagulating textures, realizing—in its silence—the howl of the wind, the biting chill and a storm's blinding fury.

There is a narrative to this succession of drawings but each also stands on its own as an evocative abstraction. Individually, they sing. Collectively, they harmonize.

Two shows open at Giampietro Gallery on Friday, Nov. 8

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Melissa Brown: Gertrude's Nose
Elisa Lendvay: Moon of the Moon
Nov. 8—Dec. 21, 2013.
Reception: Fri., Nov. 8, 5—8 p.m.

Press release from Giampietro Gallery

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to present new work by artists Melissa Brown and Elisa Lendvay. The two shows will be on view from Nov. 8—Dec. 21, with an opening reception on Fri., Nov. 8, from 5—8 p.m.

Melissa Brown describes in a recent statement that the subject of her works are not to create a dutiful representation of the place being depicted. Brown is instead interested in exploring the formal possibilities of stencil, airbrushing, and graphic techniques to express moments of escape, fantasy and other worldly versions of reality with the hopes of making multiple views and multiple moments of time apparent. In this body of work, Melissa's imagery is in response to the Gertrude's Nose trail loop in Minnewaska State Park, NY.

Melissa Brown: "Facing West"

Melissa received her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, and her MFA from Yale University. Her work has been shown throughout the Untied States and Canada.

Elisa Lendvay explains that her sculptures and paintings arrive out of a haptic sensibility. Through a combination of combined and often found objects she explores and creates forms that lyricize the internal dynamics of a given space, moment, or place. She seeks to elucidate movement and capture corporeal motion—forms on the verge of collapse or convergence within a specified space or landscape.

Elisa Lendvay: "Somniloquy"

Elisa received her BFA from The University of Texas at Austin and her M.F.A. from the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts, Bard College. Her work has been exhibited Nationally and Internationally.

"Up Close" reception at City Gallery in New Haven Sat., Nov. 2

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Up Close: New Works by Judy Atlas and Tom Peterson
Oct. 31—Nov. 24, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sat., Nov. 2, 2—5 p.m.

Press release from City Gallery

City Gallery presents Up Close, Oct. 31 through Nov. 24. The opening reception is on Sat., Nov. 2, from 2—5 p.m.

Judy Atlas: "From the Outside"

Up Close features new works by Judy Atlas and Tom Peterson. Atlas' paintings and Peterson's photographs are abstractions of small, colorful urban subjects that we often pass by but rarely notice. City Gallery invites the public to view this free exhibit.

Tom Peterson: "Variations with Red"

Reception for Open Juried Show and Jennifer Knaus exhibit at Gallery on the Green in Canton, Sat., Oct. 19

Gallery on the Green
Corner of Dowd and Route 44, Canton, (860) 693-4102
The 46th Annual Open Juried Exhibition
Jennifer Knaus: Works on Paper
Opening Reception and Awards Presentation: Sat., Oct. 19, 6—9 p.m.

Press release from Gallery on the Green

The Canton Artist's Guild's Gallery on the Green, presents its 46th Annual Open Juried Exhibition running from October 18 to November 19. The opening reception and awards presentation will be held on Sat., Oct. 19 from 6—9 p.m. and the public is warmly invited.

 As this is an open show, it will feature the work of artists from all over Connecticut and beyond. There will be works of various styles, media and subject matter including painting, drawing, photography and sculpture. The juror is Dr. Nancy Stula, Executive Director of the William Benton Museum of Art, Storrs, Ct. Before taking on the position at the Benton, Stula served as Director and Curator of the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, CT. Prior to her tenure at the Lyman Allyn, Stula worked as a research assistant in the Department of American Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1991–1994) and taught in the Art History department at the University of Hartford (1994–2003), where she earned her bachelor's degree summa cum laude in art history and studio art in 1985 from the Hartford Art School and the University of Hartford. She holds a Ph.D. in Art History from Columbia University.

Awards chosen by the juror will be presented at the opening reception. A majority of the awards are the result of generous donations from local businesses and organizations or are funded by guild members in honor of a loved one.

Jennifer Knaus: Works on Paper is showing in the upstairs Spotlight Gallery. The artwork on display here will be primarily graphite drawings, watercolors and giclées. Canton artist Jennifer Knaus (Web) is well known for her playful images combining portraiture and nature.

Jennifer Knaus: "Overgrowth"

The Gallery on the Green is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1 - 5 pm. It is located within sight of Rt. 44 on 5 Canton Green Road.

Reception for Cook, Saladyga shows at Kehler, Liddell Fri., Oct. 18

Kehler Liddell Gallery
873 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 389-9555
Rod Cook: Masks
Gerald Saladyga: Dot Works 2000—2004
Oct. 10—Nov. 10, 2013.
Artist's Reception: Fri., Oct. 18, 6—9 p.m.

Press release from Kehler Liddell Gallery

Exhibits by Rod Cook (Masks) and Gerald Saladyga (Dot Works: 2000—2004) will be on view at Kehler Liddell Gallery in Westville from Oct. 10 through Nov. 10, 2013. There will be an artist's reception on Fri., Oct. 18, from 6—9 p.m.

Masks explores how the private condition is veiled by a façade or mask when presented to the public. Cook dove into the idea that how people outwardly represent themselves speaks more to how they wish to be received, rather than as an actual translation of what they consist of inside. He removes the external interferences and instead gives his models a literal mask to create an alternative expression, for Cook, a more genuine image of whom that person is or who they wish to be. The images capture the unique and fleeting moment when wearing a mask and little else, the true self can and will expose what is underneath. From behind the shrouded security of this alternate mask, the fashioned and orchestrated façade melts away and one’s hopes, fears, and fantasies are revealed.

Photograph by Rod Cook

Dot Works 2000—2004, artist Jerry Saladyga conjures the early American Luminist painters’ depictions of light the American landscape and seascape. Taking their initial representations and isolating the concept within a contemporary minimalist framework, his technique is to layer closely positioned dots of latex house paint with an eye dropper onto canvas, paper or wood and then to sand down to an equal depth. This creates a unique effect, evoking the simulation of particles of bright light, hazy light, gray light and night light. Saladyga developed this technique over four years and in the process realized the dots could be used to represent other images of the cosmos. The paintings evolved into fractured and symbolic depictions of land, sky, water and space. Aligned with the American Luminist painters who illustrated a new landscape for the first time, the process behind and the finished product of Dot Works is reminiscent of the beauty and joy of first sight and interpretation.

Painting by Gerald Saladyga

Jukkala, Granwell shows opening Friday at Giampietro Gallery in New Haven

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Clint Jukkala: Off Course
Alexis Granwell: Ghost Stories
Oct. 11—Nov. 2, 2013.
Reception: Fri., Oct. 11, 5—8 p.m.

Press release from Giampietro Gallery

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to present new work by artists Clint Jukkala and Alexis Granwell. The two shows will be on view from Oct. 11—Nov. 2, with an opening reception on Fri., Oct. 11, from 5—8 p.m.

Clint Jukkala’s paintings combine color, geometry, and textured surfaces to create images that hover on the edge of nameable things. Ostensibly abstract, his work evokes real world references, suggesting figures, architecture, and landscape elements. Eye-like openings and framing devices orient the viewer, making them question their own perceptions. A play between part and whole ensues as the paintings configure and reconfigure through the act of looking.

Clint Jukkala: "Oracle"

Jukkala 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, VOLTA NY 2013, The Currier Museum, and Soil Gallery in Seattle. He lives and works in New Haven, CT.

Alexis Granwell will be presenting sculptures and monumental prints made during a summer residency at one of the only ten foot-presses in the country, at AS220 in Providence. The works in Ghost Stories depict metaphysical structures that have an ancient quality with imagery that convulsively expands, erases, and erupts.

Granwell received her BFA from Boston University, College of Fine Arts and her M.F.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States including the State Museum of Pennsylvania, the Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, FSU Museum of Fine Arts, Art Basel, and the University of Richmond Museum. Granwell has also received many prestigious awards and honors including the Joan Mitchell Grant Nominee, the Woodmere Art Museum Maurice Freed Memorial Prize, the University of Pennsylvania Neil Welliver Award, University of the Arts Professional Development Grant, Ragdale Artist Residency, AS220 Artist in Residence, and the Europos Parkas Artist Residency.