Press Release: Arthur Dworin: "Inquiries"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                               Please List

ARTHUR DWORIN
"Inquiries"
April 4- April 22, 2017

Reception, Saturday, April 8, 2-6pm
Wine & Words Saturday, April 22, 2-4PM

 Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present a solo exhibition of paintings by artist Arthur Dworin. Opening on April 4, 2017, the exhibit will run through April 22, with a reception on Saturday, April 8, from 2-6pm. There will be a Wine & Words reception on Saturday, April 22, from 2-4pm when the artist will talk about his process and answer questions. 

The organic and geometric shapes that have long populated Arthur Dworin’s work are raised off the surface now and coated with a high iron content patina that he then oxidizes to produce a rich rust. This he juxtaposes with bands and fields of brilliant color.

Peter Selz, the former MoMA curator of painting and sculpture and one of Dworin’s collectors, has said that “Dworin’s paintings are endowed with an original sense of sonorous color. Abstract as they are, they bring a new sense of visual order to organic forms of nature.” 

Dworin attended the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts and received a scholarship to the Art Students League in Woodstock. After painting in Zacualpan, Mexico, he became a member of the United Scenic Artists Union, where he became skilled in a host of techniques that have been invaluable to his personal art.  While painting sets for theater and film, he used materials in an alchemical way. Often he had to make something look as if five layers of paint had peeled off a rusting surface.  But in his own painting, he literally rusts the surfaces rather than just painting them to look like rust. 

Like Kandinsky, whom he admires, Dworin improvises with forms that resonate musically with his own spiritual explorations. As he puts it, Dworin hopes that, “the spirit in these works will act as a key to awaken what is already deep within the observer, anew with each viewing, bringing a greater awareness of our inner and outer universes.”

Dworin lived and worked in Tribeca (Manhattan) until 2011, when he purchased a Pennsylvania church, where he created these works. This is his fifth solo show at Viridian.  

Gallery hours: Tuesday-Saturday 12- 6 PM. 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

Wally Gilbert in a show at Lasell College in Newton, MA Artists' Reception Thursday, March 23, 6 to 8 pm

Wally Gilbert will have pieces in ABSTRACT SYSTEMS, a show of nine artists, curated by Lisa Reindorf and Andrea Foggle Plotkin. 

March 21 – April 12, 2017
Artists’ Reception: Thursday, March 23, 6 – 8 pm

Wedeman Gallery
Lasell College
Yamawaki Art & Cultural Center
47 Myrtle Avenue, Newton, MA

Featuring work by:Barbara Grad, Barbara Eskin, Jennifer Caine,
Wally Gilbert (photographer and Nobel prize winner in biology),
Jennifer Moses, Stephanie McMahon, Lisa Reindorf,
Debra Weisberg and Heidi Whitman.

Gallery Statement:  Our modern society is teeming with information as technology has infiltrated our daily lives. In many fields, systems are a way to make sense of the information. Artists parse these systems and develop their own interpretations in their work.

Abstract Systems presents the work of a group of artists who approach abstract painting utilizing their own personal symbolic language. Each of the artists works evolve from a specific type of systems- in the areas of architecture, biology, information, technology, and mapping.

Abstract painting can be difficult to navigate, but by understanding these systems the viewer is presented with a way to understand and interpret the paintings.
 

Gallery open hours are Tuesday –Saturday, 1 – 4pm.

Wedeman Gallery is located at 47 Myrtle Avenue, Newton, MA 02466. For more information , please contact the gallery director, Vladimir Zimakov.

Phone: 617 243 2143

Artists Meredeth Turshen, Vernita Nemec and Jenny Belin in Group Show at Hob'Art

"Women Live"
A group show at the Hob'Art Cooperative gallery, pays tribute to women today and in history 

Curated by Viridian Affiliate Meredeth Turshen and Hob’ Art’s Miriam Untoria, the exhibit includes work by Turshen as well as Viridian's Director Vernita Nemec, and Assistant Director Jenny Belin.

Friday March 10- Saturday April 1, 2017
Reception: Saturday, March 11th, 6- 8pm

hob'art gallery,
Monroe Center
720 Monroe Street,
2nd FL, E208
Hoboken NJ, 07030

Press Release: Angela Christine Smith: "Her: A Displaced Body"

 ANGELA CHRISTINE SMITH
 "Her: A Displaced Body"
March 14- April 1, 2017

Reception Thursday March 16, 6-8PM
Coffee & Conversation Saturday March 18, 4-6PM

Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present Angela Christine Smith's second solo exhibit at Viridian. A winner in Viridian's Juried Photography exhibit in 2011, the artist will be present at both the reception on Thursday March 16th & on Saturday March 18th, 4-6PM for a coffee & conversation with the artist. 

 This exhibition of photographs with ink and colored pencil overlays is a continuation of Smith's dissection series, first begun in 2011 and earning her a 2nd prize in Viridian's Annual Juried Exhibit curated by Jennifer Blessing of the Guggenheim Museum. Since that time, the artist has continued examining through her photography, drawing & writing, what comprises our identity in this moment in time. Her recent writing has focused around the body as a physical structure and process, and along with photographic self- portraits, the artist asks important questions, exploring both the physicality & the passing of time & how that is reflected on one's identity.

The image of the female has always been fraught with the idealizing of the physical and as a female artist, Smith wants to explore through her imagery the conflicts of identity conjured by that idealization. Too, the artist is exploring and perhaps exposing self-portraiture and its potential pathology- the lies and the truths that are subsequently revealed. Physicality, politics, identity, framing are all aspects of confrontation which affect what the viewer sees, yet what is the reality of who we are? How does the physical self compare tothe various presentations of self that are possible?

In Eric Kandel's "Age of Insight" research by Stephen Kuffler, Hubel, Wiesel and Zeki show how retina ganglion cells each see a different aspect of reality that our brain then puts together into one image. A compiling of fragments to make the whole, as in Angela Christine Smith's art of "Dissections". The viewer is invited to look beyond the surface of her images and more deeply into their meaning. She states that "The body in front of the camera breathes into the lens and in an extended interaction with "I" multiplies to make a physical dent into the film. This extension of time explores the pauses located within the physical body."

Smith asks many questions with these works, specifically, "Is the self-portrait an extension of the mirror? What about the inside of the body, itself? What is it to become a part of the photography and reject it at the same time?" She responds "through framing, cutting, and dissecting the photographs ... to confront questions of identity, the politics of the body, and show how the photograph is displacing the body and providing a corporeal experience for the viewer." But as Smith dissects herself, she reveals us all.

Angela Christine Smith has an MFA in Integrated & Expanded Photographic Practices, Contemporary Art Theory, and Printmaking from Ohio University and a BFA in Photography, Printmaking, and Art History from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. She has won numerous awards for her photographic work.

Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12-6PM          

For further information please contact the gallery at 212 414 4040 or viridianartistinc@gmail.com

Viridian Affiliate Deb Flagel Director of Woman Made Gallery

Deb Flagel  an Affiliate Artist of Viridian has been recently appointed Director of Woman Made Gallery in Chicago.

ALAN GAYNOR RECEIVES SPECIAL MERIT AWARD

The Light Space and Time Online Gallery has awarded Alan Gaynor with two "Special Merit Category" awards for their "CityScapes Art Exhibition". The two photos are posted below.
Congratulations, Alan!

Click here to view the online show

PRESS RELEASE: "30 Under 30"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                 

"30 Under 30"
Juried by Vernita Nemec
February 21- March 11, 2017
Reception Thursday February 23, 6-8pm
Closing reception Saturday March 11, 4-6pm & others events throughout

Rocio Azarloza * Emmett Barnacle * Joanna Bellettiere * Keenan Bennett * Michael Bishop * Elizabeth Christianson * Chelsea Couch * Furen Dai * Ivan Filipchyk * Julie Gautier-Downes * Charity Henderson * Jieun Kim * Ryu-Hee Kim * Jordan Lepore * Jade Lowder * Phillip McConnell * Katie Mongoven * Aya Ogasawara * Jesse Parajeckas * Alex Schechter * Becca Shmuluvitz * Megan St Clair * Michael Thron * Sarah Tompkins * Meggan Trobaugh * Holly Wilson * Najwan Zoubi * Laura Willig * Dongyi Wu * Ryan Busch

Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present for the first time an exhibition of artists who are all under 30 years of age. “30 Under 30“ continues from February 21 to March 11, with a reception to meet the artists, Thursday February 23, 6-8PM. In a world changing culturally and politically more rapidly than ever, these artworks perhaps offer a clue to future ways artists look at their lives and times through art making. The artists in this exhibition were selected from a “call for art” the gallery sent out to discover what young artists are thinking about and creating art about in these times. From a wide range of applicants, the art of 30 of those applying, were selected by the gallery director, Vernita Nemec who is an artist herself.

Viridian plans to create an affordable program for young and gifted artists. No longer is it possible to get large workspaces or showing spaces without huge rents. 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.

This exhibition and the program Viridian has developed for young artists arose from the group’s awareness of the hardships that artists must often endure to continue their practice. As a part of an artist-owned gallery community, Viridian artists are conscious of not only how expensive space is today both for showing and working, but also, how important it is for artists to live and work in a competitive and supportive environment.

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 has social media, astronomical rents, and less space changed the way in which artists just beginning their careers express themselves creatively?

To learn the answers to some of these questions, it is best to look at the art itself for we often cannot express in words what can be expressed through an image or object. There will be events throughout the exhibition when artists & guests can talk about the work and discuss and share with one another thoughts about the importance of artmaking in today’s world. Check our facebook page and listings calendars for precise times & dates of these meetings.

Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12-6PM

For further information please contact the gallery at 212 414 4040 or viridianartistinc@gmail.com

Press Release: "Art from Detritus: Recycling with Imagination"

"Art from Detritus: Recycling with Imagination"
Curated by Vernita Nemec
January 31- February 18, 2017
Reception: Thursday, February 2, 6-8PM
Closing reception & poetry slam last Saturday, February 18, 4-6PM

William Patrick Armstrong * Marcia Bernstein * MJ Bono * May DeViney * Kiffi Diamond *Fred Gutzeit * Kathryn Hart * Ed Herman * Kathleen King * Bernice Sokol Kramer * Gail Levin * Kazuko Miyamoto * Vernita N'Cognita *  Petronia Paley * Carol Quint * Elizabeth Rhoades Read * Matakia * d'Ann de Simone * Sara Wiener * Larry Zdeb * Philip Zuchman

Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present the exhibit “Art of Detritus: Recycling with 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 especialy "upcycling" which is the essence of making art from trash. The exhibit will open January 31st and continues through February 18th with a reception Saturday, February 2nd, 6-8pm. There will also be a closing reception/ poetry slam on Saturday, February 18, 4-6PM. Let's talk about trash!

“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 artmaking 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 becoming more and more pressing as we continue to discard packaging and take a new plastic bag each time we buy. The 5 cent charge per plastic bag to be imposed soon will begin to address a small part of this environmental calamity.

Since 1994, the changing group of artists in this exhibit has opened dialogues with viewers about the importance and usefulness of art as something beyond decoration. Artists often cannot afford studio assistants, expensive materials and equipment for art making, but seeing beauty in the discarded, these artists creatively deal 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 political.

“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 head quarters for municipal waste & recycling, the exhibit has re-occurred with funding from the Kauffman Foundation, the Puffin Foundation andsponsorship by the NRC. The exhibit waspresented 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 thirds time at Viridian. (See more information and images of past Detritus shows at www.ncognita.com.)

Vernita Nemec, a.k.a. 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 2005. Her complete biography can be seen on wikipedia.

gallery hours Tuesday through Saturday 12-6PM.  For further information phone 212-414-4040 or email viridianartistsinc@gmail.com. View our

Alan Gaynor and Stacey Clarfield Newman In Group Show at the Kimmell Galleries at NYU: "Unnatural Election: Artists Respond to the 2016 US Presidential Election"

"Unnatural Election: Artists Respond to the 2016 US Presidential Election" 

Over 150 international artists, curated by Andrea Arroyo.
OPENING RECEPTION: JANUARY 19, 2017, 6-8pm.Kimmel Galleries, New York University.
60 Washington Square South, 8th Fl, New York, NY 10012.

Free and open to the public, the exhibit continues through the Spring.

Press Release: "Similarities And Differences II"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                             Please List

"Similarities and Differences 2"
January 10- 28, 2017
Reception Thursday January 12, 6-8pm

Joshua Greenberg, Rosemary K Lyons, Darryl Moody, Sarah Riley,

Toto Takamori, Meredeth Turshen           

Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present an exhibition of outstanding art by six artists who are part of Viridian Artists' Affiliate program. The "Similarities and Differences" in these artists' creations are not immediately apparent, but each has a personal vision that that often supersedes their imagery. Their meanings & motives reveal themselves and it is then that we understand move clearly their "Similarities and Differences 2". The show extends from January 10th to 28th with a reception to meet the artists Thursday January 12th, 6-8pm.

In Lines and Latitudes, Joshua Greenberg explores the lines, which divide us and the latitude we use to bring about change. As lines turn into abstract forms, this action represent the flexibility and freedom that latitude brings. The series is designed to illustrate that from lines may come both latitude and art.

Rosemary K Lyons’ “Alter Pieces” is an ongoing series inspired by early medieval altar pieces. Painted in the ancient technique using egg tempera, hers carry a modern twist that electrifies our cultural disconnect by portraying beautiful flowers with evocative words embossed in bas relief gold structures. Lyons states, “the words are from an internal dialogue about my existence as an artist."

Darryl Moody’s latest photographs continue his fascination with graffiti, poster remnants, marks and the detritus of life found on urban walls. He reads meanings into what he sees that go beyond the tangible fragments that remain. The artist says about his image “Homeless” that it is “a photographic moment taken from a wall in NYC reflecting anticipated gentrification. A stamp of a linear representation of a house stands as the last representation of personal security and is repeated as if a cause. The underlining layered graphic material suggests a lost struggle to maintain.”

 Sarah Riley has created a series of monoprints paying tribute to Camille Claudel, Rodin’s rejected protégée and lover who was a talented sculptor in her own right. As is the case for many female artists still, emotional, economic and family considerations hampered Claudel’s artmaking. Riley though, has not let herself be hampered by such things. A former art professor and Chair of the Printmaking Department at Southeast Missouri State University, she has also written a book (available on Amazon) entitled “Practical Mixed-Media Printmaking,” an essential introduction to printmaking using a wide range of low-cost materials.

Toto Takamori clearly loves oil paint. A Japanese artist who lives in Tokyo, Takamori creates small works that are thickly and texturally covered with paint that often takes months to dry. Filled with color, his artistic goal is to explore the medium of paint from figurative to abstracted modes using his wet on wet method of applying paint.

Meredeth Turshen who teaches at Rutgers University is an artist who creates gestural imagery abstracted from life. These new works are bold, layered and textured paintings on paper with oil paint. Turshen's compositions seek to evoke energy and movement as they radiate light.

Viridian's Affiliate program is one of the many ways in which our gallery continues its mission of supporting the art of outstanding "underknown" artists.

Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12-6PM

For further information please contact the gallery at 212 414 4040 or viridianartistinc@gmail.com

Press Release " Once Upon A Time..."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                               Please List

“ONCE UPON A TIME…”

Viridian Artists' 47th Annual Holiday Invitational
December 20, 2016 – January 7, 2017
Reception Thursday, December 22, 6-8

Chelsea: In celebration of Viridian Artists' 47th annual holiday invitational, the gallery is pleased to present the exhibition “ONCE UPON A TIME…”. Opening December 20th with a reception Thursday, December 22, 6-8PM, the exhibition continues through January 7, 2017.

 ONCE UPON A TIME…  the classic beginning of children’s books harkens to beautiful memories when life was simpler and everyone lived happily ever after.  Of course, now we are grown up & have learned that life too often is not fair and can be filled with the unexpected. For some this is exciting & wonderful, for others it is horrifying.

As we near the close of 2016, many of us are filled with a sense of trepidation and apprehension. Many populations of today's world are afflicted with anguish and apprehensions of all sorts - political, religious, environmental, to name just a few.    

 In early, more primitive times, many cultures realized that the artist was the shaman who possessed the powers that could make us well, create wealth and power. It was art, not science that soothed the spirit- that saved us.   

With the power of the creative spirit in mind, Viridian has invited artists to present their art to aid in the healing of your spirit. In addition, to aid visitors in finding gifts for those who matter in their lives, the gallery has created its annual Olde Arte Shoppe, filled with artist-made gifts of prints, photography, jewelry, cards, etc. all priced under $150 for last minute holiday shopping or just for giving to oneself... 

Featured artists:

Renee Borkow, Henry Coupe, Jan Davis, May DeViney, Bernice Faegenburg, Arthur Dworin, Franz Fox, Tazuko Fujii, Oi Sawa, Alan Gaynor, Wally Gilbert, Kathleen King, Namiyo Kubo, Matthias Merdan, John Nieman, Stacey Clarfield Newman, Filippo Prandi, Srividya Kannan Ramachandran, Barbara K Schwartz, Susan Sills, Virginia Evans Smit, Angela Smith, Robert Smith, Deborah Sudran, Joshua Greenberg, Phyllis Featherstone, Rosemary Lyons, Darryl Moody, Michael Reck, Sarah Riley, Katherine Ellinger Smith, Toto Takamori, Vernita N'Cognita, Jenny Belin, Marcia Bernstein, Irene Christensen, Kathy Levine, Elizabeth Ginsberg, Sheila Smith, Ed Herman, Mary Hendricks, Bernice Kramer, Angela M. LaMonte, Marcia Lloyd, Lenore Mills, Scott Kulok, Petronia Paley, Sam Wiener, Lynne Mayocole, Fred Gutzeit, Emily Booth, Celia Gilbert, Derrick Smit, Sarah Goodlow Riley- Land, Jane Talcott, John Lloyd, Alex Woodhouse, Flora Hogman, Flash Light,  Harini Ramachandran, William Paterson Armstrong, Sabra Moore

Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12-6PM          

For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Gallery Director or Jenny Belin, Assistant Director at 212 414 4040 or viridianartistinc@gmail.com

www.viridianartists.com

Wally Gilbert: Open Studios

Wally Gilbert will have Open Studios the weekend of November 19-20,
Saturday and Sunday
12 to 6 pm

Brickbottom
One Firtchburg Street,
C319
Somerville, MA 02143

There will be a general open studios in Brickbottom those two days.  60 artists will be showing.
http://brickbottomartists.com/open_studios_info

Three paintings by Franz Fox have been selected for Steadfast Magazine's Issue No.3, A Tribute to Cuba

Three paintings by Franz Fox have been selected for Steadfast Magazine's Issue No.3, A Tribute to Cuba. Steadfast Magazine is a New York City based bi-annual publication dedicated in valuing and supporting the contemporary artist in modern society. This issue is a devotion to Cuban and Cuban-American artist representation and the awe-inspiring survival of artistic inspiration in individuals who find freedom each day through a steadfast desire to create. 

Fox was born in Holguin, Cuba. His family immigrated to the US just before the Cuban Missile crisis. Three Fox works will be included in this publication. This issue will debut in Miami during Art Basel in December, 2016. Fox has been invited to participate in a curated group show, in which select artists from the issue will debut their work on the opening night of the event in Miami. 

An article about Fox and three paintings in his Neoplasticity genre will be featured in the magazine. The paintings include Windows, 60 x 48 mixed media on canvas, Absinthe of Malice, 48 x 36, mixed media on canvas, and Corpus, 48 x 36, mixed media on canvas.

Centered around Cuban art and culture, Issue No.3 of Steadfast Magazine is devoted to the awe-inspiring survival of artistic inspiration in individuals who find freedom each day through a steadfast desire to create. The artists, writers, and contributors featured in Issue No.3 inform and educate our readers on the artistic, political and social environment in Cuba, with a focus on human rights activism and social injustice. La Libertad Artistica is dedicated to the men and women, seen and unseen, known and unknown, who have suffered the inequalities of oppression and persecution in the name of artistic freedom.

In addition to Franz Fox, the following artists are also featured in Issue No.3, La Libertad Artistica: Abelardo Morell, Adrian Fernandez, Angie Garcia, Armando Valladares, Brian Batt, Chelsea Kozak, Christina Arza, El Sexto, Geandy Pavon, Hector Frank, Jorge Valls, Lissette Schaeffler, Rachel Valdès Camejo and Tania Bruguera.

 Fox is currently represented by Viridian Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, NY and FineArtCollector in Boston, MA.

Franz Fox Showing at Haley & Steel

Press Release: John Nieman

 JOHN NIEMAN
"The Wanted Show"
November 29th-December 17th, 2016
Opening Reception, Thursday, December 1st, 6-8 pm.

Chelsea, NYC: Viridian Artists is pleased to present "The Wanted Show", an exhibition of Wanted Posters by John Nieman. The exhibition continues from November 29th to December 17th, 2016 with an opening Reception, Thursday, December 1st, 6-8 pm.

What is missing in American Values? What is heroism? These important questions are answered in numerous ways by the artist John Nieman in this series of "Wanted Posters" describing outstanding individuals wanted and known for their positive virtues of generosity, sacrifice, leadership, and creativity rather than for bad deeds. Covering a wide swath of decades and a broad cross section of personalities and professions, the individuals portrayed range from courageous Ann Frank to generous Oprah Winfrey who gives millions to help the unfortunate.

  The artist, who has been a "voice over actor", has added recordings that can be listened to while viewing the individuals portrayed. "Hi-tech" recorded essays written by the verbally and visually multitalented artist accompany some of the "wanteds". Talking about their contribution to society and accessible by a QR code or cell phone number - and for those who don’t have a cellphone (is there anyone today?)…a printed version will be made available - these essays that are a mini history lesson in human achievement.

To Visually re-create the sense of weathered wanted posters of the wild West that we remember from the distant past and using just four colors - raw umber, yellow ochre, Van Dyke Brown and Indian red - the artist initially made water-colors that were then enlarged to poster size and monoprinted, creating only one of each image. A few of these Wanted Posters were shown at Art Basel last year in Miami, but are showing in NYC for the first time. The concept for these artworks arose out of a previous series of works entitled "What is Missing?", twisting the concept of missing children chronicled on milk cartons to milk cartons that instead speak of the values missing in much of contemporary culture.

John Nieman's art continually connects the verbal and the visual, whether with recordings accompanying the art as in this exhibit or in paintings with images that have words superimposed. Hoping to make people see reality in a different light, both the ordinary and the unusual, many of his paintings incorporate words and images in equal powers. In fact, "a picture is worth a thousand words" describes some of his work perfectly, though superficially, since for him it is the idea that holds the greatest importance.

Nieman is continually fascinated by the nexus of art and pop culture, perhaps because before turning to fine art over a decade ago, he enjoyed a successful career in advertising. The artist has exhibited widely and collections of his paintings and poems have been published in "The Art of Lists" and "The Art of More Lists". "The Wanted Book" which contains images featured in the current show will be available. Nieman's art hangs in collections through out Europe and the US. 

This will be John Nieman's first solo exhibit at Viridian. We look forward to sharing with you his heroines and heroes and invite you to think of some individuals that he might add to his series of Wanted.

             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

VIRGINIA EVANS SMIT "BOTANICALS

VIRGINIA EVANS SMIT
"BOTANICALS"

 November 8- November 26th, 2016
Reception Thursday, November 10, 6-8PM
Coffee & Conversation with the artist Saturday, November 19, 3-5PM

Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present a solo exhibition of monoprints, collagraphs, solar prints and dry point etchings by the artist VIRGINIA EVANS SMIT. The exhibit will continue from November 8 - November 26th, 2016 with a Reception on Thursday, November 10, 6-8PM. There will be a Coffee & Conversation with the artist Saturday, November 19, 4-6PM.

 Looking at Smit's monoprints using a variety of techniques, is akin to looking at a history of memories for her images have a suggestion of realism with, as writer Ed McCormack stated, “the occasional note of lyrical melancholy that lends particular poignancy”. These are not bouquets you would find at the market, but instead are plants gathered from a solitary walk through a garden, filled with the feelings and emotions of important moments.

Much of the inspiration for these new unique prints comes from her winter travels to Barbados a Caribbean island filled with fascinating trees, flora and an abundance of nature that edges its shorelines and towns. Smit confesses she doesn't create the work there however, but instead photographs, makes sketches and keeps notes to refer to when she returns to her studio in Manhattan where she has her own press. In addition, she also works much of the time at Manhattan Graphics, a printmaking studio near the Elizabeth Foundation in mid- Manhattan.  

The artist has the distinction of being the first African American female to receive a Masters of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania where she received The Thornton Oakley Creative Achievement Award. She has been associated with Viridian Artists since 1978. Over that time period she has had more than fifteen solo exhibitions not only at Viridian, but also at Farleigh Dickenson University, Columbia University’s Teacher’s College, Mehu Gallery in Manhattan, the James E Lewis Museum at Morgan State University, the Barbados Museum and Historical Society and many others. Her work is in many collections including The Wadsworth Atheneum, General Foods, the Hewitt Collection of African American Art, the Library of Congress, The Fuba Collection in Johannesburg South Africa, Colgate Palmolive and many other private and public collections in the U.S. and abroad.

 We look forward to sharing Smit’s lush images and invite you to meet the artist and perhaps take a mental walk with her through her garden of “Botanicals”.

                           Gallery hours: Tuesday throughSaturday 12- 6 PM

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

Gallery hours: Tuesday throughSaturday 12- 6 PM

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: “Unusual Politics: The Madness of Reality”

“Unusual Politics: The Madness of Reality”
Photographic & Mixed Media Invitational
Curated by Vernita Nemec
October 18 – November 5, 2016
Reception Thursday October 20, 6-8pm
Poetry Reading & closing event Saturday Nov 5, 4-6pm

Alan Gaynor * Franz Fox * May DeViney * John Nieman * Kathleen King * Jan Davis * Bruce Rosen * Kathleen Shanahan * Sarah Riley * Joshua Greenberg * Katherine Ellinger Smith * Dave Dorsey * Srividya Kannan Ramachandran * Ed Herman * Larry Zdeb * Naum Medovoy * Claudia Corò * Angela M. LaMonte * Erik Miller * Bernice Sokoll Kramer * Jackie Lima * Marcia Bernstein * D’Ann de Simone * Patricia Owsiany *Elizabeth Bisbing * Victoria Webb * Bryan Smith * Jenny Belin * Marjie Zelman * William Patrick Armstrong * David Yendes * Robert Cenedella * Irene Christensen * Fred Gutzeit * Craig Cheply * Richard Brachman*Len Rosenfeld * Michael Wolf * N’Cognita * Michael Reck *Philip Gerstein * Kyoyoung Keum * Marcia Lloyd * Ursula Clark

Chelsea, NYC: Viridian Artists is pleased to present “Unusual Politics: The Madness of Reality”, a Photographic & Mixed Media Invitational curated by Vernita Nemec. The exhibition continues from October 18th – November 5th, 2016 with an opening reception Thursday, October 20th, 6-8pm & a closing party & poetry reading on Saturday Nov 5th, 4-6pm.

The impetus for this invitational exhibit arose out of the trying times of this moment of reality that is so filled with madness. The upcoming election with possibly our first female president vying for the office with a political neophyte, racial anger, immigration, gun & police issues, environmental catastrophes throughout the world are tensions and stress that perhaps only can be safely addressed through art.

More than 40 artists are addressing their concerns and thoughts both directly and indirectly about today’s world with their art. Ed Herman’s photo of Lincoln dissolved by water dripping from AC, Angela LaMonte’s collage accompanied by a quote from Frantz Fanon about the magic finally being in the hands of the people; Marcia Bernstein’s abstract construction “Hatred’s Rising”; Michaels Wolf’s lead flag, Larry Zdeb’s assemblage of things from daily life that continues despite our fears; Elizabeth Bisbing’s “Obama of Mercy” collage with crowd shots of rallies mixed with fragments of Poussin paintings, Alan Gaynor’s multiplied face of Trump with lips pursed; Len Rosenfeld’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”; Craig Cheply’s “Maddog” man in a suit; Franz Fox’s “Danseur” symbolizing the chaos he feels in our country; Sryvidya K Ramachandran’s “Proudhon, not Marx” abstraction about gradualism. Kyoyoung Keum explores the disparity between “reality” and what is “true”. Racism, labor, the environment, law, hope and oh yes, politics are all explored through art and images.

These artworks all carry a message filled with worries about tomorrow. Sometimes the message is made clear by the title, sometimes by the image and sometimes the meaning is not at all clear, but then, that is the nature of these times. This is not the first time that Viridian has presented an exhibit focused on politics or social concerns because art speaks beyond words. Nevertheless, the artists have also been invited to present a poem or two to close the exhibition- for words and image both help to clarify our communication. We hope you will join us and see the power of art to express what is on the minds of artists in today’s tumultuous world

Director's Choice

DIRECTOR'S CHOICE
"FROM VIRTUAL TO ACTUAL 5"
CURATED BY VERNITA NEMEC  
SEPTEMBER 27- OCTOBER 15, 2016
OPENING RECEPTION THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 6-8PM

Alan Richards * Larry Zdeb * Lynne Johnson * Emmanuel Monzon * Paula Swisher  * Marcia Lloyd * Marilyn Richeda * Jan Brandt * Alex Sewell * Margery Appelbaum * Max Tzinman * Jim Jacobs * Christopher Ruane  * Ashley Shellhause * Linda Jacobs * Robert Augstell * 
Paxton Maroney * Chris Vanden Broeke

Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present " Director's Choice: From Virtual To Actual 5", art from the powerpoint presentation of our 26th International Juried Competition. Curated by Vernita Nemec, this exhibit brings the actual art of that virtual presentation to the gallery walls. The exhibit continues from   SEPTEMBER 27- OCTOBER 15, 2016 with an opening reception Thursday, SEPTEMBER 29, 6-8PM. 

Viridian asks both the gallery director and the museum curator to act as jurors, showing the director's choices virtually in a power point presentation during the Juried Exhibition of the museum curator's choices.  Although these artists were not “winners” of Viridian's 26th International Juried Competition, their art is uniquely interesting. Viridian's Director's Choice Exhibitions arise from one of Viridian's primary missions: to provide meaningful exposure to under-known artists of all ages whose art merits wider attention. 
  
Despite the popularity of the web and the fact that we are becoming more adept at looking at art on the web, seeing art in reality offers the viewer a much richer experience, hence the title “From Virtual to Actual”. All the artists in this exhibition have a personal obsession that serves as a starting point in their search for ways in which to transform inner visions into reality. Transforming these inner realities into art becomes a translation of the “virtual into the actual”.

As we all know, professional opinions vary widely regarding what is the "best" art, for in the end it is a question of taste, even in the eye of the professional.  Each of the artists in this diverse exhibition has her or his personal obsession that serves as the starting point of the search to transform inner concerns into an outer reality through their art. The results of transforming these realities into art, remains open to each viewer's interpretation and becomes yet another translation of the “virtual into the actual”.    

Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 12 - 6 p.m.
For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Gallery Director

VIRIDIAN ARTISTS WELCOMES NEW MEMBER: JAN DAVIS

Artist statement and biography

“Most of my paintings depict flowers.  To me, flowers convey a sense of hope and optimism.  The unlimited shapes and colors allow for a great deal of imagination and experimentation.  The background areas also provide even more opportunities for painterly expression.  Many of the flowers look wind-blown. I try to give a sense of movement through the use of line.  I am currently working on adding texture by applying pieces of cut-up fabric to the canvas.  I paint almost everyday.

Background:
* Won the Grumbacher Award for “Best Use of Paint"
* Had solo shows in Pinebush and Ellenville, N.Y.
* Was one of the artists in a two-woman show at the Ariel Gallery in Soho, N.Y.
* Had six solo exhibitions at the Piermont Flywheel

PRESS RELEASE: HENRY COUPE: “A LIFETIME OF PAINTING”

HENRY COUPE:
“A LIFETIME OF PAINTING”
September 6 – September 24, 2016
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 8, 6-8 p.m.

Chelsea, NYC: Viridian Artists is pleased to present the paintings of artist Henry Coupe. His exhibition of paintings entitled “A LifeTIME of painting” continues from September 6TH through September 24TH, 2016 with an opening reception Thursday, September 8th, 6-8 PM.

Henry Coupe spent his life creating small paintings, most under 24”, executed in strong, simple strokes, of people in landscapes. His people are shown both alone and in small groups. Tiny in scale, his delicate oils are filled with feeling and speak of love, portraying life’s simplest and most important moments, shared with others or experienced in solitude. With simple and direct titles like “Girl Wearing Orange Sash” or “Man Reading,” the people in his works are known by nothing more than what they are wearing or what they are doing. We don’t know them, but then we realize perhaps we do, for we’ve experienced that moment of “Listening to Father” or read “The Letter,” while lying on the grass.

There is a sense of lifetimes in his paintings that continue from childhood to old age, for he makes sure the viewer knows that the girl is adolescent and that the woman holding flowers is elderly, yet we can’t help but wonder who the “The Chaperone” is. These uncomplicated truths seem to be of utmost importance to Henry in the stories these humble paintings silently tell.

Born in 1924, he married Ann McGivern in 1950 and studied painting at Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute School of Art in the 40’s and through the 50’s with Ralph Wickiser and a student of Hans Hofmann among others. Like many artists, he taught art from 1955 until his retirement in 1976.

Henry Coupe’s early career in NYC began at Aegis and Brata Galleries, both important galleries on 10th Street in the 60’s. The 10th Street Galleries were artist-run art galleries that began in the early 50’s, and where Irving Sandler began his career of writing about the art of that time. While more established galleries like the Janis and Castelli had wealthy art dealers on the more opulent 57th Street, the 10th Street Galleries were near where many established artists of the era, like de Kooning and Kline, had studios in downtown Manhattan. Their presence attracted younger artists to the same neighborhood, where space was cheap for studios and for living.

Coupe’s paintings have been exhibited in Florence, Italy, New York City, Narbeth, PA, at the Smithsonian Institute, in Washington, DC and Chautauqua, where art critic Stephen Westfall curated an exhibition in which Henry’s painting was included. He received Honorable Mention in Viridian’s 24th Annual International Exhibition, juried by Elizabeth Sussman, Curator of the Whitney Museum of American Art. He also received the Subagh Winkelstern and Subagh Khalsa Award, in Chatauqua, NY.

His paintings have been reproduced and written about in Art News, the Christian Science Monitor and Wall Street International. His paintings are in private collections and the Permanent Collection of the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, NY.

This will be Henry’s first solo exhibit at Viridian Artists. At the time of the juried exhibit at Viridian in which he won Honorable Mention, he was 90 years old and had fallen into a coma, finally succumbing at the age of 91 in December of 2015. His wife Ann, who he always said, “continues to be my inspiration”, manages his estate and will be present at the reception to talk with guests about his work. Viridian looks forward to sharing his paintings with you.