Alan Gaynor: Finalist in the latest Artavita contest
Alan Gaynor has been selected as a finalist in the latest Artavita competition.
Congratulations, Alan!
OPEN CALL: The Sculptors Alliance presents Up-cycling Detritus : curated by Vernita Nemec
Up-cycling Detritus
CURATOR: VERNITA NEMEC
In these times, our environment is in danger more than ever and we must do all we can to save it from further destruction. The evidence suggests that early art was created by artist/shamans who protected the hunt and blessed the harvest. The power of art continues to exist in our contemporary time, a world of machines and cybernetics, and this power continues to be available for us to implement it. Creating from the discarded materials as an alternative, however, is crucial — and the most responsible decision, to extend the use of materials and reduce the abuse of materials that require the destruction of the environment. Sculptors Alliance has the honor and privilege to be Vernita Nemec’s ally supporting the 20th Art From Detritus: “Up-cycling Detritus."
About the Curator:
Vernita Nemec is an artist and curator, and serves as Director of Viridian Artists (since 2000) and on the Board of Advisors of Soho20 in Chelsea NYC. She is the former Executive Director of Artists Talk On Art in New York City (1989-1999). Nemec is the creator of “Art from Detritus” (AFD), and conceived the first AFD Exhibition in 1993. The concept has received supportive funding from the Puffin Foundation, the Kaufmann Foundation and the National Recycling Coalition, just to name a few. AFD has been presented at the National Recycling Coalition, Sears, Roebuck and Co., the Puffin Foundation, Westinghouse Electric Corporation headquarters, American Institute of Architects, Linda Hall Library of Science, Rockhurst College, Writer’s Place, Henry Street Settlement - Abrons Arts Center, Gallery 450, John Jay College of Criminal Justice,Fairleigh Dickinson University, WAH Center and Viridian.
Description:
“Up-cycling Detritus" is a juried competition for dynamic, inventive and provocative work that aims to feature fine art from professional artists from throughout the world. An exhibition that focuses on up-cycling (using generally discarded materials and objects) as the method and source for creating artwork with the highest and finest standards.
Location: Online Opportunity
Eligibility: Open to everyone
Suggested nonrefundable Fee*: $20
Timeline:
• Submission deadline: Sunday February 28, 2021
• Announcement of selected artists: Monday March 15, 2021
• Virtual Release: Thursday April 15, 2021
• Virtual Exhibition: April 15, 2021 – May 30, 2021
• Panel Discussion: May 07, 2021 (to be confirmed)
• Online Exhibition Closed & Archived: May 30, 2021
Note: It does not matter when you made the artwork. Submit your best work now!
For more information please click here
Press Release: "Incongruent Realities" : A Virtual Exhibit
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"Incongruent Realities"
A Virtual Exhibit
February 4 – February 27, 2021
Marie-Ange Hoda Ackad * Jenny Belin * Joshua Greenberg * Yu Huang
Shawn Marshall * Sarah Riley * Kathleen Shanahan
Stuart Skalka * Sheila Smith
Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present an exhibition of outstanding art by nine artists who are part of Viridian Artists' Affiliate program. The show opens February 4 and continues through February 27, 2021. Because Viridian is currently open only virtually, you can see this fascinating virtual exhibit on the Viridian Artists website at www.viridianartists.com.
In these new works, Marie-Ange Hoda Ackad draws on her imagination, adding lushly painted people, flowers, and exotic butterflies transparently to her photomontages, merging real and imagined objects to create a third world that becomes another reality.
Sheila Smith has been a painter and photographer for close to fifty years. She created these collages of torn photographs from the thousands that she has taken over the years, upcycling them, rather than discarding them. The artist has found a new form of expression as well helping to save the environment.
Jenny Belin’s “botanical paintings” are inspired by antique garden catalogs and seed packaging. Belin says, “the cat and butterfly vases represent the nostalgia that I feel for the vintage objects once found on road trips taken prior to the pandemic.”
Soon after Stuart Skalka moved to Las Vegas in 2010, he discovered the Las Vegas that tourists miss, particularly the surviving motels from before The Strip came to characterize the city. Since then, he has been passionately documenting old Las Vegas in color and black & white without any post-processing.
Shawn Marshall seeks to create depth, atmosphere, and to escape on the canvas, often with a focus on the horizon. For her, details about season or specific location are not as important as the emphasis on the point where earth and sky meet. And though reaching that point is never physically possible, it suggests there is always hope.
Amidst the Covid pandemic, Sarah Riley turned to watercolor to joyfully celebrate color, transparency, and experimentation.
In Repetitions, Joshua Greenberg uses photo-based imagery to create abstract art from urban settings. Squares of windows, color, and glass all become objects of repetition while reflected clouds, sky, and sunlight give foreground, background, and a sense of depth. Finally, he adds building profiles to project a sense of movement and balance to the emerging art.
Using a mixed media approach, Kathleen Shanahan created a series of county plat “maps”, with each map providing a “matrix for moves” that becomes a lattice or armature for attaching elements of visual and thematic connections.
Yu Huang regards her paintings as a witness of both her own history and the reflection of our time. In them, she is contemplating the issues of genders, social justice, and the challenges of art.
Viridian has created several programs to give outstanding “underknown” artists an opportunity to have their work seen. Our Affiliate program gives artists an opportunity to show a small series of artworks annually. Sadly, in these times of the Covid Virus, seeing art virtually is the safest way for all and thankfully websites and social media are making it possible for more & more individuals to have alternative opportunities. And the public has an opportunity to see art as well as purchase it for their collections. We hope you will enjoy this virtual exhibit that you can view on our website at www.viridianartists.com.
Viridian is currently operating virtually
For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Director or Jenny Belin, Assistant Director
visit instagram @viridianartistsinc or email us at viridianartistsinc@gmail.com.
Press Release: “HOPE” : A VIRTUAL INVITATIONAL EXHIBIT
“HOPE”
A VIRTUAL INVITATIONAL EXHIBIT
January 7-30, 2021
Chelsea: Viridian Artists Inc. is pleased to present an invitational exhibition of art created by 31 artists. The show opens January 6th and continues through January 30th, 2020. There will be no opening reception due to the pandemic, but viewers are invited to view the art in our virtual gallery accessible on Viridian’s website at www.viridianartists.com. The gallery will be open only by appointment which can be made by emailing us at viridianartistsinc@gmail.com or on the website contact form.
2020 was a year we survived mostly alone, isolated, fearful & filled with disbelief. Our greatest comfort and what brings so many to New York City is culture and culture in every form was hit hard by the pandemic. Concerts were heard mostly on zoom, theaters were closed, museums and galleries were closed or severely limited in numbers of visitors allowed at a time. Many will not survive.
Viridian has continued by creating virtual exhibits that can be viewed on the gallery website and “HOPE” continues the struggle of our gallery artists and invited guest artists to create art both in response to and in spite of the frightening world around us. Images and words can be a comfort and serve to interpret for us thoughts we are often unable to realize.
The range of media & imagery in these artworks defines the broad expanse of these artists’ hopes for our future. Most are looking ahead positively but some struggled with the concept, preferring to remain neutral and “hopeful” in a generalized way. Still, the mood is filled with “hope” as are the words by many we admire whose hopeful thoughts can serve as symbols of strength and give us reasons to continue believing in a more positive future world:
“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all.” Emily Dickinson
“I think whether you’re talking about art or politics or just getting up in the morning and trying to live your life, it’s useful to be able to seek out that joy where you can find it and operate on the basis of hope rather than despair.” Barack Obama
“Carve a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.” Martin Luther King Jr
We “hope” that you will enjoy our images of hope and will consider purchasing one to remind you how important “hope” is in creating a better future and conquering the fears we have as we create this future. A portion of sales will go to organizations struggling to help those in need.
Please visit this virtual exhibit on our website at viridianartists.com and feel free to contact us by email at viridianartistsinc@gmail.com as we remain for the moment only virtually open for the safety of our artists, guests & staff.
Vernita Nemec, Director
Viridian Artists
Stuart Skalka: Honorable Mention
"'55 HUDSON HORNET" by Viridian Affiliate, Stuart Skalka has been selected by juror ANN JASTRAB as an Honorable Mention in the CPFA’s PRIMARY COLORS 2020 call for entry.
Congratulations, Stuart!
Press Release: G. Pack: ‘CLARITY’
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G. Pack
‘CLARITY’
December 9 - December 30, 2020
Chelsea: Viridian Artists Inc. is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings by G. Pack. The exhibition of paintings is entitled “CLARITY” and is the artist’s creative response to this moment in his life. The show opens December 9th and continues through December 30th, 2020. This will be Pack’s first solo exhibition at Viridian.
G. Pack is a quiet and sensitive person he says in his artist statement, and that his paintings are often motivated and inspired by a self-examination of negative & uncomfortable emotional experiences. For Pack, his motives for art making come out of a need to express his feelings through his art.
Jealousy, Insecurity, Loneliness, Spite, Pride, and the hunger for Glory have all been common causes for Pack’s motivation and inspiration. The artist finds that a complacency sets in if there is no controversy, making him feel nothing needs to be said. He finds “clarity”, whether emotional, spiritual or mental, to be his primarily force for creating art. This current moment in history has created much inspiration.
G. Pack began drawing when he was just seven years old. Spending time with his cousins who copied comic book drawings, he began to copy too and gained enough skill that his results not only filled him with pride, but also notice by others. His pride and self- confidence grew as he grew. For the past 6 years, he has been “obsessed” with painting and began to turn down commissions in 2019 so that he could focus on creating art that more closely represents his reactions to what is happening around him.
Seeing his paintings up close, you see his devotion to his craft as well as his concerns about his life and close friends. Many of the paintings and drawings are portraits of people close to him but they also serve as a reminder of the politics of Black Lives Matter and other issues of the day. He finds it best to convey his feelings with his paintings rather than with words. His painting process has become a ritual over the years that begins with what some might call a meditation which sets a tone and creates an inner focus. We are pleased to share with you the inspired art that results.
Viridian continues to request that you make an appointment to see the current exhibit, but don’t hesitate to stop by wearing your mask Wednesday through Saturday, 12-6pm. We will be closed Christmas Day & open ‘til 4pm on Christmas Eve.
Gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday 12–6pm
Press Release: “3 YOUNG ARTISTS”
“3 YOUNG ARTISTS”
SARAH JARRETT ANNA LYLE BAMOOZIE
December 9 - December 30, 2020
Chelsea: Viridian Artists Inc. is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings by SARAH JARRETT, ANNA LYLE and BAMOOZIE as part of Viridian’s Young Artist Program. The show opens December 9th and continues through December 30th, 2020. There will be no opening reception due to the pandemic, but viewers are invited to come to the gallery Wednesday through Saturday 12-6PM, wearing masks. We ask that visitors make an appointment beforehand if possible, since only 5 visitors at a time will be permitted in the gallery. We will be closed Christmas Day & open ‘til 4pm on Christmas Eve.
Sarah Jarrett is a figurative artist who uses old family photos, found photos, memories, and life experiences to create her work. Jarrett received her BFA in Painting from Lyme Academy Collage of Fine Arts in 2016. She has attended residencies at Chautauqua in upstate New York, Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, Italy and GlogauAIR Artist Residencies in Berlin, Germany. Jarrett has been a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome in 2017 and 2018 for an Art and Philosophy Seminar. She received her M.F.A. from American University in Washington, D.C. in 2019. In addition to creating her paintings, Sarah is currently working fulltime with the homeless.
Anna Lyle is a contemporary narrative artist from Birmingham, Alabama. She currently works full-time as a designer at an architecture firm located in downtown Birmingham, where she lives with her partner and cat. After receiving her Bachelor of Architecture from Mississippi State University, Anna moved back to Birmingham and pursue her career as an artist. Anna is mostly self-taught, working in oil paint as her medium. Her work has been exhibited in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, California, and New York. More of her work can be found on Instagram (@annalyleart) and online at www.annalyle.com. "My body of work's purpose is to communicate the ideas and the myriad of emotions that come with feeling like one does not belong. This chasm of belonging lends itself to an opportunity to create one.”
A Native of Toledo Ohio, Bamoozie lived three years in the bay area of California, primarily in Oakland where he feels he was influenced to grow not only as an artist, but also as a person. Now residing in Brooklyn, he is focusing not only on his career as a painter and fine artist, but also as an actor in film. Bamoozie feels he is constantly pulling inspiration from life itself and has developed a unique style of painting that includes imagery as well as words to express the beauty and the turmoil that he sees in the world around him. While specializing in acrylic and oil on canvas in his fine art, in his acting he focuses his empathetic skills on bringing to life the characters he portrays. Bamoozie feels he is forever growing through encouraging “out of the box thinking” in everyone with whom he works, both as a painter and an actor.
Viridian’s Young Artist Program is a program designed to give young artists under the age of 35, a unique opportunity to show their art in Chelsea NYC. Each year, a fellowship is given to a Young Artist by one of the gallery’s senior artists to help them to grow in their professional skills. This year the fellowship was awarded to Bamoozie. We are pleased to share with you the paintings of these outstanding young artists and look forward to your reactions to their outstanding art.
Press Release: "Uncertainty"
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“UNCERTAINTY”
An Invitational Exhibit
November 18 - December 5, 2020
Reneé Borkow * Bamoozie * Ellen Burnett * Henry Coupe *May DeViney * Bernice Faegenburg *
David Fitzgerald * Alan Gaynor * Wally Gilbert *
Chris Tucker Haggerty * Maki Hajikano *Kazuo Ishikawa * Kat King * Marco Lando * Anna Lyle * John Nieman *
Bruce Rosen * Barbara K. Schwartz * Susan Sills * Angela Smith *Robert Smith * Bob Tomlinson *
Frances Vye Wilson * Toto Takamori *
Marie- Ange Hoda Ackad *Jenny Belin * Katia Bulbenko *Arlene Finger * Joshua Greenberg *
Barbara Hillerman Lieske * Shawn Marshall * Vernita Nemec * Nancy Nicol * Sarah Riley * Meredeth Turshen * Orin Buck * Daniel Boyer * Silvia Boyer * Irene Christensen * Susan Darley * Bart Dluhy * Hisayuki Doi *Shingo Hayamizu * Ed Herman * Halona Hilbertz * Mika Isohata * Yasmine Iskander * K-Junko *
Gabriele Juvan * Miwako Kashiwagi* Angela M. LaMonte * Nancy Macina * Cynthia Mailman *
Megumi Matsukawa *Lynne Mayocole * Hiromi Minami *
Sai Morikawa * Ichigo Nohara * Len Rosenfeld *Sheila Smith * Helaine Soller * Hill Spriggins * Yvonne Skaggs * Susana Sulic *
K-KO * Sakiko Toyama * Sam Wiener *
Chelsea: Viridian Artists Inc. is pleased to present during these uncertain times, an invitational exhibit of artists exploring through their art the concept of Uncertainty, by its nature a difficult task. The exhibit will be both real & virtual and will open at the gallery premises November 18th and continue through December 5th, 2020.
Uncertainty by definition has to do with “a feeling or attitude that one does not know the truth, truthfulness, or trustworthiness of someone or something.” But the German physicist, Werner Heisenberg, in 1927 conceptualized “The Uncertainty Principle” as having to do with the limits of accuracy, “articulating the principle that the more precisely the position of a particle is known the less precisely is known its momentum and vice versa”.
Ben Eastham, editor-in-chief of art-agenda and a founding editor of The White Review. writes in “The Case for Embracing Uncertainty in Art” and “On the Value of Bewilderment”. Here is some of what he has to say about embracing uncertainty in art:
“Art today is less about the formal or aesthetic properties of an object than a way of talking about the intricately entangled, increasingly unstable world in which we live.”
“We should not be intimidated by uncertainty but embrace it.”
“Good art has always raised difficult questions, offended taste and challenged established categories.”
Eckhart Tolle who wrote “The Power of Now” states that “If uncertainty is unacceptable to you, it turns into fear. If it is perfectly acceptable, it turns into increased aliveness, alertness, and creativity.” Tolle regards worrying about the future or regretting the past as time lost, and that instead we must live every minute as it occurs. Contemporary art, the art being made at this moment, is more concerned with dealing with ideas rather than with methods, materials or styles. For artists, the making of art often serves as a substitute for worry.
For most of us living totally in the moment & not worrying is impossible. In this exhibit, the making of art has perhaps provided ways that these artists are able to deal with the fears that are currently being created in our world by all the uncertainty currently confronting us.
We hope that you the viewer will also derive some comfort from looking at and thinking about this art of “UNCERTAINTY” and that perhaps it will help you to deal with the uncertainty that we are always facing, but so much more during this time of the Covid virus, the growing concerns for our planet’s environment and racial injustice, to name just a few of the maladies of our times.
Vernita Nemec, 11/8/20
Gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday 12–6pm & by appointment/ masks required
For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Gallery Director at 212-414-4040 or viridianartistsinc@gmail.com
or view the gallery website: www.viridianartists.com
Marco Lando Interview: "The Specter of Faith”: Ravenna, Italy
“Adapting the ancient Byzantine tradition of mosaic to its conceptual ends in compositions on a photographic basis, using the idea of fragment in contrast with the whole , Marco Lando presents at the niArt Gallery , conceived by the artist for the city of Ravenna, until 31 October the exhibition The specter of faith. It is the natural evolution of his previous project “Alchemy”, in which unbalanced aerial scenes were found where architectural images, old and new, floated between stars and portentous moons.”
Click Here to view the Ni Gallery Website
Press Release: Maki Hajikano: “Relational Elements”
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Maki Hajikano
“Relational Elements”
October 21st – November 14th, 2020
Chelsea: Viridian Artists Inc. is pleased to present an exhibition of new work in glass by Maki Hajikano. The exhibition & installation is entitled “Relational Elements” and is the artists’s creative response to this moment in time. The show opens October 21st and continues through November 14th, 2020. This is Maki Hajikano’s first solo exhibition with Viridian.
Maki Hajikano came to Viridian via the gallery’s annual Juried exhibit in 2018, selected by the New Museum curator, Joanna Burton. The work Burton selected was a circular installation of small droplets of rose-colored glass and the uniqueness of the work helped establish Hajikano as an outstanding Viridian Artist.
The work in this exhibition has evolved out of the series “Ambiguous Borders”, which explored through color and juxtaposition, the obscureness of boundaries between different systems, social organizations and political institutions, serving as a metaphor for the boundaries enacted upon beings of color and other marginalized people. In her recent work, she investigates human cognition and visual illusion. By utilizing multiple materials such as glass, metal, and digital images, she creates richly layered environments in her installations.
Hajikano has worked for the past 10 years using abstraction to create philosophical & politically inspired installations utilizing elements of glass, aluminum, and other materials which the artist has manipulated and composed into room-size compositions. “Relational Elements” is an inquiry into how discrete elements relate in such ways that the small units have a substantial existence and meaning in themselves, while at the same time are part of a larger system. Hajikano confesses to a fascination with such concepts that are “both fundamental at the molecular level, yet totally relevant to material existence itself and the phenomenological approach within which we navigate reality.” Hagikano uses these installations of abstract shapes to explore how our experiences affect our view of reality. This installation explores particularly the effect of the Covid-19 Lockdown on our society, as well as on our social, cultural, and personal lives.
The artist states, “The COVID-19 pestilence altered our ‘social-beingness’; lockdown brought society abruptly to [a] consciousness of what was taken for granted: that we are a fragment of a larger ‘organism’, an element that does not function well without the existential being of society. This ‘lack’ also brought to attention our own existential crises and made many to question our individual place in the world. Many felt disconnected, due to physical separation; with time this was alleviated and overcome to an extent through technology. The parts of the human-networks (both intimate and societal) were able to reclaim their relational elements to reconstruct the larger entity of social-being.”
Maki Hajikano received her MFA degree in sculpture from the University of Oregon and is currently an Associate Professor of Sculpture at York College in The City University of New York. She was awarded a residency program at the Pilchuck Glass School where she began using glass in a significant manner. She has been the recipient of several residencies, foremost of which include the Bemis Contemporary Arts, and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center; she also received a Pollock–Krasner Foundation grant. She frequently exhibits her work in the U.S.A and Asia.
Sadly because of the Covid19 Lockdown, there will be no reception. The gallery will be open 12-6PM Wednesday through Saturday, but viewers are invited to make appointments to see the work and meet the artist. No more than 5 viewers will be admitted at a time, and masks are required to be worn by all.
Marco Lando: Solo Exhibition in Ravenna, Italy
Opening Next Week:
Marco Lando
“Spector of Belief”: Curated by Roberto Berné and Felice Nittolo
on view at:
Ni Art Cultura
Via Anastagi, 4a/6, 48121
Ravenna, Italy
Click Here to View Marco Lando’s Website
Click Here for the Ni Art Cultura website
World Premier! Bob Tomlinson in "How to Make A Flower: La Méthode MOBO," a film directed by Dir. Louis Massiah
How to Make A Flower: La Méthode MOBO will have its world premiere screening at the BlackStar Film festival on Tuesday, August 25 at 5:30 PM EDT (23h30 Paris)
Because of the pandemic, the festival will take place on line, so...if you feel like staying up late, you can watch it with the rest of the world . Please click here to watch the film
Press Release: New Arts Prospect: Artists from Japan, Series VII, 2020" Curated by Sai Morikawa August 17- 23, 2020
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New Arts Prospect: Artists from Japan, Series VII, 2020
Curated by Sai Morikawa
August 17- 23, 2020
=Featuring artists=
Ichigo Nohara * Miki Tatebe* Kiyokazu Ito
Miwako Kashiwagi * Monzo Watanabe * Morihiro Okamoto
Shingo Hayamizu * Yoshihiro Kogure *Yuko Sato
Sai Morikawa* Yuuki Kobayashi
New York is a city where the top artists of the world have long coexisted, creating much diversity of art. The series “New Arts Prospect: Artists from Japan” is currently in its seventh year, having started in 2014. Although only in its seventh year, the exhibition is already well established and attracts a lot of attention. Its purpose is to introduce popular Japanese artists who are well known and respected in Japan to new audiences in New York City.
The exhibition, held yearly in the summer, has been highly rated year after year since its inception. Its purpose is to attract art-loving New Yorkers who have a good eye for skillful work. It will especially attract anyone who has an appreciation for the particular unique expressions behind the Japanese cultural background and it's delicate and elaborate techniques. The artworks in the exhibition reveal a deep commitment and a high quality of artistry by their creators.
Sai Morikawa, the curator, says “every year, this exhibition has gained much interest and attention. Visitors don’t come to just look but carefully observe each and every artwork and select what they felt is the best work. The visitors’ deeper engagement with the art truly moved the event organizers. We are pleased that the unique artistic sensibility and technique of the Japanese artists was met with great support and praise from New Yorkers who were mesmerized by their artworks.”
This is the second year that the New Arts Prospect artists and curator are showing at Viridian Artists Gallery in Chelsea. Established in the late 1960’s, Viridian Artists has supported outstanding, “under-known” and emerging artists for more than 50 years. After having a highly successful exhibition last August at Viridian, the artists of New Arts Prospect were again invited to exhibit at the gallery to show their most recent outpourings of creative expression and visitors will not be disappointed.
This exhibition, curated by Sai Morikawa, aims to promote and nurture the cultural exchange between Japan and the US. This exhibition will also be a significant milestone for the participating artists as they build their artistic careers. Regardless of their career stage, these ambitious artists will be showcasing an amazing lineup of art works through which they hope to send a strong message to the world. Despite the current situation, we look forward to your coming to the exhibition in person. All visitors are asked to wear masks and will be limited to only 5 people in the gallery at a time.
=Note=
The gallery exhibition will be open every day but Sunday from August 17th to 23rd from 12-6pm. Again, Visitors must wear masks and there will be a limit of five 5 people at a time in the gallery.
The last day of the exhibition will open by advance appointment only- please call to the gallery for booking.
In Memoriam: Viridian Artist Deborah Sudran
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of longtime Viridian Artist, Deborah Sudran. Deborah was a gifted painter, fascinated with plants and nature. In the past, her paintings were collected by major corporations and institutions and she was preparing a new body of work to show next season. A gifted painter, Deborah used color to heighten the impact of her vision and photography to create the groundwork for her intensely vibrant portraits of plant life. Through her paintings she sought to communicate her emotional response to nature with compelling color and powerful imagery. She attended the Kansas Art Institute and the University of Michigan. In addition to exhibiting at Viridian, her work was shown in many museums and galleries including the Museum of the Hudson Highlands, the Westport Nature Center, the Aldrich Museum of contemporary Art, The Arsenal Gallery in NYC and was featured in the Art in Embassies program in Guyana, South America.
Please Click here to view more of Deborah Sudran’s work
Deborah Sudran
"Orchids & Ferns"
Oil painting, 50 x 36 inches.
Press Release: Apocalypse Now?”: Art created in moments that our lives were changed forever
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“Apocalypse Now?”
Art created in moments that our lives were changed forever
A virtual exhibit online
40% of art sales from this exhibit will be contributed to the Food Bank for New York City
The Corona Virus pandemic has upended our lives. We were already facing global climate change and increases in the number of nuclear weapons. Now this virus, and others that may follow. Most of us who are fortunate enough to be artists don’t usually need to confront such realities. We survived 9/11 and Sandy. We have entered another one of those moments, but this time human life is threatened throughout the planet. It seems impossible to make art that will live up to the challenge & much won’t, but making art is a critical part of our survival. Making art is comfort both for the creator as is the sharing a form of comfort for the receiver, even if it doesn’t express or remove the terror. The comfort exists both in the making and in the seeing and sharing. We have no idea how life will be in the future but we know that it will be different. This moment in time has made us aware of the fragility of existence in a way that most of us been fortunate to not have experienced previously. But now we know that feeling & we seek to perhaps escape but we can’t, to perhaps understand but we cant do that either or perhaps, just to persevere- which we must. For many it has been impossible to create, for others, making art or attempting to, has been part of our survival. The art we are sharing in some cases is so personal & so raw and in others cases easy to look at, but we hope it will help you to sustain your trust in the future, however different it will be.
Vernita Nemec April/ 2020
Press Release: “Art of Detritus: Recycling with Imagination"
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“Art of Detritus: Recycling with Imagination"
April 21–May 21, 2020
A Virtual Show Exhibition
Denise Adler * Annaliese Bischoff * Penny Armentrout Brooks * Ellen Burnett * Angelyn Chandler *
Irene Christensen * Harry Delorme * May Deviney * Katie De Young * Kiffi Diamond * Céline Downen *
Emily Eihoffer * Myrna Minter Forster * Pauline Galiana * Alan Gaynor * Rachel Green *
Fred Gutzeit * Chris Tucker Haggerty * Hannah Ehrlich Haney * Ed Herman * Halona Hilbertz *
Kazuo Ishikawa * Bernice Sokol Kramer * Geoffrey Krist * Lynne Mayocole and Sam Wiener *
Gail Mitchell * Vernita Nemec * Carol Quint * Elizabeth Rhoads Read * Len Rosenfeld * Dani Schuller * Kathleen Shanahan * Brittany Sievers * Kasia Skorynkiewicz. * Courtney Weida * Helen Zajkowski *
Larry Zdeb * Philip Zuchman *
Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to virtually present the exhibit “Art of Detritus: Recyclingwith Imagination" featuring fine art made primarily from trash. The heart of this exhibit is the message of the three R's: Reduce/Reuse/Recycle and especially "upcycling" which is the essence of making art from trash. During this time of seclusion, though most galleries, museums & public spaces are closed because of the Corona pandemic, we will remain open virtually to present art and messages of hope through art & communication. The exhibit will be featured virtually on our website, www.viridianartists.com.
“Art From Detritus” serves to enrich the dialogue between art and the lives of ordinary people because we all have too much trash. By focusing on recycling or "upcycling" as their method and source for creating, these artists have made their art making serve as both a message and inspiration. This exhibit reaches beyond the art world, serving as a message not only about art, but also about recycling for the good of the environment, a goal that has become more pressing as we continue to discard packaging and take a new plastic bag each time we buy. Finally, we are beginning to address practically the issue of too much trash by charging for plastic bags, but more must be done. The art in this exhibit intends to serve not as a solution, but as a reminder that we must do something more than we are doing now to stop the proliferation of garbage & trash that is overtaking our environment.
Artists in this exhibit are opening a dialogue with viewers about the importance and usefulness of art as something beyond decoration, but the battle began decades before with artists who used discards because they couldn’t afford the new or because they saw the beauty that encompassed the aged and broken. Artists often cannot afford studio assistants, expensive materials and equipment for art making, but seeing beauty in the discarded, these artists have creatively dealt with the problem of too much trash by using it to create fascinating and unique art. Artists have been using found objects to make art for eons, but now it has become an ostensibly political act.
“Art from Detritus”, or art from trash, was first conceived and curated by Vernita Nemec, an artist/ curator in 1994 in Portland Oregon during the annual conference of the National Recycling Coalition (NRC). Presented there in the lobby of a recycled Sears Roebuck building & the corporate headquarters for municipal waste & recycling, the exhibit has re-occurred with funding from the Kauffman Foundation, the Puffin Foundation and sponsorship by the NRC. The exhibit was presented in Pittsburgh at the Westinghouse headquarters, the Museum of Arts & Crafts and the AIA; in Kansas City MO at the Linda Hall Library of Science, Rockhurst College & the Writer's Place. Phoenix AZ, Turners Falls MA and NYC have all been Detritus exhibition sites since those early years. In NYC, Detritus exhibits have occurred at the Henry Street Abrams Arts Center, Gallery 450, Synagogue for the Arts, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Farleigh Dickinson University, WAH (Williamsburgh Art Center) and for the fourth time, at Viridian. See more information and images of past Detritus shows at www.ncognita.com.
Vernita Nemec, aka Vernita N'Cognita, the curator and creator of Art from Detritus, is a visual & performance artist and has been the director of Viridian Artists since 2000. Her complete biography can be seen in wikipedia.
Press Release: "Herstory: All That Women Are": A Virtual Show
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
"HERSTORY: All That Women Are"March 17- April 18, 2020
Opening Reception: Cancelled
Kelynn Alder * Deborah Beck * Jenny Belin * Renee Borkow * Ellen Burnett * Irene Christensen *
May DeViney * Kiffi Diamond * Michael Drakopoulos * Samantha Dziubek * David Fitzgerald *
Arlene Finger * Elizabeth Ginsberg * Juliette Gordon * Joshua Greenberg * Chris Tucker Haggerty *
Yu Huang * Kazuo Ishikawa * Yasmine Iskander * Bernice Sokol Kramer * Angela M. LaMonte * Marco Lando *Gabrielle Lundy * Rosemary Lyons * Lynne Mayocole * Ron Moore * Sai Morikawa *
Vernita N’Cognita * Stacey Clarfield Newman * Nancy Nicol * Petronia Paley *
Srividya Kannan Ramachandran * Sarah Riley * Susan Sills * Katherine Ellinger Smith *
Fances Vye Wilson * Sharon Wybrants *
“We have to behave as if everything we do matters”
Gloria Steinem
Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present an exhibition of outstanding art about women. The show extends from March 17- April 18, 2020.
“Herstory”, the word, came into prominence in the early 70’s when second wave feminists began to fight back regarding the male dominated culture of planet Earth. At that time, to get a credit card or take out a loan a woman would have to bring a man to co-sign. Some credit cards still charge women a higher interest rate.
Not until the1930’s could women choose professions such as law, but then even with a degree, most could not get a job as a lawyer. Not even Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
During World War Two Rosie the Riveter came into prominence because the men were at war and women had to go out into the work world. But in the 50’s more traditional roles returned for women and wives, bringing them back into housework and motherhood while men went out to work and to “bring home the bacon”. The marriage rate increased, the baby boom brought more then 76 million births and the divorce rate decreased.
In the 60’s though, we women became bored, went back to work and The Pill came into being. But still, even Betty Friedan’s Feminist Mystique and the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) couldn’t give us the equality we demanded though many of us began to reclaim our names rather than carry on with that of our husband.
As recently as 2019 women made but 79 cents in comparison to man’s dollar earned though in 1963, JFK instituted the Equal Pay Act. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research it will be another 40 years before women make as much as men and even longer for women of color.
The gender wage gap is not the only way in which women are still undergoing discrimination. Of more than 5000 public statues in existence in the US, only 200 are of women. During most of history including the 20th century, married women have been the property of their husband with no right to own property or borrow money without their husband co-signing. It wasn’t until 1965 in France that women were given the right to work without their husband’s consent.
It’s interesting that women had far more legal rights in early Egypt & Rome than we did in the 20th century. They could represent themselves in court, own property, free slaves and sue. We can now work the jobs we want, but we also must still often carry the primary burden of the home. The Guerrilla Girls say that at the Met, less than 4% of the artists are women, but 76% of the nudes are female. Pussy Riot faced a 7 year prison sentence for their punk performance at a Russian church, and a woman is yet to become President. So, to honor women, we again resurrect “Herstory”.
Due to the COVID19 pandemic our gallery is currently closed. “Herstory” is a virtual show that can be viewed on our website. Please click here to view the works in this show.
For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Gallery Director at 212-414-4040 or viridianartistsinc@gmail.com
or view the gallery website: www.viridianartists.com
30 Under 30 Curatorial Statement from Kelly Kivland
Curatorial Statement from Kelly Kivland
As juror for 2020 Viridian Artists Exhibition: 30 Under 30, I was inspired by the diverse depth of contemporary artistic creation in the United States at this moment. It is a rare opportunity to engage with artists from a vast range of areas around of the country, from Alabama to New York City and from Rhode Island to Saint Louis. Viridian Artists Exhibition: 30 Under 30 not only provides valuable insight into current points of view, it is also indicative of emerging movements in art. While the final selection was hard given the quality of the applicants, I was honored to select the thirty artists represented.
The artists in the exhibition come from diverse backgrounds, and the work chosen extends across many approaches and mediums. Much of the painting and photography in the exhibition is representational and rooted in personal narrative as well as social and political subtexts. Yassaira Torres’ photography captures pedestrian scenes that pointedly turn ubiquitous moments into considerations of pause, from strangers seated together at the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, to the shadow of a man posed against an outdoor storefront on West 4th Street in New York City. Bowen Walsh Ferrie’s photography seeks to upend stereotypes of typical ‘Americana’ representation, such as in her photograph of two young black men riding horses along a highway, spontaneously captured adjacent to an auto yard.
Raelis Vasquez’s paintings bring us into domestic environments to give attention to the lives of immigrants of color in the United States. Vasquez’s oil on canvas painting, Nexcy con Libros, is a portraiture of a young woman seated at table with one arm resting on, or more accurately protecting, a stack of books, her gaze locked with the viewer. Ashley Pelletier’s oil on canvas painting is a hauntingly abstract self-portraiture, a blurred figure with no face created through the artist’s layers of scraping and manipulation of her own depiction. Ming Ying Hong’s graphite on mylar drawings depict dueling forms of masculine and feminine body parts—a fractured mouth, forehead or eye— intertwined with serpentine and thread-like objects, which are intricately clustered against a white background as if hovering within an empty abyss. Andre Ramos-Woodard collage, "I don't want to think anymore, I just wanna sleep", 2019, features a small cutout of a black male in the fetal position that is placed in the upper right corner with the red text “guaranteed” taped above his floating body, giving attention to the societal neglect of black male vulnerability. Emily Elhoffer’s slightly grotesque sculpture questions our comfortability with the fat, flesh and organ-like elements of our own human form. Engaging with the language of craft, Elhoffer stuffs several synthetic tube-like forms beneath a latex casing to create a visceral intestine-like mass, evoking a psychological reaction to our underlying physical composition.
As an exhibition, the artists presented in Viridian Artists Exhibition: 30 Under 30 give us insight into the continued interests and contradictions of self, culture and the collective understanding of being in our contemporary world. Each are teasing out how art can be a catalyst for social and political prompts, while giving careful attention to the tension between the subjects of the images and the viewer as well as the greater concerns facing our sense of belonging and power in uncertain times.
Press Release: "30 Under 30": Juried by Kelly Kivland, Curator DIA Art Foundation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
"30 Under 30"
Juried by Kelly Kivland, Curator DIA Art Foundation
February 25 - March 14, 2020
Opening Reception Thursday February 27th, 6-8pm
Hannah Altman * Megan Angolia * Zea Beckwith * Siwon Cho * Alayna Coverly *
Hannah Ehrlich Haney * Emily Elhoffer * Allie Gilmore * Alexis Hill * Ming Ying Hong *
Yasmine Iskander * Anna Lyle * Addie Kae Mingilton *Desiree Mitchell * Orianna Montenegro *
Luke Morrison * Jaclyn Mottola * Ashley Pelletier * Andre Ramos-Woodard * Whitson Ramsey *
Nat Raum * Lauren Sanders * Mengxia Shi * Brittany Sievers * Krystal Sing * Tarran Sklenar *
Yassaira Torres * Raelis Vasquez * Bowen Walsh Fernie * Tinwai Wong *
Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present an exhibition of artists who are all under 30 years of age. “30 Under 30“ continues from February 25th to March 14th, with a reception to meet the artists, Thursday February 27th, 6-8pm. There will also be a closing reception on Saturday, March 14th, 4-6PM at which some of the winning artists will talk about their work.
In a world changing culturally and politically more rapidly than ever, the ways artists look at their lives and times through art making is reflected in this exhibit by artists under 30 years of age. Gleaned from a juried “Call for Art”, Viridian wanted to discover what young artists are thinking about and creating art about in these times.
The work was selected from a wide range of submissions by Kelly Kivland, a curator at the DIA Art Foundation. Holding a master’s degree from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, Kivland has curated numerous exhibits of art at both DIA’s Beacon location and at their Chelsea location.
The struggle to be an artist full time is a dream few can afford and making art in shared spaces is the rule rather than the exception. Consequently, Viridian not only invites a curator to jury this competition annually, but also we have created an affordable membership program for the young and the gifted.
As in the case of our juried exhibit open to artist of all ages & persuasions, Viridian has instituted a digital presentation of 30 artists selected by the gallery director, Vernita Nemec, giving an opportunity to 30 additional artists and giving gallery visitors a chance to see the work of more artists of merit.
Just how difficult is it now is for young artists to achieve their dreams of fame, respect and possibly fortune? What are their concerns? What materials do they work with? Why are some still making art in traditional materials & in traditional ways? How have social media, astronomical rents, and less space changed the way in which artists just beginning their careers express themselves creatively?
Hear the answers to these questions (& more) on the last day of the exhibition, as a select group of these artists talk about the trials & tribulations of being a young artist today. And see the wonderful art they have created, inspired by the madness of today’s world.
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12-6PM
For further information please contact the gallery at 212 414 4040 or viridianartistinc@gmail.com