“RENEWAL”
A Group Exhibition
May 19 – June 6, 2015
Reception Thursday May 21, 6-8pm
Chelsea: Viridian Artists is pleased to present “RENEWAL”, a group exhibition of gallery artists opening May 19th and continuing through June 6th with a reception on Thursday, May 21st, 6-8PM.
RE.NEW.AL (noun) [ri’nu:al]: regeneration, restitution, rekindling, revitalization, rejuvenation, rebirth, replentishment, restoration, repair. Spring is the season of renewal and so the works in this exhibition seek to address the meaning of renewal in all its ramifications.
Human relationships are but one aspect of life that rekindles. Susan Sills shows a small pen drawing of her grandson as an infant, the renewal of life while Henry Coupeapproaches the theme of “Renewal” with a small delicate painting of a bride and groom beginning a new life together. Diane Root (aka Matakia)’s collage is about the renewal of love, and a rejuvenation emanating from Matisse who has been a mentor and inspiration throughout her artistic life. Angela Smith renews images of herself as computerized glitches.
Many of the works utilize nature as subject matter, implying the ways we are renewed by it. Deborah Sudran’s gouache of “Crotons and Palms” and Stacey Clarfield Newman’s“Majesty” depict in entirely different ways a sense of how nature regenerates itself in its plant life. Bernice Faegenburg and Virginia Smit are also renewed by nature. Photographer Alan Gaynor and painter Bob Tomlinson present flowers in a new light.Renee Borkow shows urban nature and Arlene Finger depicts limbs of trees reaching up in search of new leaves at the start of spring, a time for growth and renewal.
Photographers Robert Smith sees other forms in reality and Wally Gilbert, working digitally, regenerates his photographic imagery as a new reality. Barbara K Schwartzreminds us of the magic of the circus while Kathleen King uses fantasy with an installation of tiny digitally created dragon sculptures that can also be worn as pins and pendants. Michael Miller’s Gridheads renew with humor and Matthias Merdan’s “Start Up” explores beginnings with twisted steel while May DeViney plays with politics & religion.
Some of the artists make their point more abstractly. Arthur Dworin’s mixed media work contains a host of symbols of renewal- a Celtic symbol for spring, ribbons of DNA, a symbol of life and a snake, a symbol for medicine. In Bruce Rosen’s “paintings,… it is as though we are seeing a passage of time and an accumulation of experience. The works mirror the artist whose life integrated the noble poetics of two languages, the written and the visual.” (Joan Krawczyk, former art editor of The Paris Review, independent curator, and former director of Viridian Gallery, in a 1997 statement.) Others in the show whose art presents a more symbolic approach include Tazuko Fujii, OI Sawa, Namiyo Kubo & Janet Bohman.
We look forward to seeing you then and revitalizing, rekindling, rejuvenating and restoring your spirit through looking at and experiencing our art.
For further information please contact the gallery at 212-414-4040,
viridianartistsinc@gmail.com or view our website: viridianartists.com.
