Opening Next Week:
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
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
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
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
“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"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
“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
Maki Hajikano is currently showing in two exhibits: PERIPHERAL and ABSTRACT MIND 2020
PERIPHERAL: An International Call for Works About Edges and Boundaries
January 23 – February 21
Manifest Gallery 2727 Woodbum Ave, Cincinnati, OH
Gallery Hours: Tues-Fri Noon-7pm Sat noon-5pm
Abstract Mind 2020: The 5th International Exhibition on Abstract Art
February 22 - March 1, 2020
CICA Museum, 196-30 Samdo-ro, Yangchon-eup, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Museum Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 10:30-5:30
John Nieman was recognized as one of the artists of the decade by Art Tour International on 1/16 2020! He also has two shows:
John Nieman
Group show: What is missing?
Remember 20 years ago when young Eton Patz disappeared in Soho? His face appeared on every milk carton in NYC. This is a modern day interpretation of Missing, i.e. Missing American values. Yes, they are milk cartons. And they are missing.
Venue: The Grand Palais Paris (the last show in this celebrated art galley for two years of restoration)
Dates: Feb 11-16, 2020
Address: Ask the concierge.
Also see next: “If you shoe fits…”
It instantly speaks to people
Venue: Art fusion, St. Pete, Florida.
It’s like a shoe display of celebrities. Original art.
Duration: through the end of February.
Originally in Art Basel for 2 months. Now in St. Pete.
SAVE THE DATE: Stacey Clarfield Newman's participation in the International Group Exhibition "WOMAN, AN INFINITE WOR/LD"
For additional information, sale by private appointment, further information about the artists, and
RSVP for the opening night, please contact:
Simone Piva +39 339 3607484 or by email: sipivaitmondo@gmail.com
For information about the Venue, and RSVP for the opening night, please contact:
SK Art Gallery NY: 914-358-1516 or by email: skartgalleryny@gmail.com
Address:122 Westmoreland Ave, White Plains - 10606 - NY
Hours: Week Days: 10 - 4am
Saturday: by appointment
Woman: An Infinite Wor/ld. A Tribute To Women Through The Art.
International Group Art Exhibition
March 7 to April 4, 2020
SK Art Gallery NY White Plains - NY, February 5, 2020.
IT MONDO ART EVENTS, is pleased to present the international group exhibition: "Woman: An Infinite Wor/ld" at SK Art Gallery NY. The exhibition will run from March 7 to April 4, 2020, with an opening reception on March 7 at 6:30pm. The exhibition, "Woman: An Infinite Wor/ld", will present the work of 12 artists in media: painting, sculpture, installation and photography. Artists from many different countries, with a great diversity of visions about the woman's universe.
The exhibition includes works by Chris Papita (Guatemala), Dulce Luna (Mexico), Gerda Schimmel (Netherlands), Jianwei Yao (China), Lanqian Zhang (China), Lise Rodembusch (Brazil / USA), Livia Ferraro (Brazil / Spain), Pablo Coy (Brazil / Spain), Simone Kestelman (Brazil / USA), Stacey Clarfield Newman (USA), Tanaka Gakusyu (Japan) and Tian Hui (China / USA).
The art curator Simone Piva, through her curatorial company IT MONDO ART EVENTS, promotes art events in Europe and this exhibition will be her first in USA. Her almost 20 years of experience in architecture and interior design, enabled her to create a wide artistic sense and a extensive network of artistis, from where the idea to promote opportunities for artists to show their talents around the world, emerged. Because she believes that "art is a powerful tool to build bridges between people, strengthening mutual understanding", as a curator, her purpose is through art exhibitions create strong connections and show the world each particular view of the universe and life, and how this movement can approach even heavy issues and change a generation.
The partnership between IT MONDO and SK Art Gallery NY, whose owner is the renowned artist Simone Kestelman, gives the artists, a chance to be in the famous showcase that is New York. The charming gallery is located in White Plains, NY, just outside of NYC with its 3000sqf and amenities to accomodate unique shows.
A convenient and comfortable space, with easy access and parking. With a special arquitecture project, the artists can have the opportunity to show their artworks in various contemporary ways, amplifying possibilities of purchase. The artists and their works will be featured in a printed and online catalog, where collectors and interested people can find out more about each one and their artworks.
Our director, Vernita Nemec was the juror for the exhibit "Doom & Bloom" at the West Windsor Art Center
This exhibition is up through February 28
“ENDLESS JUNKMAIL SCROLL”: This piece by Vernita Nemec is part of “Doom and Bloom,” on view at the West Windsor Arts Center January 6 through February 28. The exhibition features the work of 25 artists using recycled and reused materials. An opening reception with the artists is Sunday, January 12 from 4 to 6 p.m.
Here is a link with more information:
http://www.towntopics.com/wordpress/2020/01/01/doom-and-bloom-at-west-windsor-arts-center/
Vernita Nemec is in the exhibition "Altered States", First National Juried Show at Pleiades Gallery
The exhibition will be up until February 15 @ 6:00 pm.
Peliades Gallery is located in 530 W. 25th St. #405
Hours: Tues-Sat 11-6
Here is a link to the show:
Press Release: “Members Only”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
“Members Only”
January 28- February 22, 2020
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 30, 6–8PM
Closing Party: Saturday, February 22, 4–6pm
Renee Borkow * Ellen Burnett * Henry Coupe * May DeViney * Kiffi Diamond * Bernice Faegenburg * David Fitzgerald * Alan Gaynor * Wally Gilbert * Chris Tucker Haggerty * Maki Hajikano * Yu Huang * Kazuo Ishikawa * Kat King * Marco Lando * Ron Moore * Pavel Muller * John Nieman *
Srividya Kannan Ramachandran * Bruce Rosen * Susan Sills * Virginia Evans Smit * Angela Smith *
Robert Smith * Toto Takamori * Bob Tomlinson * Frances Vye Wilson * Ana Guraieb Chahin *
Sarah Jarrett * Gentry Pack * Deborah Sudran * Dorothy Braudy * Carol Brookes *
Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present an exhibition of outstanding art by artists who are represented by Viridian. The show extends from January 28th to February 22nd with an opening reception on Thursday, January 30th, 6-8PM and a closing party on Saturday, February 22nd, 4–6pm.
The web tells us that the top 5 related words for "members only" are: closed shop, exchange, exclusive, just, and private. And yes, this exhibition is devoted exclusively to artists who are committed to creating and sharing their work as it grows & progresses.
Viridian Artists have always prided themselves on being open to a wide variety of art styles, disciplines and media. We are not focused on realism or abstraction, nor do we favor painters over collagists or photographers over sculptors. Our current stable of artists reflects these diversities with pride and curiosity.
It’s not often at Viridian that only members’ work is shown for we often invite guest artists: some we know, some we are just getting to know. But this time, it’s Members Only! Some are new to us like Frances Vye Wilson who creates fascinating garment and plant-like sculptural structures of natural fibers from the East. And the photographers Marco Lando & Pavel Muller whose works are vastly different: Lando’s filled with emotional overtones & Muller’s cool and graphic.
Photographers Robert Smith and Alan Gaynor also see the world uniquely. Gaynor’s images often architectural, make us conscious of the lines of beauty in buildings and Smith notices the minutia of life, like the soft breeze through an open window. In a totally different vein, Angela Smith & Srividya Ramachandran both work with digital photography, but Ramachandran has created her own AI who makes images while Angela Smith explores drawing on her photographic self-portraits. Wally Gilbert transforms his digital photographs by breaking them down into colors and shapes whose beginnings are barely recognizable.
Viridian artists who are primarily painters include Bob Tomlinson, Henry Coupe, Yu Huang, Bruce Rosen, Toto Takamori, Virginia Smit and John Neiman. Each have their unique approach to technique & subject matter. Coupe’s paintings are small and gestural portraits, Tomlinson’s theatrical with collaged elements, Takamori’s with layers and layers paint that takes months to dry and Huang’s paintings are realistic explorations of history. Bruce Rosen’s abstract paintings are akin to meditations while John Neiman mixes a fascination with art and popular culture in his paintings. Virginia Smit has explored a wide variety of printmaking techniques and mixes her prints with collage, drawing & paintings that often focus on nature.
Sculptors Kat King and Ron Moore both work in metal but King casts most of her work from sculptural maquettes while Moore welds and paints his steel figures. Maki Hajikano’s glass abstractions come from another sculptural world. David Fitzgerald is an artist who combines fascinating structures playing two -dimensional imagery against three dimensional objects incorporating unique encaustic techniques. He was a winner in a recent juried show and is currently fascinated with owls.
Mixed media artists May DeViney, Ellen Burnett, Kiffi Diamond all work with found objects, each uniquely transforming discards and fragments into compositions that are their private interpretations of reality, sometimes with psychological overtones and frequently with humor. Chris Tucker Haggerty came to Viridian as a juried competition winner and combines drawing, painting and mixed media in her art making.
And there are the mixed media artists Susan Sills, Bernice Faegenburg, Renee Borkow and Kazuo Ishikawa who might be considered primarily painters but Sills paints on wood cutouts, Borkow and Faegenburg mix in collage with their drawing and painting. Differently, Kazuo Ishikawa creates his assemblages of cut bits of color in plastic and metal which he calls “constructive layered painting”.
Viridian has begun a number of programs to give more artists an opportunity to show their art. Our Young Artist program is for artists who are under thirty years of age & in the early stages of their careers. Last year we offered one young artist, Ana Guraieb Chahin, who weaves her art, a Barbara K Schwartz scholarship. Sarah Jarrett and Gentry Park, both young painters, explore personal themes in their work.
And “last but not least”, are Viridian’s Alumni Artists, Deborah Sudran, Dorothy Braudy and Carol Brookes who were once fully represented by the gallery. Though they no longer are, they continue to participate in group shows.
We look forward to sharing exciting new works by these outstanding Viridian Artists.
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12–6pm
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
Opening Reception for Jenny Belin at powerHouse on 8, Brooklyn, NY
Animals & More by Jenny Belin
Opening Reception on Wednesday- February 5th, 6–8PM
at powerHouse on 8th
1111 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Press Release: “CONCERNING … & … & …”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
“CONCERNING … & … & …”
Viridian Affiliates & Alumni
January 2- 25, 2020
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 9, 6-8PM
Juliette Gordon * Joshua Greenberg * Michael Reck * Meredeth Turshen *
Nancy Nicol * Deborah Sudran * Jenny Belin * Vernita N’Cognita*
Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present an exhibition of outstanding art by seven artists who are part of Viridian Artists' Affiliate program and one who is a Viridian Alum. The show extends from January 2ND TO 25th with an opening reception on Thursday, January 9, 6-8PM. Some critics say the hot art is currently in the realm of realism, others are saying abstraction is back in full force. The art in this exhibit encompasses fragments of both and covers a wide range of concerns, … & … &…
Juliette Gordon was a trailblazer, an important member of the feminist art movement in New York and a respected artist in the inner-circle of radical anti-war politics in the early 70’s. She suffered a stroke in 2001, but still would undoubtedly have taken her rightful place among more well known feminist contemporaries had her life not been drastically changed in 2003 by a disastrous fire in which she was seriously burned and nearly died. The artist, now 85, has been living in rehabilitation and nursing facilities since, but her spirit is not diminished. For the past 7 years she has been nurtured through bouts of self-doubt to continue creating by the artist Sharon Wybrants who visits her weekly. Dr. Andrew Hottle, an art historian and specialist in feminist art of the 70’s, has created an inventory of Gordon’s oeuvre with the hopes there will be a retrospective one day of her work. Viridian is pleased to be showing collages in this exhibit that are a part of her body of work.
Joshua Greenberg uses photo-based imagery to create contemporary abstract art. In The Trees at the Edge of the Field, he uses a sequence of abstract prints in the same catalogue to represent a visual story. The works are arranged as a narrative and the viewer is asked to create their own story. The artist makes the art, the observer interprets the art, and together they complete the implied social contract art represents.
Michael Reck is an abstract artist who uses NYC and urban living for his inspiration. He states the following about the art he’s created for this exhibit: “For the past several years I have been working with layering to create depth in my compositions. This technique has been heavily informed by graffiti, which turned out to be an influence I simply absorbed from my surroundings.”
Meredeth Turshen’s work took a sharp turn from abstract to representational this year after a challenge from two artists to produce 100 still lifes; the selection shown here – all in oil on paper – were spun from her imagination while living in a flower-rich paradise in northern Vermont. Turshen majored in studio art at Oberlin College, in workshops at Pratt, the Printmaking Council of NJ, the Rutgers Center for Innovative Printmaking, the CT Center for Graphic Arts, and for the past ten years at Vermont Studio Center. Turshen joined Viridian in 2007. She is a member of the National Association of Women Artists.
Nancy Nicol feels she is a New Yorker at heart, though she now works out of Cape Cod after growing up in the city via daily commutes from Jersey City to attended Friends Seminary, where art was core curriculum. She navigated without adult supervision, filling her pockets with interesting found objects and admired street art and graffiti. These youthful solo expeditions and familiarities continue to impact her work today. In addition to her affiliation with Viridian, she is an exhibiting member of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum and the Organization of Independent Artists, Brooklyn. Current projects include the illustration of a soon-to-be published children’s book, Quiet Places.
Deborah Sudran, a long time Viridian Artist and now a Viridian Alum, has spent a lifetime creating large paintings that contain a strong emotional response to nature. Her interests are concerned primarily with the abstract underpinnings as she moves in close, isolating plant life from its surroundings and focusing on the forms, colors and textures. Working from photographs, she is particularly fascinated with desert and tropical images.
Jenny Belin’s digitally created collages connect her figurative work with elements from her sketchbooks. In the past, much of her art has encompassed portraits of famous women we think of as feminists as well as animal portraits, particularly cats.
Vernita N’Cognita, both a visual & a performance artist is showing a series of recent collages that often explore the absence of objects, leaving only the negative shapes that imply a presence. Active politically since the 70’s, she organized one of the first feminist exhibits of that time. More recently, much of her work has been concerned with junkmail, recycling and aging. In the current issue of Gallery & Studio magazine, Diane Root wrote about her performance work on the theme of aging which she presented in the Art in Odd Places (AIOP) Festival, “Invisible”.
Viridian has created a number of programs to give outstanding and “underknown” artists an opportunity to have their work seen. In a world in which social media is making it possible for more & more individuals to have a tiny taste of fame, artists need avenues to have their work seen “in the flesh” as well. We look forward to seeing you in person in January, at this exhibition of captivating artworks and ideas.
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12–6pm
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
Opportunity: Gallery & Studio: Inaugural Juried Competition For Visual Artists Of All Media.
We wanted to share news about this opportunity!
Inaugural Juried Art Competition
Gallery&Studio Arts Journal will be running several different competitions throughout the year. The inaugural competition will be for visual artists of all media. Good Luck!
Theme: “Celebration”
Submission: Up to 3 images per submission. Images must be of your own original work.
Prize: A review of the winning artist’s work to be published on the January 2020 print edition.
Images of runners up will also published.
Deadline: December 15th 2019
Judge: Ed McCormack, Managing Editor. Winners to be announced on the website 12/31/2019.
Entry Fee: $20 for 3 images
Press Release: “Holiday Madness” Viridian’s Annual Holiday Invitational
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
“Holiday Madness”
Viridian’s Annual Holiday Invitational
December 10 – December 28, 2019
Opening reception: Thursday, December 12, 6–8pm
Closing Party: Saturday December 28, 4–6PM
Chelsea, NYC: Viridian Artists is pleased to present “Holiday Madness,” Viridian’s Annual Holiday Invitational from December 10 – December 28, 2019 with an Opening Reception Thursday, December 12, 6–8pm & on Saturday, December 28, 4–6 a closing party to celebrate the end of 2019.
Viridian’s holiday show in December is an annual event filled with art by gallery artists and their artist-friends. In addition, Viridian will open its holiday Arte Shoppe, filled with artist-made cards, jewelry and small artworks. All items in the Arte Shoppe are priced at $99 or less.
As always, traditional holidays make one look back at where all the pomp and circumstance arise from, especially now when our global communication is so prolific and on the other hand, when we are in a time when many traditions have died or lost their meaning.
Googling the meaning of Christmas and ways of celebrating in different cultures yielded many interesting twists. In
France, one source said that since 1962, all letters to Père Noel must receive a postcard reply.
In Spain, religion remains an important aspect of the Christmas holiday with the Mass of the Rooster, since they believe a rooster crowed at the birth of Christ. For many cultures, religion is still the essential meaning behind the Christmas season but some, like Japan, have taken it on with all its glitter and eating by celebrating Christmas Dinner for “The Colonel” with a meal of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
So Christmas continues, with and without religion, a habit perhaps sustained by the nature of humans wanting to give gifts to those they care about or perhaps it’s still the lure of strange customs. A quite unorthodox Norwegian Christmas tradition concerns stealing brooms, so that even today people must hide their brooms on Christmas Eve. The Swedish Christmas involves a large statue of a goat, though in 1966, people began to burn the goat as part of the ritual and continue to do so to this day.
In the artworlds of the world, Christmas is a time of celebrating the season by sharing gallery walls with the art of artist-friends and offering small works that each hope will become gifts of art, filled with creative thoughtfulness, an important attribute for gift giving. We hope that you will join us in our sharing of walls and the holiday spirit.
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12–6pm
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
Panorama Photograph From The "Rough Road Ahead Opening" on November 14th, 2019
Panorama Photograph From The "Rough Road Ahead Opening" by Juried Artist, Amy Shapiro.