A walking tour through our Holiday Show with Viridian's Director Vernita Nemec: Video by William Patrick Armstrong
Press Release: "COMPLEXITIES" : New Work by Viridian Affiliates
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"COMPLEXITIES"
January 2-27, 2018
Reception: Thursday, January 11, 6-8pm
Closing Reception, Thursday, January 25, 6-8pm
JOSHUA GREENBERG, ROSEMARY K. LYONS, ARLENE FINGER, SARAH RILEY,
MICHAEL RECK, MEREDETH TURSHEN
Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present an exhibition of outstanding art by six artists who are part of Viridian Artists’ Affiliate program. The work of each artist contains a complexity of intents and outcomes yet all approach their vision in a unique manner.
JOSHUA GREENBERG uses photo-based imagery to create abstract art. In Cityscape Abstracts, he explores the use of concrete, glass and steel to make abstraction. Alleyways, buildings, and sunlight are captured and transformed into art with shadows, reflections, and variable textures providing a framework to view the busy abstraction of the city. Varying shades of gray, black and white highlight movement and frame the isolated beauty of city landscapes. For the artist, this series illustrates how photo-based imagery may help extend the use of less explored dimensions of photography to create contemporary art.
Rosemary K. Lyons’ “Alter Pieces” is an ongoing series inspired by early medieval altar pieces. Painted in the ancient technique using egg tempera, hers carry a modern twist that electrifies our cultural disconnect by portraying beautiful flowers with evocative words embossed in bas relief gold structures. Lyons states, “the words are from an internal dialogue about my existence as an artist.”
ARLENE FINGER has developed her own form of representation after carefully studying light and shadow. She is interested in the color and the play of shapes, but feels free to interpret reality in her own way. Whether looking out the window or portraying objects on the table the artist’s personal vision inhabits the work.
Michael Reck states "Working with stencils and spray paint has freed me from overthinking composition and allowed me to focus on experimenting with color and the variable nature of the medium. I simply continue adding layers until I arrive at the final image. Being unable to see through the stencils keeps me from knowing exactly what that image will be."
Sarah Riley’S subject matter comes from literature, history & memory that she develops by repeatedly layering different images, created on the computer, with scans of my drawings, paintings and prints manipulated in the computer. ‘Katrina’s Banner for Prituri’ evolved from a banner made for Katrina Guittar’s dance piece “Prituri. A digital piece, it can be printed on many materials from as large as 9 feet in length down to postage stamp size. “The piece is emotional and I have used many of my past images of Camille Claudel and Seraphine de Senlis, Oppression. Sublimation. Transcendence. There is life in mental institutions, and art cut tragically short. I had the feeling of a ceiling by Tiepolo in mind. ”The artist goes on to say “Obviously this piece is saying something that is very difficult to put into words.”
Meredeth Turshen creates striking oil paintings on paper that can be interpreted as summery landscapes or read as abstract works. Inspired by Paul Cézanne, the nineteenth century Post-Impressionist painter, Turshen layers delicate oil colors on graphite drawings, giving the work character and depth.
VIRIDIAN'S AFFILIATE PROGRAM is one of the many ways in which VIRIDIAN continues its mission of supporting the art of outstanding "underknown" artists.
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12-6PM
For further information please contact the gallery at 212 414 4040 or viridianartistinc@gmail.com & SEE US ON ARTSY
Press Release: “A Political Apolitical Holiday Show” Viridian Artists' 47th Annual Holiday Invitational
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“A Political Apolitical Holiday Show”
Viridian Artists' 47th Annual Holiday Invitational
December 5, 2017 – December 30, 2017
Reception Thursday, December 7, 6-8 PM
Closing Reception: Saturday, December 30, 4-6 pm
Chelsea: Viridian Artists' 47th annual holiday invitational, “A Political Apolitical Holiday Show” will open December 5th with a reception Thursday, December 7th, 6-8PM. The exhibition continues through December 30th, 2017. As we near the close of 2017, many of us are filled with a sense of trepidation and apprehension about the future of our planet, but we cannot give up hope. Though the populations of today's world are afflicted with anguish and fearfulness about the ever-pressing reality of war, starvation, political upheaval, religious intolerance, global warming and more, we must celebrate the good. Despite the bad, there is much in the world to celebrate. In early, more primitive times, many cultures realized that the artist was the shaman who possessed the powers that could make us well, create wealth, power, destroy illness and evil. It was art, not science that soothed the spirit – it was art that saved us. With the power of the creative spirit in mind, Viridian has invited artists to present their art to aid in the healing of your spirit, or perhaps to just remind you of what we must fight against. In addition, to aid visitors in finding gifts for those who matter in their lives, the gallery has created its annual Olde Arte Shoppe filled with artist-made gifts of prints, photography, jewelry, cards, etc. all priced under $100 for last minute holiday shopping or just for giving t o oneself... Come, dress festively & celebrate the power of art within us.
Featured artists include:
Renee Borkow * Ellen Burnett * Henry Coupe * May DeViney * Bernice Faegenburg *
Tazuko Fuji * Alan Gaynor * Wally Gilbert * Kat King * Namiyo Kubo * Matthias Merdan *
John Nieman * Stacey Clarfield Newman * Mary Tooley Parker * Filippo Prandi *
Srividya Kannan Ramachandran * Oi Sawa * Susan Sills * Ron Moore * Virginia Evans Smit * Angela Smith * Robert Smith * Sarah Riley * Deborah Sudran * Toto Takamori *
Bob Tomlinson * Michael Reck * Arlene Finger * Joshua Greenberg * Marie-Ange Hoda Ackad *
Kiffi Diamond * Barbara Gerard * Rosemary Lyons * Halona Hilbertz * Flora Hogman *
Flash Light * Angela M. LaMonte * Nancy Nicol * Carol Quint * Petronia Paley * Marcia Lloyd *
Vernita N’Cognita * Jenny Belin * Katrin Heyer * Ursula Clark * Hawk Alfredson *
Maki Hajikano * William Frucht * Harini De * Bryan Smith * Jane Talcott * John Lloyd *Sheila Smith * Vidho Lorville *
Susan Hoeltzel * Ayako Bando * Kayo Albert * Meghan McKee * Nancy Kolbert * Naoaki Funayama * William Patrick Armstrong * Cynthia Mailman *
Jade Lowder * Ed Herman * Jimmy Salmon * Elizabeth Ginsberg * Bernice Sokol Kramer * Silvia Aviles and others
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12-6PM
For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Director or Jenny Belin, Assistant Director at 212 414 4040 or viridianartistinc@gmail.com or www.viridianartists.com
“From Virtual To Actual 6” Exhibition Featured on NY Art Beat
![[Image: Jeff Watts “Central Park Row Boats” 16 x 20 in. Photo Print on Metalic Paper]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57bc8e32c534a51bf908d729/1512668202018-XR5UPOQ79PT1NZFLR3ZA/Jeff_Watts-_DSC6064.JPGalt.jpg)
[Image: Jeff Watts “Central Park Row Boats” 16 x 20 in. Photo Print on Metalic Paper]
“From Virtual To Actual 6” Exhibition Featured on NY Art Beat:
Art In a Box Benefit at Viridian Friday, December 1st 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Art In a Box Benefit at Viridian
Join us for : Art in a Box's Art Exhibition and Holiday Party for Artists and Collectors Exhibition to Benefit Children at Risk
Friday, December 1, 2017, 5-8 PM
Viridian Artists
548 W 28th Street
Suite 632
New York, NY 10001
(212) 414-4040
Help empower children with the gift of art!
Art in a Box assists children and young artists around the world who are in need, disadvantaged by poverty, or who are facing crisis situations due to war, public health emergencies, or natural disasters, and supports their recovery and empowerment through art and art education. Art in a Box is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, nonprofit organization.
Contact information: Valentina DuBasky at Art in a Box:
212-691-2543, or e-mail us at artpartners@aol.com
Alan Gaynor's Photograph Receives Honorable Mention in "Patterns and Shadows" 2017 call for entry.
Alan Gaynor's photograph, "185 WEA NYC" has been selected by juror Stephen Perloff as an Honorable Mention in the PATTERNS AND SHADOWS 2017 Call for Entry.
Congratulations to Alan!
www.nyc4pa.com
Wally Gilbert: Open Studios November 18 & 19th : 12-6 pm
This Weekend! Wally Gilbert and 60 Other Artists Will Have Open Studios at
Brickbottom
One Fitchburg Street
Somerville,. MA 20143
Saturday and Sunday: November 18th and 19th: 12 to 6 pm
Wally Gilbert's Studio is C319
Vernita Nemec is exhibiting work in: "ART IN THE BOROS V" at Denise Bibro Gallery
Vernita Nemec, Viridian's director, is in the "ART IN THE BOROS V" exhibition opening November 30th, at Denise Bibro Gallery @ 529 West 20th Street & continuing until January 13th, 2018.
John Nieman: Recent Exhibitions outside of Viridian
In 2017, John Nieman has participated in the following exhibitions outside of Viridian:
January--Art Expo NY on the pier with Arttour international
March--Florence, Auditorium al Duomo, courtesy of Art Tour international
June--Americans in London, at OXO, courtesy of Art Fusion Galleries Miami and Vito Abba
September--Chianti Star Festival in Florence, thanks to Vito Abba
October--Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, "
October--Monaco, Gemuic Gallery. "
October-the end of December, Art Fusion Gallery in Miami including Art Basel showcases
Jenny Belin will be exhibiting work in "Biting Back for a Good Paws": NYC Art Work for Charity
Jenny Belin will be showing work in:
Biting Back - Art for Good Paws
- Fri, Dec 1, 20177:00 PM Sun, Dec 3, 20175:00 PM
- A Bar Brooklyn (map)
- Google Calendar ICS
Opening reception Friday, December 1st at 7pm til Midnight!
Saturday, December 2nd hours: 1pm - 6pm
Sunday, December 3rd hours: 1pm - 5pm
"30 Under 30" Competition: 2018
Press Release: "FROM VIRTUAL TO ACTUAL 6"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PLEASE LIST
Director's Choice
"FROM VIRTUAL TO ACTUAL 6"
Curated by Vernita Nemec
October 31- November 25, 2017
Opening reception Thursday, November 2, 6-8PM
Andrea Barnes * David Bartlett * Nancy Brown * Jeannette Cherry * Deb Flagel *
Marcella Hackbardt * Maki Hajikano * Ed Herman * Jeannine Hunter Lazzaro * Barbara Hillerman Lieske * Len Rosenfeld * Jimmy Salmon * Nela V. Steric * Rosalind Tobias * Jeff Watts *
Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present " Director's Choice: From Virtual To Actual 6", curated by Vernita Nemec, Viridian’s director, featuring a selection of artists who entered our 27th International Juried Competition in 2016, curated by Tumelo Mosaka. This exhibit extends from October 31st to November 25th, 2017 with an opening reception Thursday, November 2nd, 6-8PM.
Although these artists were not “winners” of Viridian's 24th International Juried Competition, their art is uniquely interesting and was of particular interest to Nemec. Viridian's “Director's Choice” Exhibitions arise from one of Viridian's primary missions: to provide meaningful exposure to under-known artists of all ages whose art merits wider attention.
Each of the 15 artists in this diverse exhibition has her or his personal obsession that serves as the starting point for their artistic search to transform inner concerns into an outer reality. The results of transforming these realities into art, remains open to each viewer's interpretation and becomes the first translation of the virtual into the actual. The second translation is the opportunity to see the art in the flesh instead of in a powerpoint presentation as the art were seen in the Juried Competition in 2016.
Below, many of the artists speak for themselves about their motives & intentions in the work. For those that are silent, the viewer is invited to look more closely at the work for clues into the whys.
Andrea Barnes: "The most recent in an ongoing series of exploratory mixed media works which are reflective of my experience and influenced by my interests in science, music, and the process of memory.
David Bartlett: “In its decay, Eastern State Penitentiary strikingly reveals its elemental physicality. In lingering monuments and temples, stone and iron celebrate endurance of the human spirit. Here is brute incarceration - bleak, iterated enclosures with mocking slits of sky and shabby rusted remnants of meager furnishings.
Nancy Brown: “My image-making privileges “found” over “sought”, enigmatic over declarative, less over more. My photographic images – radically de-focused, indeterminate, liminal – encourage a kind of free-flowing inquiry that stimulates new ways of seeing and looking, critical thinking, and play.”
Jeannette Cherry strives to create paintings that are complex, yet simple. She enjoys intuitive risk-taking, interspersed with thoughtful analysis that she feels resembles an order that holds “just barely”. She wants to keep uncovering the endless connections between control and free-falling –
Deb Flagel, after being both a winner in the 28th Juried Competition & Director’s Choice, she is also now a part of Viridian Artists as well as the director of Woman Made Gallery in Chicago. "My work is an accumulation of momentary glances encountered on a daily basis. As my eye records the environmental landscape that surrounds me, my mind begins to weave line, color and shape, constructing a sort of self identity...a personal cultural fabric."
Marcella Hackbardt: feels the "subject" of this series would not be clear to an observer upon seeing just one piece, but can be felt. Beginning with photographs of her son, his strangely known and unknown body, is overlaid her watchfulness, worries, tendernesses, and the real and symbolic distance that comes with his independence.
Maki Hajikano: The advances of science have given us a new perspective of the body. My piece suggests various cell forms and mutation process, which was inspired by the introduction of IPS cells. Through the work I challenge and play with people’s notions about form as well as sexuality, since in some cultures the phallic form does not necessarily imply negative connotations.
Ed Herman: SOKOV= SOCKS OFF. Leonid Sokov is/was a member of the Russian art movement, Sotz Art, the Russian version of Pop ART. Before coming to the US, the Russian authorities bulldozed a work of his, Very Hard Criticism. Finally he represented RUSSIA in the 2014 Venice Biannual. Also, a friend, their studios were on the same floor in 1984-89
For Jeannine Hunter Lazzaro there is and has always been a fascination in creating images that explore the surface and medium of the picture plane. Combining various methods, textures and paint to create becomes a transformative experience for her. Particularly stain-painting, masking out areas, creating collaged surfaces and shaping the canvas are elements she has developed in her visual language.
Barbara Hillerman Lieske’s career path spanned graphic design, craft art, art education, research dealing with the sociology of fashion, and photography. Her interest in street photography evolved while serving in Vienna, Austria, as head of a branch of Webster University's Art Department. “As I walked through the city I was attracted to individuals who expressed their personalities and humanity through gesture and choice of clothing.”
Leonard Rosenfeld (1926-2009), as an Expressionist painted, in his words, "with a weird combination of abandon and discipline." "Frankenstein in Baghdad" (2006), was among his Iraq War series. The series was first inspired by a New York Times review of In the Company of Soldiers by Rick Atkinson, which spoke of General Petraeus' precient question to Atkinson, "Tell me how this ends?" Rosenfeld's Iraq War series spanned 2004-2008.
Jimmy Salmon: Study in Old World Still Life: The photograph in this exhibition, Grapes, Berkemeyer and Roemer, is from a series based on a study of the 17th Century Dutch Still Life painters Pieter Claesz, Adriaen Coorte, and the more rustic work of Spaniard Luis Mendelez. The intent of the work was to create a meditative mood, using simple compositions, with hand painted backgrounds of brush strokes and color pallet to resemble those of Claesz.
Nela V. Steric: "The "Virgin of the Rocks" is a part of my "Spiritual" Series paintings. In the series, I explore my relationship with the "other side", my beliefs, but also my doubts and the underlying irony in the religious stories that people create to explain the spiritual.
Rosalind Tobias: “I love working from a live model. I love the challenge of capturing the essence of a pose. One is working with very deep feelings.
Jeff Watts shot the Central Park Row Boats “as I was intrigued by the their patterns of shape and color and thought they would make for an interesting abstract image which would not be immediately recognizable to the viewer.”
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 12 - 6 p.m.
For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Gallery Director
5 Works by Ellen Burnett will be on view at JCAST 2017
Ellen Burnett will be showing 5 pieces atthe Jersey City Art and Studio Tour on October 14th and 15th. Please go to the JCAST website and click on the 2017 Map button to see the location of the 4 venues where the 5 works will be featured.
The Jersey City Art and Studio Tour, now in its 27th year, developed from an event rooted in artists’ studios, retailers and other downtown spaces (111 First Street among them) into the City's premier cultural event. Since inception, the tour has annually attracted thousands of art aficionados every October from the tri-state area. Started in 1990 by Charles Kessler and Pat Donnelly of Gold Coast Magazine (a Jersey Journal weekly) and continued by Al Preciado and Margaret Schmidt, the event has garnered increased investment by the City over the years, reflecting the importance of Jersey City as a center for the arts in the state.
Wally Gilbert Scarves
Wally Gilbert's Scarves are available for purchase at the gallery! Modeled here by the charming Jeremy Martin
Students from the Freshmen Class of Avenues: The World School Visit Viridian's Selfie and Self Portrait Show
Monica Ramos of Avenues High School brought students from her English class to the gallery this week to see "Selfies & Self-Portraits: 21st C Artists See Themselves". The students were asked to take notes, and each was then asked to write a haiku poem, inspired by individual pieces in the show. The haikus were read out loud...each was very thoughtful and impressive. It was an absolute pleasure to meet this group of young art lovers!
Draw-In Event on September 28th: 6-8pm
Wally Gilbert in London at Saatchi START Art Fair
Portrait of Wally Gilbert by Vernita Nemec
Alan Gaynor's photograph has been accepted for inclusion in The Photo Review 2017 Competition issue.
Alan Gaynor, "Under Brooklyn Bridge". Photograph, 12”x 7” to 36”x 21” or larger on request
Congratulations to Alan Gaynor!
Ellen Burnett at The Platform Contemporary Art Show, Art Book Fair & Film Festival
Any Road Will Get You There (9.5"w x 9.5"h x 1.5") by Ellen Burnett
Viridian Artist's Newest member is exhibiting work at the Platform Contemporary Art Show:
Brooklyn Expo 72 Noble Street September 29th - October 1st 2017
From artist, curator and publisher Terrence Sanders comes the inaugural edition of
Platform Contemporary Art Show, Art Book Fair & Film Festival.
The Viewing Room features Gerard Frances, Anita Arliss, Chris Justice Cheryl Schainfeld, Bianca Sforni, Ellen Burnett, Walter Poole, Morgan Frew, Joey Solomon, Cynthia McLoughlin, Mo Hongxun & Ping Zheng.
Press Release: Wally Gilbert "Towers"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
Wally Gilbert
“Towers"
October 3rd- October 28th, 2017
Opening, Thursday October 5th, 6 to 8PM
Closing Reception: Saturday, October 28th, 4 to 6PM
Chelsea: Viridian Artists Inc. is pleased to present an exhibition of digital imagery by the artist/scientist/photographer Wally Gilbert, entitled “Towers”. The show opens October 3rd and continues through October 28th, 2017. In celebration, there will be a reception to meet the artist on Thursday, October 5th, 6-8PM.
Wally Gilbert has always been modest about his achievements. If you looked him up on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Gilbert) , you would learn that he is not only a Nobel Prize-winning scientist but also a Cambridge graduate, a Harvard professor, and a noted and honored expert in numerous other scientific investigations. But after retiring from Harvard in 2001, he turned to the artistic side of his brain and began a career in digital photography, transforming his images with Photoshop and undoubtedly other self-invented techniques to make fascinating compositions suggestive of depths beyond reality.
Gilbert has been working with digital photography now for over a decade, sometimes exploring color, sometimes focusing on black & white imagery. In this exhibit, his focus is on color and light which he investigates and manipulates, transforming fragments of photographs into a plethora of artistic and arresting abstract and sometimes nearly realistic artworks.
The artist/scientist continues his exploration of the digital media of photography, approaching it with scientific gusto, artistic freedom and the wisdom of experimentation, pushing and transforming his images by taking color to the extreme. The work in his latest exhibition begins with color, light and overlapping shapes, creating complex abstractions that leave the viewer to imagine their origins. This time, many of the images begin with towering architectonic structures, perhaps reminding us - with the title “Torn Building Towers”- of The Twin Towers of 9/11.
Gilbert explores the medium of photography zealously, searching for beauty and then translating that beauty into his own imagistic language of color and form. He first captures photographically a wide variety of subjects, translating the subjects into artistic images that he enhances digitally, pushing colors and shapes creatively and scientifically perhaps, reminding us that the thinking processes of artists and scientists are more alike than we previously realized.
With this new series of images, Gilbert continues exploring architectural imagery, but now repeating & altering it so that the images dance before your eyes. They glow with color driven to full saturation creating new interactions, until they have become “abstract meditations” at times approaching the psychedelic images of the 70’s. A time so different from now but perhaps not so for the show at the Whitney of 70’s Political Art which featured the works of many old friends.
"In his digitally altered photographs, Wally Gilbert slices up and weaves city scenes, cranking color values off the charts. Ember red burns against royal purple, and lemon-yellow pops against red and violet, in "Torn Building Tower – Triptych." Zing! The three narrow vertical panels echo forms of the buildings they depict, which tumble, fold, and open into dazzling, game-board grids." -- Cate McQuaid, Boston Globe, March 31, 2017
His art was featured in the Saatchi Fair in London in September in this year as well as numerous venues on the East & West Coast of the US. We hope that you will be able to meet this outstanding artist and share his vision through seeing these incredibly fascinating artworks.
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12-6PM
For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Gallery Director at 212 414 4040 or viridianartistinc@gmail.com