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.

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.

Three solo shows open Nov. 9 at Silvermine Art Center

Silvermine Guild Art Center
1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, (203) 966-9700
J Henry Fair: The Hand of Man
Carlos Davila: Neo-Archaism
June Ahrens: What's Left
Nov. 9—Dec. 23, 2014.
Opening Reception: Sun., Nov. 9, 2—4 p.m.

Press release from Silvermine Arts Center

Three new exhibits open at Silvermine Arts Center on Sun., Nov. 9. Three artists explore themes of beauty and ruin, broken landscapes and lost symbols in photography, sculpture and a site-specific work in which video is a predominant element.

J Henry Fair’s stunning abstract compositions are full of organic forms and graphic patterns: plumes, branches, rivulets, as well as grids and softened geometric forms. But in Fair’s large-scale photographs, beauty and horror coexist. Fair’s subject in The Hand of Man is a damaged environment: de-forested landscapes, polluted waterways, hydraulic fracturing sites, and waste from refinery operations and other industrial practices. His goal is to “produce beautiful images that stimulate an aesthetic response, then curiosity, then personal involvement.”

Photo by J Henry Fair

“Flying over these sites is the only way to see things,” Fair has said. “The aerial perspective is inherently intriguing to land-based animals.” It is the aerial view that is his particular angle of vision—the distant view, not of the peaceful blue planet, but of the compromised landscape of a world that even in the digital era is still predominantly industrial.

J Henry Fair’s photography has been the subject of solo exhibitions throughout the U.S. and in Norway, Germany, and the Netherlands. Fair has been a member of the SIlvermine Guild of Artists since 2011.

In Neo-Archaism, Carlos Davila creates a visual landscape that abstracts the symbols and forms of ancient cultures and combines them with those of advanced technology and modern industry. He explores the relationship between the modern, highly mechanized age that we live in and a totemic, stylized symbolism of a variety of ancient cultures from Egypt, South America, and Africa.

Carlos Davila: "Medusa"

Davila abstracts line, form, and color to create sculptures, three-dimensional wall pieces, and large-scale diptychs and triptychs. His mechanical and industrial elements coalesce into a layered, three-dimensional geometry that is textural and drenched in brilliant color. His is a figurative landscape at once familiar and alien.

After earning his MFA, Davila participated in the reconstruction of the ancient city of Chan Chan, Peru. His work at this Pre-Columbian archaeological dig led to a fascination with ancient and lost cultures, and the experience profoundly affected the course of his work. Carlos Davila’s art has been the subject of solo exhibitions from Lima, Santiago, and Bogota to New York, Boston, and Miami. Born and educated in Lima, Peru, he lived for many years in New York City. He currently lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and maintains a studio in a loft in Bridgeport. He has been a member of the Silvermine Guild of Artists since 2012.

In her recent work, June Ahrens has explored repurposed and broken glass as material and metaphor. What’s Left is a new turn for Ahrens—a unified environment made up of a video surrounded by blue walls that are layered with dried pigment mixed with salt. This site-dependent piece, created for the Hays Gallery at the Silvermine Arts Center, evokes loss and fragility while channeling light through a landscape of broken glass.

The video serves as the primary element in the composition and contains many of the materials used in her environment. The integration of materials and images (including images of a human face and hands) invites the viewer to explore and embrace the residue of lives. Salt and glass enhance the imperfections of the walls, which become a metaphor for the imperfections in each of us. The surface partially hides some of the scarring but salt and pigment reveal it in a new way. Repurposed broken glass (clear or blue) is also part of the installation—random patterns of fallen shards will pool and reflect danger, pain, and vulnerability. Ahrens calls the work “a map of awareness.

June Ahrens: Still from video

June Ahrens’s work has been exhibited at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City; at the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland; in Strong Women Artists, a group exhibit in Matera, Italy; and in many other exhibitions throughout the U.S. She lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, and has been a member of the Silvermine Guild since 1993.

Phyllis Crowley photo exhibit "Splash" reception Sat., Apr. 5, at City Gallery

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Phyllis Crowley: Splash
Apr. 3—27, 2014.
Opening Reception: Sat., Apr. 5, 2—5 p.m.

Press release from City Gallery

City Gallery presents Splash, Phyllis Crowley’s photographs of swimmers, pools and fountains from Apr. 3—27. The opening reception is on Sat., Apr. 5, from 2—5 p.m.

Crowley shows the joy and ebullience of human motion in water, with hints of the risks of staying under. The abstract images of water dripping and gushing from fountains and pools convey the beauty we see in this life force.

Phyllis Crowley: "Touching Bottom"

Lindroth photography exhibit opens at Giampietro Gallery on Orange Street Fri., Mar. 21

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art
91 Orange St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Linda Lindroth: Recent Disturbances
Mar. 21—Apr. 19, 2014.
Reception: Fri., Mar. 21, 6—8 p.m.
Artists' Talk: Sat., Apr. 5, 2 p.m.
Press release from Giampietro Gallery

Fred Giampietro Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works by Linda Lindroth. This exhibition will be Lindroth’s second solo exhibition with the Gallery and is entitled Recent Disturbances. The shows will be on view from Mar. 21—Apr. 19 at the Orange Street location, with an opening reception on Fri., Mar. 21, from 6—8 p.m. and an artists' talk on Sat., Mar. 15, at 2 p.m.

Lindroth’s large-scale work utilizes vintage packaging and ephemera as a source. The artist manually manipulates, digitizes and prints these objects over-sized, creating a situation where they are taken out of context. All work is printed on archival Epson Hot Press Natural and presented allowing the paper to float in the frames.

Linda Lindroth: "Tower"

Lindroth’s artworks are included in many important public collections including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the High Museum in Atlanta, the Princeton University Art Gallery, and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. She has won numerous grants and prizes including ones from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Art, The National Endowment for the Arts, The New England Foundation for the Arts, and the Architecture League of New York. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from Rutgers University and is an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University.

Juried "How Simple Can You Get?" show opens Friday at Creative Arts Workshop

Creative Arts Workshop Hilles Gallery
80 Audubon St., New Haven, (203) 562-4927
How Simple Can You Get: Hillary Charnas, Rebecca Murtaugh
Mar. 7—Apr. 3, 2014.
Opening reception: Fri., Mar. 7, 5—7 p.m.

Press release from Creative Arts Workshop

Creative Arts Workshop (CAW) presents new work by Hillary Charnas (Glastonbury, CT) and Rebecca Murtaugh (Brooklyn, NY), prizewinners of the 2013 juried exhibition How Simple Can You Get? Robert Storr, Professor of Painting and Dean of the School of Art at Yale University, served as juror. The Prizewinners show will be on view in CAW’s Hilles Gallery from Mar.7 to Apr. 3, 2014. An opening reception is scheduled for Fri., Mar. 7 from 5—7 pm. The public is invited to attend.

The juror’s intent for the exhibition from which he chose Charnas and Murtaugh, was to assemble a collection of artwork in which "complexity has been reduced to its most essential and visually arresting expression." Open to any visual media, the juried show ultimately included pieces that ranged from minimalist forms to intricate constructions.

Multimedia artist Hillary Charnas presents a selection of work from her series In A New Light, a collection of photographs that feature found objects reimagined and resurrected into two-dimensional abstract forms. It appears to the viewer that the artist has discovered and examined overlooked and neglected items that might once have occupied a place of belonging. By depicting the objects as specimens, Charnas has stripped away the ephemeral nature of familiarity, leaving the audience with images to decipher as they will.

Hillary Charnas: "Stanton Twins"

Rebecca Murtaugh will exhibit a collection of sculptures from her project entitled Alluring Repulsions. The three-dimensional abstract forms are created using a variety of materials and techniques that draw from both painting and sculpture. Murtaugh describes her interest "in alchemy and the history of objects and materials for their transformative potential… improvisation and intuition drive my actions along with a strong desire and consideration of beauty, form and color." Similar to themes in Charnas' work, Murtaugh gives discarded materials a new life. With titles like "Aequalis: Sunburst and Russian Violet" and "Stand: Regatta and Reflecting Pool," the artist’s non-representational sculptures offer particular references from which the viewer can engage on an aesthetic and intellectual level.

Rebecca Murtaugh: "Aperture: Rain and Cool Lava"

Concurrent with Prizewinners: Hillary Charnas | Rebecca Murtaugh, the Creative Works Gallery will feature two exhibitions. Detroit Dalliance is a collection of photographs by Bart Connors Szczarba, on display from Mar. 7 through 21. An opening reception will be held on Mar. 7 from 5 to 7 pm. Following will be an exhibition sponsored by Susan Foshauer, featuring the work of multiple artists working across a variety of mediums. This group show will be on display from Mar. 28 through Apr. 11. The opening reception will take place on Mar. 28 from 5—7 pm.

Clinard and Cook shows open Sunday at Kehler Liddell in Westville

Kehler Liddell Gallery
873 Whalley Ave., New Haven, (203) 389-9555
Threads of Serendipity: Photography by Penrhyn Cook and Sculpturew by Susan Clinard
Feb. 13—Mar. 16, 2014.
Opening Reception: Sun., Feb. 16, 3—6 p.m.

Press release from Kehler Liddell Gallery

Susan Clinard returns to Kehler Liddell Gallery with an engaging new body of sculpture work. Clinard continues to explore new mediums and use of space with a fleet of breathtaking kinetic paper boats float through space, translucent and glowing with purpose and strength. Each boat carries a sculpted passenger that has been cast in layers of fine paper. They evoke an immediate sensory response as the metaphorical boat is steeped with rich cultural histories and symbolism.

Susan Clinard: "Main Boat"

The photographic work represented in Threads of Serendipity is a compilation of two portfolios: "Little People" and "Humanity." As an emerging photographer, Penrhyn Cook watched from afar, taking in the full palette of shapes and light but always with a conscious focus on human figures as part of the image. With experience came a strong desire for more intimacy with her subjects and as a result, her interactions became more meaningful. This shifted the focus to capture the wide breadth of human emotions; wonder, loneliness, or envy. Similar to the transition Cook experienced, the viewer is becomes an active participant rather than a passive observer.

Threads of Serendipity will be on display from Feb. 13 through Mar. 16. The opening reception is this Sunday from 3—6 p.m.

"New Construction" photo exhibit opens at Windsor Art Center Sat., Jan. 18

Windsor Art Center
40 Mechanic St., Windsor, (860) 688-2528
New Construction
Jan. 18—Feb. 22, 2014.
Opening Reception & Events: Sat., Jan. 18, 5—7 p.m.

Press release from Windsor Art Center

The exhibition New Construction, at the Windsor Art Center Jan. 18—Feb. 22, features six photographers who construct, assemble or otherwise build contemporary images often using the material of traditional still life—objects, artifacts, flora and fauna. Each photographer brings his/her own unique perspective and to varying degrees, the power of the cutting-edge digital toolbox to this venerable genre. Participating artists include curator Daniel Mosher Long (Storrs, CT, Web), Olivia Parker (Boston, MA, Web), Kevin Van Aelst (New Haven, CT, Web), Rebecca Clark (Storrs, CT, Web), Kimberly Witham (High Bridge, NJ, Web) and Kim Kauffman (Lansing, MI, Web).

The exhibition opens with a reception for the artists Jan. 18 from 5—7 p.m. The show continues through Feb. 22. The public is invited to attend the reception and exhibition.

The exhibition includes the following additional activities:

• Sat., Feb. 8, 2—3:30 p.m.: Gallery Talk with exhibition artists Rebecca Clark, Kevin Van Aelst and Daniel Mosher Long. This talk will include an overview of the exhibit, a discussion by individual artists on their work, and a question and answer session.

• Thurs., Feb. 13, 7-8 p.m.: Art Discussion and Demonstration: DSLR Still Life–Tools, Techniques, and Process. From light tents to focus stacking, curator Daniel Mosher Long presents a detailed technical account of the equipment, software, and process he uses to create his still life photography. A question and answer session follows.

Blackett and Guillorn photo show opens at Gallery at Still River Editions in Danbury Sat., Jan. 11

The Gallery at Still River Editions
128 East Liberty St., Danbury, (203) 791-1474
Fadeless Imagery: Light and Memory: Photographs by David Blackett and Lys Guillorn
Jan. 11—Mar. 28, 2014.
Opening Reception: Sat., Jan. 11, 4—6 p.m.

Press release from The Gallery at Still River Editions

This two-person exhibition features the photographs of David Blackett of Stratford, Connecticut and Lys Guillorn of Shelton, Connecticut. What the two have in common is their work is shot entirely with medium-format film. Blackett uses antique, vintage and plastic cameras, and Guillorn uses a Holga toy camera almost exclusively. The initial letters of the exhibition's title are an acronym for "film."

David Blackett grew up in rural Massachusetts, and studied photography at Maine Photographic Workshops and Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. His photography is influenced heavily by coastal living in both subject matter and attitude.

David Blackett: "Audette's Balloon"

Blackett says, "My approach with photography has always been: 'I just want to go out and play with my cameras and make some pictures.' It’s what I do to have fun and to relax. I rarely go out 'on a mission' to make a statement of some sort. If I see something I like the looks of, I take a picture." The result is organic and sometimes dream-like, two qualities which Blackett's photography shares with Lys Guillorn's.

Guillorn is a lifelong Fairfield County resident who uses photography to document the otherworldly qualities she finds everyday landscapes and structures. Many of her photographs depict shadows of trees on buildings caught in early morning sunlight or later in the day, during what photographers call "the golden hour." She studied photography at Snow Farm in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, and is a photographic printmaker by trade.

Lys Guillorn: "Becket #1"

Lys Guillorn uses an entirely plastic toy camera to capture her images on black and white film, which she then scans digitally, and has printed digitally by Master Printmaker Mark Savoia of Still River Editions. "I have a digital SLR camera, but I like my Holga better because it's light and because of the softness it adds. I use Photoshop to enhance the tone and contrast, but the blurry and dark edges--that's all in the negatives. Though I like things like Instagram on my phone, I think it's cheating a bit."

The Gallery at Still River Editions has hosted national and regional photographers and artists since 1989. In spring 2011, after a brief hiatus from exhibiting new work, the gallery returned to hosting shows on a quarterly basis. The Gallery's mission is to show traditional and digital photographs and fine artwork, and to be a center of creativity and connection in the Danbury area.

Vickers-Kane photo show opens Thurs., Nov. 7, at Middlesex Community College

Middlesex Community College Pegasus Gallery
100 Training Hill Road, Middletown, 1-800-818-5501
Cara Vickers-Kane: Parlor Tricks in the Pegasus Gallery and The Niche(Pegasus Gallery is located within the library on the first floor of Chapman Hall, The Niche is located in Founders Hall across from the Registrar’s Office.)
Nov. 7, 2013—Jan. 10, 2014.
Opening Reception: Thurs., Nov. 7, 6—7:30 p.m.

Press release from Middlesex Community College

The experiential nature of Cara Vickers-Kane’s photographs provokes viewers to actively see, be seen by and engage with the depicted subjects.

Vickers-Kane’s Parlor Tricks series consist of paired models that initially appear seated on a vintage sofa. Closer inspection reveals that these subjects are actually seated on stools positioned in front of a photographic backdrop that includes the sofa image. A visible seam in the center of the background photograph further announces this intentional play of illusionism. Although these are color photographs, a black and white background and subdued garment values further separate the posed models from the artifice of their environment.

The staged nature of studio photography is a key subject in Vickers-Kane’s work where 19th century gazes, props and posturing play off of clearly contemporary portrayals of the human body in nuanced social interactions.

Photo by Cara Vickers-Kane

Vickers-Kane describes her photographs as explorations of the "complexities between representation and presentation, observation and interaction, reciprocation and disconnect."

Cara Vickers-Kane has exhibited through the United States and internationally. She earned a Bachelors of Arts in Women’s Studies from The Ohio State University and a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Photography from Wright State University. She also holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Photography from the University of Connecticut.

"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 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

Daniel Mosher Long photography show reception Thursday, Aug. 8, at 100 Pearl Street Gallery

100 Pearl Street Gallery
100 Pearl St., Hartford, (860) 525-8629
Daniel Mosher Long: Still Life/Natura Mortalis
Through Oct. 12, 2013.
Opening reception: Thurs., Aug. 8, 5—7 p.m.

Press release the Greater Hartford Arts Council

Still Life/Natura Mortalis, premieres at the 100 Pearl Street Gallery managed by the Greater Hartford Arts Council. These engrossing photographs by photographer Daniel Mosher Long juxtapose cultural artifacts and natural objects, and catalog Long's efforts to combine exaggerated detail with off-kilter surrealism in the artist's first solo show in Hartford.

A free public opening reception will be held on Thurs., Aug. 8, from 5—7 p.m. in the gallery space. Wine and light hors d’oeuvres will be served.

Daniel Mosher Long: "It Takes Tutu Mango"

Daniel Mosher Long lives in Storrs, CT and has worked in the Connecticut Community College System since 1990. He is currently a professor of photography and coordinator of the Photography Option at Manchester Community College in Manchester. He studied photography at Bennington College (BA), Rhode Island School of Design and Purdue University (MA). He also earned a Master’s Degree in educational administration from the University of Connecticut. He is a 2006 recipient of a Connecticut Commission on the Arts Artist Fellowship. He began his most recent project, Natura Mortalis, in 2010.

"Inside Out New Haven" opening reception Friday at Creative Arts Workshop

Creative Arts Workshop Hilles Gallery
80 Audubon St., New Haven, (203) 562-4927
Inside Out New Haven
Aug. 2—Sept. 2, 2013.
Opening reception: Fri., Aug. 2, 5—7 p.m.
Artists' Talk: Wed., Aug. 7, 5—7 p.m.

Press release from Creative Arts Workshop

Creative Arts Workshop (CAW) presents the much anticipated installation Inside Out Inside, a continuation of the 2012 public art project initiated by a group of artists and community organizers seeking to unite the New Haven community. Originally displayed under two highway overpasses, the large scale portraits will be viewable from outside the CAW Hilles Gallery throughout the month. An opening reception will be held on Fri., Aug. 2, from 5 to 7 p.m. CAW will also host an artists talk on Wed., Aug. 7, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Inside Out New Haven is a spin-off of the global art project Inside Out launched by JR, a French artist and 2011 TED Prize winner. Prompted to present "a wish to save the world," during his acceptance speech the artist stated: "I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project and together we’ll turn the world inside out."

In New Haven the purpose of the project was to help bridge the gap between disparate communities separated by barriers both physical and psychological. Photo shoots staged on the spot initiated conversations and interactions between citizens who might otherwise never have crossed paths. In a documentary short film by John Belanger, community organizer Ben Berkowitz gets at the heart and the purpose of the project: "the beauty in the project is not what it looks like but how it got there."

After instances of vandalism lead to the removal of the photographs, Creative Arts Workshop now serves as the latest venue for the collection, making the inspiring images again accessible to the New Haven community. The installation features photos by Ian Christmann, Jeffrey Kerekes, Al Muzzi, Kelly Jensen, Anthony DeCarlo, Miles Lasater and Chris Randall.

Even after instances of vandalism occurred, artists and volunteers repaired the photographs and they remained on display. The poster-size images were eventually removed six months later due to weather damage, at the request of the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Creative Arts Workshop is a non-profit community art center devoted to fostering creativity through participation in and appreciation of the visual arts, serving the Greater New Haven area since 1961. Each year, CAW offers a wide range of classes in fully equipped studios to more than 2,000 adults and 1,000 young people, and more than 30,000 people visit exhibitions in CAW’s galleries. CAW is supported by its membership, tuition, donors, arts-related fundraising events and a dedicated group of volunteers. Additional funding comes from the Connecticut Office of the Arts.

Summer exhibits open July 28 at Silvermine

Silvermine Guild Art Center
1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, (203) 966-9700
Charles Hinman and Gary Lichtenstein: Kites
Where Are We (Going)?
Viewing Room: Roger Mudre and Jason Gardner
July 28—Sept. 7, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sun., July 27, 2—4 p.m.
Artist Talk: Charles Hinman and Gary Lichtenstein: Tue., July 30, 6:30 p.m.
Artist Talk: Jason Gardner: Sat., Aug. 10, 2 p.m.

Press release from Silvermine Arts Center

Silvermine Arts Center is proud to announce its summer exhibition, Kites, a collaboration between painting pioneer, Charles Hinman and master printer, Gary Lichtenstein, and Where Are We (Going)?, a Silvermine Guild group show organized by independent curator Emily Cheng. Silvermine’s Viewing Room will feature new silkscreen prints by Guild Artist, Roger Mudre and photography by Brooklyn based artist, Jason Gardner. The exhibitions will open on Sun., July 28, with a reception from 2—4 p.m., and will run through Sept. 7. The reception is free and open to the public. Along with the exhibitions, there will be several artists' talks. Charles Hinman and Gary Lichtenstein will be giving an artist talk on Tue., July 30,at 6:30 p.m. and Jason Gardner will give his talk on Sat., Aug. 10, at 2 p.m.

Kites is an exhibition premiering a new body of work born of the collaboration between artist, Charles Hinman and master printer, Gary Lichtenstein. Their artistic partnership began in 2011 and this new series continues their exploration into translating the visual vocabulary of Hinman's signature hard-edged, shaped canvases into the realm of prints. By combining color and the use of subtle hand embossing, they have created a suite of prints that epitomizes the core of Hinman's ideology: "Though the works at first glance appear serene and placid, they are ever changing as the surface of the ocean or the expanse of the sky. Ever dynamic, they are ever alive."

Charles Hinman: "Suspension (Blue and Yellow)"

The prints faithfully reconstruct Hinman's paintings down to the inclusion of subtle lines referencing the support systems of his three dimensional work. As the viewer gazes at the work, the profound complexity of the arrangements of space unfolds into an ever- changing visual experience.

Where are We (going)?, organized by independent curator and artist Emily Cheng, marks a new direction for Guild group exhibitions at Silvermine. This change is evidenced in the show's title and theme, which are inspired by Guild Artist Susan Sharp’s painting, "Where are We?" Unlike the traditional model of submitting work to a predetermined theme, this group show is selected from curatorial threads found in the paintings, prints, photographs and objects currently being produced by the Silvermine Guild membership.

Susan Sharp: "Where Are We?"

In her exhibition statement, Ms. Cheng suggests that the show can be thought of in philosophical terms akin to Paul Gauguin's prophetic image, "Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?" However, unlike Gauguin's tableau, which visually expresses his contemplation on the meaning of existence, Ms. Cheng writes, "The theme of uncertainty in this exhibition is not so much found in the overt content of the individual art works, but uncertainty as it is experienced through the viewing process…As in, 'What am I looking at? Where is this situated?'

"A prime example of this experience can be seen in the selection of images by Guild photographers Karen Neems (Stamford), Sandi Haber Fifield (Westport), Torrance York (New Canaan) and J. Henry Fair (New York City), all of whom create work inspired by the world we know, their photographic processes eschewing the familiar." Other Guild Artists exhibiting include: Hanneke Goedkoop (Rowayton), Robert Gregson (Orange), Shelby Head (Madison), Liz Dexheimer (Washington), Eve Stockton (Alexandria, VA), Tina Blackburn (Santa Fe, NM), Amanda Duchen (Woodbridge) and Susan Sharp (Easton).

Silvermine Galleries’ Viewing Room will debut a selection of new abstract silkscreen prints by Guild Artist Roger Mudre, which he produced in collaboration with Master Printer, Gary Lichtenstein, from July 28 through Aug. 4 and Aug. 28 through Sept. 7. Photographer Jason Gardner will present a "visual anthropology" of the culture, music and rituals of the authentic folkloric Carnival festival in Pernambuco, Brazil from Aug. 7—25. The exhibit will be part of Silvermine's 3rd annual ArtsFest.

"Handful of Art" opens this week at John Slade Ely House, reception on Sunday

John Slade Ely House Center for Contemporary Art
51 Trumbull Street, New Haven, (203) 624-8055
Handful of Art
Jun. 19—Jul. 21, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sun., Jun. 23, 2—5 p.m.

Press release from the John Slade Ely House

The very best New Haven artists working in painting, sculpture, drawing, collage, printmaking and photography have made one remarkable deck of playing cards. Please join the John Slade Ely House in celebrating the culmination of a Partnership for CT Cities project over a year in the making. Handful of Art will be on view from Jun. 19 through Jul. 21. An opening reception will be held on Sun., Jun. 23, from 2—5 p.m.

The participating artists are Michael Angelis, John Arabolos, Amy Arledge, Cat Balco, Ethan Boisvert, Riley Brewster, Frank Bruckmann, Susan Clinard, Megan Craig, Jan Cunningham, Leila Daw, Steven DiGiovanni, Karen Dow, Eileen Eder, Silas Finch, Dean Fisher, Amanda Fornal, Josh Gaetjen, Michael Galvin, Elizabeth Gourlay, Rachel Hellerich, Cham Hendon, Lisa Hess, Danny Huff, Clint Jukkala, John Keefer, Zachary Keeting, Janet Lage, Martha Lewis, Nathan Lewis, Linda Lindroth, William Lustenader, Barbara Marks, Christopher Mir, Adam Niklewicz, Jason Noushin, John O’Donnell, Perry Obee, David Ottenstein, Hank Paper, J.D. Richey, Lyn Bell Rose, Joseph Saccio, Charles Santarpia, Martha Savage, K Levni Sinanoglu, Joseph Smolinski, Kevin Van Aelst, Thuan Vu, Jonathan Waters, Marjorie Wolfe and Aicha Woods.

Opening of "Water's Edge" show at City Gallery in New Haven Sun., June 9

City Gallery
994 State St., New Haven, (203) 782-2489
Susan Newbold and Brooke Smith: Water's Edge
Jun. 6—29, 2013.
Opening Reception: Sun., Jun. 9, 2—5 p.m.

Press release from City Gallery

City Gallery is presenting Water's Edge, an exhibition of prints, paintings, and drawings by Susan Newbold combined with photographs by her daughter, Brooke Smith, from Jun. 6—29. The Opening Reception is Sun., Jun.9, from 2—5 p.m.

Susan Newbold: "Rock of Ages" detail

The work focuses on the magic that occurs where land meets water. Paintings, prints, and drawings are combined with the photography of Newbold’s daughter, Brooke Smith. The two have a shared passion for this amazing aspect of nature and the infinite variety of ways it is expressed. The combination of media lend original definition to this phenomena which has intrigued artists for centuries.

Photo show opening reception Sat., Jun. 8, at Gallery at Still River Editions in Danbury

The Gallery at Still River Editions
128 East Liberty St., Danbury, (203) 791-1474
Nearly Forgotten: Photographs by Catherine Vanaria
Jun. 8—Sept. 27, 2013.
Special CT Open House Day and Opening Reception: Sat., Jun. 8, Noon—5 p.m.

Press release from The Gallery at Still River Editions

Catherine Vanaria: "Top Hat"

Nearly Forgotten is a solo exhibition of black and white photographs by Catherine Vanaria. Catherine Vanaria has been photographing hats in the collection of the Danbury Museum and Historical Society since 2011. Vanaria's hat photographs are softly focused, and are carbon pigment printed on rice paper, making them look solid, but ethereal. The hats serve not just as artifacts, but as documents of the eras from which they originated. Their value is reinforced by being photographed. In addition to her original photography, she has also curated a selection of "salvaged" photographs of hats that tie into her own.

Catherine Vanaria, who is a resident of New Fairfield, CT is an Assistant Professor of Photography at Western Connecticut State University. She has been a fine art photographer and professional photographic printmaker for over 30 years. She is co-owner of Connecticut Photographics. Her first book, The Boston Years: The Music Scene in Photos, was published in 2008 by Laughing Camera Press, Danbury, CT. She received an M.F.A. in Visual Arts from the Art Institute of Boston, Boston, MA in January 2012.

The opening reception is part of Connecticut's statewide Open House Day. There will be refreshments and the gallery will be open from noon—5 p.m. The photographer will be giving an artist's talk at 3 p.m.

Artist's Statement:

We are all collectors. We have albums and shoeboxes of stuff that we’ve removed from our shelves and put into storage for safekeeping. But something happens when things are removed from our sight. Connections to memories kept under cover get diffused and are slowly forgotten.

For the past three years, I’ve been exploring Danbury’s history through the archives of the Danbury Museum and local tag and estate sales to build my own understanding of the lost stories of this area. I’m creating my own historical archive by collecting and photographing objects found at these locations that might otherwise be destined for the trash bin.

This on-going photographic project ebbs and flows with each new discovery. I am attempting to bring both the past and present day histories together to comment on our changing country, bringing forth the old stories that have settled this community to question its future.

"Spectra 2013" opens Thursday at Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery

Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery
70 Audubon St., 2nd floor, New Haven, (203) 772-2788
Spectra 2013
May 17—Jul. 5, 2013.
Artists' reception: Thurs., May 16, 5—7 p.m.

Press release from the Arts Council of Greater New Haven

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven presents Spectra 2013 in the Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery, at 70 Audubon St., 2nd floor. The exhibition will be on display from May 17 through Jul. 5. An artists’ reception is scheduled for Thurs., May 16, from 5—7 pm. The public is invited to attend.

Jim Fiora: "Nine Trees"

Spectra is the annual members’ show of the Photo Arts Collective, an Arts Council program whose mission is to cultivate and support a community of individuals who share an interest in photography, through workshops, lectures, exhibitions, portfolio reviews, group critiques, and special events.

Open to Arts Council members, the Photo Arts Collective meets the first Thursday of each month at the Kehler Liddell Gallery, 873 Whalley Ave., New Haven. Members include local professional and amateur photographers that employ a wide variety of photographic styles, which will all be represented in the exhibition.

Reception for Boisvert and St. Mary show at Gallery 195 Tuesday evening

Gallery 195
195 Church St., 4th floor (First Niagara Bank), New Haven, (203) 772-2788
Ethan Boisvert and Mark K. St. Mary
Through Jun. 14, 2013.
Artists' Reception: Tues., Apr. 23, 5-7 p.m.

Press release from the Arts Council of Greater New Haven

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven presents an exhibition of paintings by Connecticut artists Ethan Boisvert and Mark K. St. Mary at Gallery 195 at First Niagara Bank, 195 Church St., 4th floor, New Haven. The exhibition will be on display during bank hours from Mar. 19 through Jun. 14, 2013. An artists’ reception is scheduled for Tues., Apr. 23, from 5—7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

Ethan Boisvert and Mark K. St. Mary are both obsessed with colorful patterns and layered patinas rich with memories, yet each artist achieved this quality in their artwork through a different lens: St. Mary literally through the camera lens and Boisvert, through a heavily built up painted canvas. St Mary, using light, shadow and color, reframes recognizable places into abstract environments; seen together, these artists create abstractions that suggest both micro and macro universes.

Boisvert builds his canvas surface from densely layered, broad gestural marks- brushed and stamped- building a history of the artist's process in each painting. Borrowing from a rich tradition of abstraction, he reworks his canvases to reach what he considers "equilibrium."

Ethan Boisvert: "All Undone with Insipid Subsume"

"In my painting, I take a 21st century approach, an appropriation of styles created by the 20th century avant-garde. One could say that I sample or loosely appropriate purified styles and combine them into new works—a synthesizer if you will," Boisvert explains in his artist statement on his Web site.

Mark K. St. Mary is a photographer who also has formal training in horticultural design and holds a Masters in biology. In addition, he is a professional landscaper and carpenter whose other means of artistic expression are restoring period houses and designing and building custom furniture. An avid amateur photographer for 36 years, St. Mary began exhibiting work in 2007.

"My work is a visual representation of my emotional connection to elements of the environment. I strive to create a sense of presence, capturing a mood through the intersection of light, form and color… It has more to do with the value of light and shadow than with the actual subject—allowing the subject to acquire a grace unavailable in context so that the subject becomes irrelevant," St. Mary explains in an artist statement on his Web site.