Galatea Fine Art Blog

Sirarpi Heghnian Walzer participates in “Growth and Decay” group exhibition

marjorie1957 — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 12:29:56 +0000

The Harvard Crimson

“Growth and Decay” Celebrates Cycles of Nature
Upcoming art exhibit uses organic materials to explore life and death

By Philip Y Gingerich, CONTRIBUTING WRITER

On March 2, the University Place Gallery at 124 Mt. Auburn Street will open its newest exhibition. The show, which will be on display until March 31, is titled “Growth and Decay,” and will feature work by artists Sarah Meyers Brent, Jodi Colella, and Sirarpi Heghinian Walzer. Using an array of varied media and techniques, the artists’ works explore the themes of duality, birth, and disintegration. As the title “Growth and Decay” might suggest, materials play a prominent role in their creations; beyond the traditional paint and canvas, the works are composed of organic, crumbling, and self-replicating objects.Sarah Meyers Brent, the artist who organized the collaboration for “Growth and Decay,” seems to focus particularly on the diversity of her media. Her pieces combine splotches of paint and dirt, as well as flowers wired directly to the canvas, drooping down past its edges. “I believe in material, I believe in having things that are tangible to look at,” says Brent. Life forms grow out of the frames and refute the idea of the canvas as a contained space. While suggesting movement and warmth, these organic forms also convey the ugliness present in nature’s chaos.

Jodi Colella also explores the relationship between material and growth by crafting sculptures that take on the character of living organisms. Her pieces incorporate items found in Home Depot and junkyards; they often employ textiles, such as the woolen balls she creates called ‘seeds.’ In her immense project “One Day,” Colella knits together plastic wrappings from newspapers to create an imperturbable monolithic sphere. Colella, who has a background in biology, also draws inspiration from scientifically-inspired patterns and materials. “I like rust,” Colella says. “It will change the overall structure of the thing you are working on; it never stops oxidizing.” Her piece “Undercurrent,” made of an aluminum window screen, resembles a tapestry of intracellular fluid. Like the dualities present in nature, the piece is simultaneously solid yet permeable, alluring yet painful. “It looks like gossamer, yet when you touch it, it hurts,” says Colella.

The works of Armenian-born Sirarpi Heghinian Walzer add an element of psychological depth to the exhibit—several of her abstract paintings and collages concern human experience and emotion. One of her works featured in the show is a painting titled “Memory of New Orleans,” a reflection on Hurricane Katrina. In it, the white silhouette of a person stands forward, looking away from a deluge of turquoise. The colors are not maudlin, but emanate almost furiously, conveying an ineffable consternation and the necessity of reorientation, both mental and literal—the complete restructuring of one’s own home and life. “It shows the feeling of leaving everything behind,” says Walzer. If one looks closely, one will notice that the canvas is actually slightly disheveled, with bits of fabric peeling off in places. Furthering the sense of decay, Walzer often incorporates decades-old paper into her projects.

According to Walzer, “when we are painting, our unconscious comes to the surface.” Her works tend to be distillations of childhood and memory, focusing on periods of growth in which experience evolves and reorganizes. Walzer’s paintings have been informed by the stories of those around her, such as her daughter’s volunteer experiences in New Orleans and her father’s accounts of the Armenian genocide.

In their collaboration, the three artists of “Growth and Decay” have created a collection of complementary works which explore nature’s perpetual cycles of renewal, degeneration, and at times, devastation. In describing the artistic representation of these dualities, Brent explains that “something isn’t going to look vivid unless paired with its opposite.” In these pairings, the show explores the dynamic transmutations of nature, investigating the interaction between material and subject, science and art.

February 28, 2011

Galatea artists in several area juried exhibitions

marjorie1957 — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:06:41 +0000

Galatea artists are participating in several area juried exhibitions:

“Media, Materials and Meaning”
Cambridge Art Association
25 Lowell Street,
Cambridge, MA
March 8-29
Paula Estey
Ed Friedman (Juror’s Choice)
Wilson Hunt, Jr.
Ruth Segaloff
Sirarpi Heghinain Walzer
(Juried by Marjorie Kaye)

“Beyond the Book”
3/26 – 5/7
Reception 3/26 2-4
300 N. Harvard Street
Honan-Allston Library (Boston Public Library)
Karen Klein
Dan Rocha
Ruth Segaloff
Claudine Bing
(Juried by Marjorie Kaye)

“Annual Regional Juried Art Exhibit”
21 Highland St.
Southborough, MA
3/27 – 4/10
3/27 2-4 reception
Kathleen Hendrick (Third Prize)
George Shaw (Gretchen Harris Award)
Marjorie Kaye (participant and one of three jurors)

Ruth Segaloff included in NYC exhibition “Sanctuaries in Time”

marjorie1957 — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 13:53:12 +0000

A Documentary featuring Hope Ricciardi’s “A History Forgotten”

marjorie1957 — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 13:49:25 +0000

This documentary was done in January, 2011 at Galatea Fine Art. It features the recent work by Hope Ricciardi examining aspects of the Armenian Genocide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4CaU2Q8S0E&hd=1

Kathleen Hendrick at Viridian Fine Arts, NYC

marjorie1957 — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 11:56:16 +0000

I’m pleased to announce that Kathleen Hendrick was accepted into a show in New York City,
at Viridian Artists, called “Art From Detritus”. The opening is on
November 20th, from 4-7 pm. Join her if you “happen” to be in New
York.

Art From Detritus
Viridian Artists Gallery
530 W. 25th Street #407
NY NY 10001

Call to Artists: OBJECTS (Deadline 11/15/10)

marjorie1957 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 18:26:12 +0000

Galatea Fine Art is jurying for artists working with OBJECTS for inclusion with our membership for its Holiday offerings. This includes ceramic, glass, stone sculpture and other 3-D art pieces. They should not be any larger than 15″ in diameter and stand alone (i.e. NOT on the wall). Entries will be juried by Galatea Fine Art members whose concentration includes 3-D.

Galatea Fine Art is a large cooperative contemporary art gallery in SOWA (Boston’s South End), the vibrant up and coming arts district. The area has many festive activities planned in addition to the many art galleries offerings, so it has become a well-travelled destination.

How to apply: All entries are to be in digital format as JPG images on CD or sent by email. No DVD submissions. Entries are due no later than Monday, November 15th by 6pm. To email submissions, send the following to galateafinearts@yahoo.com, or on a CD to Galatea Fine Art, 460B Harrison Ave., #B-6, Boston, MA 02118.

-Up to 2 separate entries (individual pieces) in JPG form of your work. You may submit up to 3 views of the same piece. Image resolution should be no more than 1024X600 pixels at 150dpi. If you are sending a CD, please include a SASE if you would like your materials returned. Label each entry (last name_title.jpg).

-Information sheet (included in the prospectus).

-Entry fee of $25.00. You may either pay the fee by check made out to Galatea Fine Art, or via PayPal. Send PayPal payments to galateafinearts@yahoo.com.

Galatea Fine Art will retain 30% commission on anything sold. We are fully insured.

Notifications: Accepted artists will be contacted by email by Saturday, November 20th. If you do not have email, we will call you.

Accepted Works: Artists should provide an artist’s statement and resume when dropping off the works. Works must be hand delivered by the artist or representative to the gallery on Sunday, November 28th or Monday, November 29th, from 12-5pm.

Pick Up of Works: Artists must pick up their works Monday, January 3rd or Tuesday, January 4th, from 12-5pm. the gallery has limited storage space and will not be responsible for storing works.

Submission Form: Please fill out and include in submission package.

GALATEA FINE ART – “OBJECTS”

Name:

Address:

City, State, Zip:

Email:

Phone:

Entry #1:

Title:

Medium:

Dimensions:

Price:

Entry #2:

Title:

Medium:

Dimensions:

Price:

Mailed entries must include entry fee, properly labled disc, and SASE (only if materials are to be returned).

Dominick Takis awarded “Best of Show” at LynnArts

marjorie1957 — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 17:16:06 +0000

The Portrait Show at LynnArts has gallery member Dominick Takis taking “Best of Show”! Congratulations, Dominick. The show will be up from September 16-October 29, with the opening reception on Saturday, September 25, from 2-4pm.

Gregory Wright Blog Interview

marjorie1957 — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:31:29 +0000

Member Gregory Wright is the featured artist in this informative interview with Artist/Blogger Lynette Haggard:

http://www.lynettehaggard.blogspot.com/

There are recent photographs of his work, also! Definitely worth catching. Enjoy!

Susan Burke in Malden Observer

marjorie1957 — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:13:03 +0000

Susan Donelan Burke’s participation in “Experience(d)” was given a mention in the Malden Observer. Here’s the link:

http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/features/x775077092/Malden-resident-shows-work-in-Galatea-Fine-Art-exhibition

Reflections on the Sackler Museum lecture looking at changes in MOMA exhibition policy by Philip Gerstein

marjorie1957 — Sat, 22 May 2010 15:34:41 +0000

New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) traditionally maintained a distinction between spaces devoted to loan exhibitions, which changed frequently, and those devoted to its collection of paintings and sculpture, where installations were relatively fixed. Recently, the collection galleries have become a site for fluid displays—an approach that has brought on view a great many works not seen for decades. Ann Temkin, Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at MOMA, explained the thinking behind this new policy and discusses initiatives planned for the coming months. The lecture took place at Harvard’s Sackler Museum.

Philip Gerstein, painter and member of Galatea Fine Art, reports with the following observations of the lecture:

“Ann Temkin is very well spoken and at ease in front of a
microphone, and she obviously liked explaining her pet project to what
one may term a somewhat tradition-bound audience, i.e.: lotsa high-
powered Harvard people and some mid-Cambridge society, who interest
themselves in the arts and especially associated with the Fogg Museum.
As the Fogg is being renovated for the next 4 years or so, they hope
to refashion it to keep up with the times, and to perhaps better serve
its teaching mission simultaneously. (It’s apparently been redesigned
by Renzo Piano, or at least his office. A side note: just saw an
article complaining of Piano’s design for the extension of the Gardner
Museum, as kinda, well… boring.
So Temkin presented herself as expressing the thoughts of a whole new
generation of museum-minders. They are hoping to break down furher the
separation of various arts — to reintegrate the display of painting,
drawing, sculpture, print, photo — of the same period or those which
present interesting comparison. They are tired of being run by the
schedule of special exhibitions, all segregated from the static
permanent collection display. They want to show more of the museums’
holdings. They want you to know that women will never again be 2nd-
class art citizens. They want you to keep coming back and finding
things you did not see the last time.
Here’s an interesting piece of news, at least to those of us who like
Abstract Expressionism –> starting in August, they will empty their
4th floor and parts of 3rd, of the usual didactic progression of
modern art. In its place, they will install at least 200 pieces of
AbEx art from their storage vaults – and as you can imagine, they have
an incredible collection of prime period stuff, donated, bequethed and
acquired. She ticked off some – well, you know the usual suspects, and
if you studiied AbEx at all, the half-forgotten ones as well.
Furthermore — and this is an unusual and valid point — when someone
asked her about a catalog for this installation, which should last
until Spr. 2011 or thereabouts, she pointed out that catalogs are
produced in the manner described best by the expression “the cart
before the horse”. I.e.: they should really write about any exhibition
after they had a chance to see it up for a while — rather than making
up their mind beforehand. Usually this is not done, as they want you
to sell catalogs as soon as the show is up. But not this time… they
might even go with something on the web only, or similar idea, as this
show unfolds.
So this was an interesting hour of my time. Anyway, inspired by
hearing about her AbEx interest, I went by afterwards to introduce
myself and give her the (Galatea!) card with my image from last
month’s show — and which obviously could be related to this
tradition. With the number of cards she is presented, I expect, it
would be curious if she actually does anything with it. On the
other hand, MoMA is not the ICA, so they won’t necesarily feel like
they have to snub local artists and Boston art scene in general. “