Away from the Internets

I will not have access—or will only have very limited access—to the Internets tubes the next two weeks so there will not be posts on show openings or reviews.

See you in the future.

Eric Gottesman show opens as part of Creative Cocktail Hour at Real Art Ways tomorrow evening

Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St., Hartford, (860) 232-1006
Eric Gottesman: Tinsae
Opening July 21, 2011.
Opening reception; Thurs., July 21, 6—8 p.m. as part of Creative Cocktail Hour. Admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

Real Art Ways presents an exhibition by Eric Gottesman that explores the life of a teenager in Ethiopia, Tinsae Muluneh, who the artist has known since 2004. The exhibition, which contains photos and videos created by both Eric Gottesman and Tinsae Muluneh, is a portrait of Tinsae and an examination of the artist-subject relationship.

An opening reception on Thurs., July 21 from 6—8 p.m. will be held as part of Creative Cocktail Hour, Real Art Ways' monthly third Thursday gathering. Creative Cocktail Hour is from 6—10 p.m. Admission is $10/$5 Real Art Ways members.

In 1999, Eric Gottesman began working with a group of children whose parents died of AIDS in one neighborhood in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The group, which now identifies as an art collective under the name Sudden Flowers, produces photographs, videos, local installations and performances that they display around their Addis Ababa neighborhood and throughout Ethiopia in a series of portable exhibits.

Tinsae Muluneh, the subject of the exhibition, is a member of Sudden Flowers. The projects he and Gottesman created together address the trauma he endured after his parents died and the stigma of being an orphan. A voracious student, Tinsae Muluneh consistently ranks first in his class and will likely study at university next year.

The exhibition room, which contains a circular wall, displays some of the multiple layers of Tinsae's life. The outer walls are explorations of Tinsae as an individual - his fears, desires, dreams and experiences. Inside the circular wall, which represents both a lens and an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, viewers learn more about Tinsae's community.

This is the third in a series of biographical/autobiographical exhibitions that profile individual members of Sudden Flowers with whom Eric Gottesman has collaborated.

Gottesman says that the exhibition raises questions about representation, collaboration, difference and transgression. "When images are made with another person in another place, how can my installation of the work retrieve the context in which the work was originally made? Put another way by American artist and AIDS activist Gregg Bordowitz, is intimacy 'the reconciliation of foreignness and habit?'"

In July Real Art Ways is also featuring two musical events highlighting Ethiopia. Ethiopian-American singer and songwriter Meklit Hadero performed on Wed., July 13. On Fri., July 29 Real Art Ways presents a concert of unique interpretations of classic Ethiopian pop music from Debo Band with special guests Fendika.

About Eric Gottesman

Eric Gottesman studied law and politics and worked for a time in the office of the Chief Justice of the United States of America. He is now a collaborative artist and teacher working with photography, video, installation and performance. For the last ten years, he has been working with Sudden Flowers, an art collective in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that he co-founded.

Gottesman has upcoming solo shows at TPW Gallery in Toronto (part of the 2011 Contact Photo Festival) and the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Mass (September 2012, with Wendy Ewald). His work is in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Johnson & Johnson Collection and various universities. His work has been supported by the Open Society Institute, the Opportunity Fund, and the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke.

He is the winner of the 2011 Apex Art Franchise Award, a 2009-2010 Fulbright Fellow in Art, a 2009 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellow, a 2008-2009 Aaron Siskind Foundation Fellow, and a recipient of the 2009 Artadia Award. His first book May the Finest in the World Always Accompany You! will be published in 2011. He is invited to be the Artist-in-Residence at Amherst College in Spring 2012.

Thursday evening opening at mARTket in South Norwalk

Gallery 305K
305 Knowlton St., Bridgeport, (203) 814-6856
Eye Candy
Through the end of July.
Opening reception: Thurs., July 21, 6:30 p.m.
Show is at mARTket, 136 Washington St., in Norwalk's SoNo area.

Press release

Gallery 305K, Norwalk 2.0 and TR SONO Partners are proud to present Eye Candy. Inspired by the candy store that once occupied the space that will be hosting the show on 136 Washington Street in Norwalk, the show will feature work that seems to view life through a child’s eye. Without naivete, but with an eye to the visually bold, magical, and simply fun.

The art explores the power of competing and vying color. It includes visual elements that speak to magical and improbable themes as well as the deliciously enticing. Artists reach the viewer on all sensory levels and we are tempted to consume the work on many levels.

Artists include Mark DeRosa, Liz Squillace, Frank Foster Post, Emily Habansky, Andrew Perkowski, Darrin Green, Jason Streater and E.S. Barraza. Eileen Walsh of Gallery 305K curated the show. The artists are all a large part of the creative bloom that is happening in Bridgeport. We are all very happy to bring a taste of our culture to Norwalk, a city that serves as an inspiration and example of how The Arts can invigorate a city.

Tom Rich of TR SONO Partners has donated the space to support emerging artists and incubate local produced talent. A strong supporter of the arts in Fairfield County, TR SONO Partners has donated space and supported programs throughput the county.

The show will have an opening reception on Thurs. July 21, with artists at 6:30 pm. The Space called the mARTket (former Sweet Rexies) is at 136 East Washington Street in Norwalk’s SoNo area. During the show Gallery hours will be Saturdays from 12 noon until 5 p.m. The show will run through the end of July and selected pieces will also be on exhibit during the Sono Arts Celebration, a weekend festival that runs through August 6 and 7 2011.

(Image: "Gods" by Mark DeRosa.)

Thursday evening opening at A-Space Gallery in West Haven

A-Space Gallery at West Cove Studios
30 Elm St., West Haven, (203) 966-9700
Masterskaya: the Studio as a Playground for Nine Artists
July 21—Aug. 13, 2011.
Opening Reception: Thurs., July 21, 6—9 p.m.

Press release

Masterskaya: the Studio as a Playground for Nine Artists opens tomorrow at A-Space Gallery at West Cove Studios in West Haven. The show features the work of nine artists: Rita Brieger, Naomi Cruz, Robert Jacoby, Dmitry Krasny, Carol Kraven, Elizabeth Nagle, Randi Nussbaum, Aleksandr Razin and Victoria Wyndham.

There will be a reception for Masterskaya from 6—9 p.m.

Open Thurs.—Sun., 10 a.m.—4 p.m.

Thursday evening opening of members' show of Arts Council of Greater New Haven

Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery
70 Audubon St., 2nd floor, New Haven, (203) 772-2788
Palette: 8th Annual Members' Show
July 21—Sept. 16, 2011.
Artists' reception: Thurs., July 21, 5-7 p.m.

Press release

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven presents Palette, the organization’s eighth annual members show, in the Sumner McKnight Crosby Jr. Gallery, 70 Audubon St., 2nd floor, New Haven. This exhibition of works in a variety of media will be on display from July 21 through Sept. 16, 2011. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.—5 p.m. The gallery will close at 3 p.m. on Fridays during July and August. An artists’ reception is scheduled for Thurs., July 21, from 5—7 p.m.

This year’s exhibit honors the broad strokes of our diverse creative membership body, featuring a broad spectrum of approaches and media. (Image: "Sight Lines," a monoprint by Irene K. Miller.)

Peterson photo reception at Pardee-Morris House in New Haven Friday

Pardee-Morris House
325 Lighthouse Rd., New Haven, (203) 562-4183
Tom Peterson: New Haven Perspectives
Sundays, 1—4 p.m., through July 24, 2011.
Opening reception: Fri., July 15, 5:30—7 p.m.

Press release

The New Haven Museum announced that its Pardee-Morris House will be open to the public free of charge on Sundays in July and August from 1—4 p.m. During July, the Pardee-Morris House will feature New Haven Perspectives, a show of photographs by New Haven photographer Tom Peterson. The artist's reception for the show will be held this Friday, July 15, from 5:30—7 p.m.

Located at 325 Lighthouse Road on the city’s East Shore, the 6000 sq. ft. house, is one of the oldest surviving colonial structures in the state. The original Morris homestead house was built shortly after the founding of the New Haven Colony in the mid-17th century and was burned by the British during their invasion of New Haven in 1779. Once the invaders had been driven off, the Morris family rebuilt so that the structure as its stands today dates from about 1780. It was occupied by seven generations of the Morris family. Gradually, the family sold off parts of their original 170 acres, including the parcel sold to the United States government for construction of the lighthouse, and the house today sits on a little less than one acre. The property was acquired in 1915 by William Pardee, a collateral descendant of the Morris family, who wished to make it his home. At his death in 1918, the property was left to the New Haven Museum, then known as The New Haven Colony Historical Society.

Hocker exhibit reception at 100 Pearl Street tomorrow

100 Pearl Street Gallery
100 Pearl St., 1st Fl., Hartford, (860) 525-8629
Barbara Hocker: Meanderings & Reflections
Through Sept. 7, 2011
Opening reception: Thurs., July 14, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

Meanderings & Reflections, a new exhibit by Hartford artist Barbara Hocker, opens at the 100 Pearl Street gallery managed by the Greater Hartford Arts Council. Hocker’s work combines digital photography and printmaking to blur the line between reality and abstraction, creating work that communicates the atmosphere and mood of our local natural places.

Hocker's artworks will be shown in the 100 Pearl Street gallery from June 29—Sept. 7. There will be an opening reception in the gallery space on Thurs., July 14, from 5—7 p.m.

Friday evening opening at Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art in New Haven

Giampietro Gallery — Works of Art
315 Peck St., New Haven, (203) 777-7760
Stephen Grossman: Recent Work
Blurring Boundaries: American Folk Art
July 8—Aug. 12, 2011.
Opening reception: Fri., July 8, 5—8 p.m.

Press release

Giampietro Gallery—Works of Art presents two shows, Stephen Grossman: Recent Work and Blurring Boundaries: American Folk Art, opening this Friday.

Stephen Grossman (Web) artist statement:

In my paintings things appear to be out of focus. The paintings address problems of perception, recollection and longing. The depicted objects embody ones recollections and all the cloudy, tainted misalignment that occurs between ones memory and the actual objects.


I have recently been trying to find a language that is based in my earlier studies of objects and documentary images but is separate from the documentary content. Some of the recent work is based in recollection of experiences, such as driving on the highway at dawn, feeling the sunshine and sea air in Truro, MA, or listening to the news about the oil spill in New Orleans. In these cases the emphasis shifts from the problem of perception to that of translation. These paintings convey the acts of measurement, evaluation, balance, and perhaps calibration—the longing for objects is replaced by the desire to construct, (or reconstruct) an experience.

Blurring Boundaries in American Folk Art walks that precarious line that separates fine art and self-taught/utilitarian works. The pieces in this show all share the relationship of having been created with an innate, artistic eye. That eye, however, probably never intended for these objects to be considered or viewed as works of art.


The artwork in this show will share commonalities with fine art that cause these works to resonate with the viewer from a fine art perspective. Directness of image, spontaneity, ambiguity, subconscious meaning and purpose transport these works to a level that blurs that line.

Jonathan Waters show opening in Fairfield Thursday evening

Fairfield Arts Center
70 Sanford St., Fairfield, (203) 319-1419
Jonathan Waters: Recent Sculpture & Works on Paper
July 7—Sept. 4 2011.
Opening Reception: Thurs. July 7, 6—8 p.m.

Press release

The Fairfield Arts Center is excited to present the mind-blowing work of Connecticut-based artist Jonathan Waters in his exhibition Jonathan Waters: Recent Sculpture & Works on Paper, opening on July 7 from 6—8 p.m. and running through Sept. 4, 2011 in the Ellen Hyde Phillips Gallery.

Waters, who received his BFA from Windham College and MFA from Yale has exhibited extensively throughout New York and Eastern Connecticut. Influenced by Alexander Calder, Mark di Suvero and Richard Serra, with whom he worked, Waters seeks balance in his art that allows the viewer to concentrate on pure line and shape without compositional distractions. He focuses on “drawing in space” and transforms two-dimensional lines and shapes into three-dimensional objects; his goal is to actively engage his audience with his method of assembly using geometric and organic contours to attain an overall sense of harmony amidst the duality created by his effective use of contrast.

Thursday evening opening at Guilford Free Library

Guilford Free Library
67 Park St., Guilford, (203) 453-8282
Rosemary DeLucco-Alpert and Sisters in Cloth: Double Take: Photo & Fiber
Through July 31, 2011.
Opening reception: Thurs., July 7, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Press release

A group of Shoreline fiber artists known as Sisters in Cloth (Web) has collaborated with Guilford photographer, Rosemary DeLucco-Alpert, to create the exhibit Double Take: Photo & Fiber. The exhibit, fresh from its Spring installation at Yale’s Haskins Laboratory, will be on display at the Guilford Free Library, 67 Park Street, from July 1—30, 2011.

Double Take is a unique concept, consisting of 15 photographs and 15 art quilts. DeLucco-Alpert’s photographs of flowers have long been a favorite of Shoreline art collectors, and served as inspiration for the fiber artists. Each artist chose a photograph and created two pieces of fiber art as a response. Some focused on the colors and textures of the photos, while others captured the mood and essence of the flowers. The final exhibit is an abundance of color, texture, unique patterns, and a “garden of inspiration”.


Participating artists are Barbara Coleman Adams, Janine Anderson-Bays, Debra Bento, Rosemary DeLucco-Alpert, Vivika Hansen DeNegre, Yvette Howard, Evelyn Judson, Gail Kotowski, Carol Ludington, Ruth Anne Olson, Linda Sexton-Patrick, Marie Kadlec Shepherd, Robin Wolek, Martha Wolfe, Diane Wright and Linda Zimmerman.

The public is invited to meet the artists at a reception being held at the Guilford Free Library on Thurs., July 7, 2011 from 5:30—7:30. The exhibit may be viewed during library hours.