Press Release: Viridian's Annual International 30 Under 30 Juried Exhibition Live

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Viridian's Annual International 30 Under 30 Juried Exhibition Live

Juried by Vernita Nemec, Director of Viridian Artists & Independent Curator 
July 7–31, 2021
Live & Masked Opening Reception: Thursday, July 15, 6–8pm

 

* Zea Beckwith * Allison Burch * Mara Clawson * Chasity Colón * Hyunhee Doh *
* Alexandra Farber * Kelsey Gavin (3rd prize) * Elisabeth Henley *
  * Devan Horton * Yasmine Iskander * Lauren Karjala *
* Lua Kobayashi (1st prize ) * Lucy Le Bohec * Rena McInerney Olk *
* Tiffany Nesbit * Autumn Nicole * Haley Smith (Honorable Mention) *

 

Chelsea: Viridian Artists Inc. is pleased to present a selection of artists from our 5th International Juried Exhibition for Artists Under 30, curated by Vernita Nemec, director of Viridian Artists. The exhibition opens July 7 and continues through July 31, 2021. The exhibit was presented virtually in May, but a selection of winning artists will show their art “live” with a masked reception on Thursday, July 15, 6–8pm. All are welcome to attend, but we request you make reservations by emailing the gallery at viridianartistsinc@gmail.com. Cash awards were awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners of this important competition that brings the art of emerging and under-recognized artists to the attention of collectors and museum curators. 

            Viridian’s “30 under 30” competitions have been created especially for artists under thirty years of age and the gallery also has a special program for young artists just beginning their careers. Because of the pandemic and the need for expanding financial benefits to young artists, the gallery has expanded their Young Artists program to include artists under 35 years of age and to include 35 rather than just 30 young artist winners in future young artist exhibitions.

The 35 artists selected by Nemec represent a wide survey of what concerns and inspires artists and as always, there is much to be concerned about. Seventeen of those who were initially selected are included in this live exhibit in the gallery. The virtual version of this exhibit can still be seen on Viridian’s website at viridianartists.com, while the live exhibit will in some cases feature other works by these artists. One artist in this live iteration of the exhibit will be awarded a one-year fellowship enabling her/him to be represented by the gallery. 

We look forward to sharing this fascinating exhibition of timely contemporary art by emerging artists we are sure you will see more of in the future.

 

 Gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday 12–6pm 

For further information, please contact Vernita Nemec, the gallery director, by phone
at 212-414-4040 or by email at viridianartistsinc@gmail.com. Please visit the gallery website
at www.viridianartists.com.       

Press Release: “DISSIMILARITIES”

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“DISSIMILARITIES”

  June 2-July 3 2021
Virtual reception June 10th, 6pm

 

  * Rosemary Lyons * Arlene Finger * Nancy Nicol * Michael Reck *

* Katia Bulbenko * Charles Hildebrandt * 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. The show opens June 2nd and continues through June 26th, 2021.  Viridian is currently open, but you can also see this fascinating exhibit virtually on the Viridian Artists website at www.viridianartists.com. There will be a virtual reception June 10th at 6pm on zoom. To attend, email viridianartistsinc@gmail.com for an “e-vitation”.

Color is important to the seven artists in this exhibit and a sense of layering inhabits all their works, but they are particularly united in their unique visions and their dissimilar response to today’s reality.

Though both work abstractly and in multiple layers, the similarities in Michael Reck’s & Katia Bulbenko’s art end there. Michael Reck states "I have been using oil pigment sticks for the past few years, making brushes and solvents unnecessary.  The paintings are built of many layers over time.  After three months away from my studio last year I began mixing the colors on the canvas with my (gloved) hands and fingers.  These are the first paintings completed using this technique."                                                                 

Katia Bulbenko’s art crosses over the boundaries of media, utilizing a wide variety of materials, at moments harkening back to the soft sculpture of the 70’s while at other times layering her work with texture, color and form. The artist says “I layer organic shapes inspired by the forms and textures found in nature, landscape and eroded natural objects such as shells and rocks. Experience in textile design and silk painting, plus my training as a printmaker, have contributed to the way I work utilizing pattern, surface design, shapes, and layers. These assemblages are at the crossroads of sculpture, fiber art and painting. Through color and composition, each piece belongs to a realm of its own. Being made up of fragments, I also like to think of each completed assemblage as an object and a fragment, part of a larger whole, creating connection with the viewer to the universal feeling of all belonging to the same fabric.”

Charles Hildebrandt and Arlene Finger both begin their process in observing reality, but neither could be called realists for they each add their own meaning and techniques of presentation. Charles states, “The majority of this body of work comes from a memory, or an extension of an image from a photograph taken. However, few of them are literal translations of either; they are combination of memories, pictures, and interpretations. Hopefully, in viewing these, one senses a place both real and imagined in nature, and a sense of belonging to it.” Arlene Finger often portrays the view outside her window or simply objects on a table but twists the viewers perspective and often puts the composition askew.

Rosemary K. Lyons collection of 5x7 & 4x6 paintings of different flowers on gold leaf with  words like “hag”, “bitch”, “chick”, “siren” in calligraphy is a series that came about “because my work was censored out of a "WOMAN'S ISSUES" exhibition.” The title of the work is “AD NAUSEUM, WORDS USED TO PUT WOMEN DOWN SINCE SHAKESPEARE'S TIME”.

Both Nancy Nicol & Vernita N’Cognita use collage to tell a story, but each does so in different ways and with different intents. Nicol states “I collage with various materials including comics, ads, patterns and found scraps and applying paint, pencil and wax to layout imagined neighborhoods and destinations – often the paper itself has a story to tell.” N’Cognita, deeply concerned with the environment and upcycling, both curates and creates with discards. In this exhibit, she shares collages made from fashion magazines and junk mail “for it justifies my perusing the magazines and hating junk mail.  I never can throw either away for I must save both to upcycle into the making of art.”  

Viridian has created several programs to give outstanding “underknown” artists an opportunity to have their work seen. Our Affiliate program allows artists to show a small series of artworks annually. We look forward to your seeing this outstanding art and perhaps adding a piece of it (or two) to your collection.

 

Viridian is currently operating virtually as well as being open to the public

Wednesday – Saturday 12-6pm

For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Director or Jenny Belin, Assistant Director

Also, visit instagram @viridianartistsinc or our website at viridianartistsinc@gmail.com &

see past exhibits on You Tube @Viridian Artists Gallery.

Press Release: "AF*TER*MATH" : Gallery Artists of Viridian

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"AF*TER*MATH"

 /ˈaftərˌmaTH/

Noun/ the consequences or aftereffects of a significant unpleasant event

 Gallery Artists of Viridian

May 12 – May 29, 2021

 

RENÉE BORKOW .  BAMOOZIE . JENNY BELIN . ELLEN BURNETT . HENRY COUPE . MAY DeVINEY .
BERNICE FAEGENBURG . DAVID FITZGERALD . ALAN GAYNOR . WALLY GILBERT . MAKI HAJIKANO .
CHRIS TUCKER HAGGERTY . KAZUO ISHIKAWA . SARAH JARRETT . KAT KING .   MARCO LANDO . VERNITA N’COGNITA . BRUCE ROSEN . SUSAN SILLS . VIRGINIA EVANS SMIT .ROBERT SMITH . SHEILA SMITH .
TOTO TAKAMORI . BOB TOMLINSON

 

Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present an exhibition of artists currently represented by Viridian Artists. The show opens May 12 and continues through May 29, 2021. Viridian is now open, and the exhibitions can be seen both at the gallery and on Viridian’s website. There will be a virtual closing reception on Zoom, Saturday May 29th at 6pm. If you would like to “attend”, please email the gallery at viridianartistsinc@gmail.com.

After a difficult year of isolation, illness and economic hardship, the inhabitants of planet Earth are finally beginning to reach out, come out and attempt to return to the lives we knew before Covid 19. It is not easy for much has been lost. Some lost loved ones, others, jobs, and all of us have lost a sense of how to live peacefully in the moment. Fortunately, we have art and music to console us, and Viridian is pleased to present old and new art created by the artists and staff currently affiliated with the gallery.

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. Our Estate program includes former Viridian Artists who have died or are no longer able to create art but have much to show from the past, and our Young Artist program offers exceptional artists under 35 an opportunity to exhibit their art at an outstanding Chelsea gallery.  We are pleased to offer the public -- an opportunity to purchase this extraordinary art reasonably for their collections. We hope you will enjoy this exhibit that you can view in person or on our website at www.viridianartists.com. We look forward to seeing you at the virtual reception on Zoom, 6pm on Saturday, May 29.

 

 Gallery hours Wednesday- Saturday 12-6pm

For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Director or Jenny Belin, Assistant Director

visit us at Facebook & Instagram @viridianartistsinc or email us at viridianartistsinc@gmail.com

 

 

 

Press Release:  Viridian's Annual International 30 Under 30 Juried Exhibition

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 Viridian's Annual International 30 Under 30 Juried Exhibition

Juried by Vernita Nemec, Director of Viridian Artists & Independent Curator 
May 5-29, 2021
Virtual Opening Reception: Thursday, May 20, 6-7 pm

 1st prize – Lua Kobayashi   2nd prize – Julia Jo    3rd prize – Kelsey Gavin
Honorable Mention: Haley Smith & Dallas Frederick

 

Zea Beckwith * Emily Bertucci * Allison Burch * Brooke Catania * Jenny Choi * Mara Clawson 
Stephanie Cobb * Chasity Colón * Hyunhee Doh * Helen Dolan * Alexandra Farber * Jessica Foley
Elisabeth Henley * Yve Holtzclaw * Kenzie Holzinger * Devan Horton * Yasmine Iskander
Christian Johnson * Joseph Kameen * Lauren Karjala * Lucy Le Bohec
 Jonathan McHugh * Rena McInerney Olk * Hanna Meshell * Tiffany Nesbit * Nina Samuels
Alexander Shanks * Autumn Nicole Smith * Joe Taveras * Cassidy Westjohn

 

Chelsea: Viridian Artists Inc. is pleased to present our 5th International Juried Exhibition for Artists Under 30, curated by Vernita Nemec, director of Viridian Artists. The exhibition opens May 5th and continues through May 29th, 2021. The exhibit is virtual only, but in celebration, there will be a virtual reception on Thursday, May 20, 6–7 pm. All are welcome to attend, but reservations must be made by emailing the gallery at viridianartistsinc@gmail.com. We are especially pleased to present cash awards to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners of this important competition that brings the art of emerging and under-recognized artists to the attention of collectors and museum curators. 

Viridian’s “30 under 30” competitions have been created especially for artists under thirty years of age and the gallery also has a special program for young artists just beginning their careers. Because of the pandemic and the need for expanding financial benefits to young artists, the gallery has expanded their Young Artists program to artists under 35 years of age and to include 35, rather than just 30 young artist winners in future young artist exhibitions.

The 35 artists selected by Nemec represent a wide survey of what concerns and inspires artists and as always, there is much to be concerned about. Many artists have renewed interest in realism, but many are also exploring digital media as well as media previously thought of only as craft. Curiously, many more female artists applied than male artists. Is it still more difficult for female artists to get their work out, despite the recent upsurge of interest in female art or are female artists more willing to risk rejection as they struggle to get their art seen?

Vernita Nemec is not only Viridian’s director, but also an independent curator and an artist long involved in the New York art world. In addition to jurying this competition, she recently juried “Upcycling Detritus” for the Sculptors Alliance, a virtual exhibit of art created with beautiful trash.

As always, Viridian makes a concerted effort to expand the opportunities for outstanding artists’ work to be seen and exhibited.  The competition selection as always was difficult, but especially so for the nature of art in our world today encompasses a wide variety of methods, materials and conceptualizations of what art is.

We look forward to sharing this fascinating exhibition of timely contemporary art by artists we are sure you will see more of in the future.

 

 Gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday 12–6PM 

For further information, please contact Vernita Nemec the gallery director by phone at 212-414-4040 or by email at viridianartistsinc@gmail.com. Please visit the gallery website at www.viridianartists.com.       

Press Release: “SAKURA FOR TOMORROW: A Conversation Between Japanese and American Artists”

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“SAKURA FOR TOMORROW:
A Conversation Between Japanese and American Artists”
April 7–May 8, 2021

ELLEN BURNETT / MAY DEVINEY / HISAYUKI DOI / DAVID FITZGERALD
WALLY GILBERT / CHRIS TUCKER HAGGERTY / KAZUO ISHIKAWA
KAT KING / K-JUNKO / KOHARU / NATSUI MASUDA / MEGUMI MATSUKAWA
SAI MORIKAWA / VERNITA N’COGNITA / ICHIGO NOHARA
CHIKAKO NUNOME / KENICHIRO OOTSUKA / RYUGA / BERNICE FAEGENBURG
TOSHIAKI SHIBATA / BOB TOMLINSON / MONZO ＷATANABE
 

 THE ART CAN BE SEEN BOTH AT THE GALLERY & ONLINE

The gallery will be open but you must wear a mask.

You can also see the virtual exhibit on the gallery website

 

            Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present an exhibition of outstanding art by Japanese and American artists in an artistic “conversation” exploring their creative and aesthetic similarities and differences. The show extends from April 7 to May 8, 2021 and will be viewable both at the gallery and online. The gallery will be open Wednesday through Saturday 12–6PM during this exhibit and for in-person viewing, masks must be worn. 

            Sakura has many meanings in the Japanese culture. It is the cherry blossom, considered the national flower of Japan, as well as the name of celebrations in early spring symbolizing rebirth, spring and new beginnings. It also can mean impermanence. Sakura is also celebrated here in the US in many cities and is a time when we all celebrate our shared wishes for a bright future, a rebirth. In 1912, a mayor of Tokyo gave a gift of Japanese cherry trees to the city of Washington, D.C. to enhance the growing friendship between the US and Japan and to also celebrate the continued close relationship between the two nations. Cherry blossoms, or Sakura, are a central motif in the worship of nature by the Japanese.

            Now 2021, during the pandemic, artists from both sides are wishing for a better future in a society overcome with and surrounded by anxiety and chaos. In this exhibit we can see too, how the artists of both countries have influenced and borrowed from one another’s compositions, techniques and materials and through their art, are carrying on artistic and aesthetic conversations.

            These are not your traditional Japanese scrolls of landscapes and wise men lost in contemplation. Nor are the American artists always painting on canvas and lost in realism. Many American artists share a gesture in their paintings that echo Japanese brush painting and in some contemporary Japanese artists work, we can see a western sensibility not a part of traditional Japanese artwork of the past.

            The pandemic has altered and affected our reality so significantly that it is difficult to know what matters beyond surviving. Still, we must continue to realize the importance of art and culture to reflect our wishes for the future and our memories of the past. The digital world will remain important even after we are no longer forced to isolate, so Viridian is inviting you to view this exhibit of outstanding art by both Japanese and American artists in our digital gallery at www.viridianartists.com as well as at the gallery in person, of course while wearing a mask.

                                                                                                                                    -Vernita Nemec

Gallery hours: Wednesday through Saturday 12-6pm & by appointment with masks

For further information please contact the gallery at viridianartistsinc@gmail.com

or view the gallery website: www.viridianartists.com

Press Release: "HERSTORY: Moving Forward"

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"HERSTORY: Moving Forward"
March 3–27, 2021

There will be a Virtual opening on zoom of HERSTORY: Monday, March 8, International Women's Day, 5pm. Please rsvp viridianartistsinc@gmail.com for evite.

 
Marie-Ange Hoda Ackad * Leslie Adkins * Kelynn Alder
Angelique Ellyn Anderson * Jenny Belin * D.K. Barbieri * Renee Borkow
Dorothy Braudy * Ellen Burnett * Kasmira Cade * Irene Christensen * May DeViney
Arlene Finger * Deb Flagel * Elizabeth Ginsberg * Chris Tucker Haggerty
Maki Hajikano * Halona Hilbertz * Yasmine Iskander * Teresa Jarzynski * Jae Young Kim
Kat King * Angela M. LaMonte * Anna Lyle * Shawn Marshall * Sai Morikawa
Vernita N’Cognita * Nancy Nicol * Petronia Paley * Sarah Riley * Melissa Schainker 
Aja Simone * Jeanne Steers * Jenifer R. Stern * Vicky Tesmer

 

“Some women choose to follow men, and some choose to follow their dreams. If you’re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn’t love you anymore.”                                                                                                                                                                                             – Lady Gaga

Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present an exhibition of outstanding art by and about women. The show extends from March 3–27, 2021. The gallery is closed temporary due to the pandemic, but you are invited to view the exhibit in our virtual gallery on our website at www.viridianartists.com. There will be a virtual opening of HERSTORY Monday, March 8, International Women's Day, 5pm. Please rsvp at viridianartistsinc@gmail.com for evite.

Since 1987, March has been designated Women’s History Month and because of many activities having to be canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, this year’s theme remains the same as last year’s: ‘Valiant Women of the Vote: Refusing to Be Silenced,’ a celebration of the 19th Amendment.

The art in this exhibit, all by women artists, explores a wide variety of questions, doubts, hopes, fears and angers that women have in today’s world. In too many ways, women are still struggling to erase the gender gap. Sadly, female artists still must struggle to gain recognition and value equal to that of male artists, so for this exhibit only, we invited only women artists to participate.

Feminism entered its 4th wave in 2012 or so, epitomized by the MeToo Movement and other activities focusing on the empowerment of women.  In 2014, an attractive young actor dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans wore a video camera hidden on her body to record how men reacted as she passed them. The 2-minute video “10 hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman,” was created by Hollaback, an advocacy group dedicated to ending street harassment. That same year, Emma Sulkowitcz, a Columbia University student created an endurance performance for her senior thesis in which she carried a 50 lb mattress after being raped in her dorm room, demanding that the student who raped her be expelled. She carried the mattress to her graduation in 2015.

There are differing theories regarding how women lost the power we had in pre-history. Leonard Shlain, who wrote ‘The Goddess Versus the Alphabet” feels that it was the invention of the written word that helped the female goddess lose her power. Mark Dyble, an anthropologist who led a study at University College London, felt that the development of an agrarian society and the accumulation of property was responsible for gender inequality.

Do we have more courage than decades ago? We were so tough in the 70’s for we felt we could succeed at anything and we were willing to fight the necessary battles, but sadly most of those same battles continue.  Young women today think all that is going to change, but a recent study from McKinsey and LeanIn.org estimates that it will take 100 years for women to achieve gender equality in Corporate America. And in the rest of the world, it will take even longer.

Fortunately, women can do it all as they have for eons. Nurturing, providing physical and emotional bulwarks, cooking the dinner, keeping the house in order, foraging for food and keeping a job as well. Perhaps all but fighting the wars – though sadly, we can do that too, now.

The pandemic has altered and affected our reality so significantly that it is hard to know what matters beyond surviving. Still, we must continue to realize the importance of art and culture to reflect our wishes for the future and our memories of the past. The digital world will remain important even after we are no longer forced to isolate, so Viridian is inviting you to view this exhibit of outstanding art by women in our digital gallery at www.viridianartists.com to see how women artists view the situation of women in the world today.

 

Gallery hours: temporarily by appointment only

For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Gallery Director at viridianartistsinc@gmail.com

or view the gallery website: www.viridianartists.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

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

front of card with Maki.jpg

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

 

 

                                                                                                                        

Press Release: Maki Hajikano: “Relational Elements”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                   Please List

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.