Two works by Marie-Ange Hoda Ackad are included in Dabart's first quarterly art journal and book, Click-Bait.
Click-Bait will be added to the permanent catalog at LACMA ‘s (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) Balch Art Research Library.
Jenny Belin Wins Voices Of The Year: Art As Impact Award From BlogHer.
Jenny Belin was given the "Art As Impact" award from BlogHer's Voices of the Year Award Ceremony.
Congratulations @jennybelin for winning the #VOTY Art as Impact Award #BlogHerHealth19 pic.twitter.com/U7RVDx7K4a
— BlogHer (@BlogHer) January 25, 2019
Hello, World!
Press Release: "UNTITLED" : Recent Paintings by Toto Takamori
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
“UNTITLED”
Recent paintings by
Toto Takamori
January 29 – February 23, 2019
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 31, 6–8PM
Chelsea NY: Viridian Artists is pleased to present an exhibition of outstanding art by Japanese painter Toto Takamori. The show extends from January 29 – February 23, 2019 with an Opening Reception on Thursday, January 31, 6–8PM.
Toto Takamori spends months creating his tiny 4x6 or 5x7 paintings. His paintings consist of layers and layers of oil paint, sometimes as many as 70 layers says the artist, but we must take his word for it. The paintings often take months to dry, but the wait is worth it.
These tiny gems are extremely colorful, sometimes with touches of glitter added, but most fascinating are those in which he mixes matte color with a greyish underpainting to mimic the surface of rocks altered by time and weather.
The artist is interested in continually exploring various paint media and combining them with pieces of found metal, plastic and other materials to create a textural surface.
Though he resides in Tokyo, he visits NYC often and is interested in studying both Eastern and Western approaches to creating art. He began as a figurative artist as many artists do, but now what is more important to him than depicting people or objects are the properties of the paint medium.
This is the first solo exhibition that Takamori is having at Viridian. We hope that you are able to attend this exhibition of captivating artworks.
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12–6pm
For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Gallery Director at 212-414-4040 or viridianartistsinc@gmail.com
View the gallery website: www.viridianartists.com
Press Release: “COMPLEXITIES II”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
“COMPLEXITIES II”
Viridian Affiliates
January 2- 26, 2018
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 10, 6-8PM
Performance by N’Cognita 7PM
JULIETTE GORDON * JOSHUA GREENBERG * ROSEMARY LYONS * MICHAEL RECK * SARAH RILEY * 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 art of Viridian’s January Affiliates’ all display a complexity derived from both a political impulse as well as a creative impulse. All these artists create with the aim of going beyond the simplicity of pretty pictures, using their art to make visual statements in reaction to the various realities of today’s world. Some art speaks about the abuse of sexuality or uses the female form as the starting point while others abstract the realities of their experiences. The show extends from JANUARY 2ND TO 26th with an opening reception on Thursday, January 10, 6-8PM with a performance by N’Cognita at 7PM.
JULIETTE GORDON was a trailblazer, an important member of the feminist art movement in New York and a respected artist in the inner-circle of radical anti-war politics in the early 70’s. She suffered a stroke in 2001, but still would undoubtedly have taken her rightful place among more well known feminist contemporaries had her life not been drastically changed in 2003 by a disastrous fire in which she was seriously burned and nearly died. The artist, now 84, has been living in rehabilitation and nursing facilities since, but her spirit is not diminished. For the past 6 years she has been nurtured through bouts of self-doubt to continue creating by the artist Sharon Wybrants who continuously encourages her and visits her weekly. Dr. Andrew Hottle, who is an art historian and a specialist in feminist art of the 70’s, has created an inventory of Gordon’s oeuvre with the hopes there will be a retrospective one day of her work. Viridian is pleased to be showing collages in this exhibit that are a part of her body of work.
JOSHUA GREENBERG uses photo-based imagery to create abstract art. In The Secret Life of Leaves, he draws abstraction from everyday objects and events, in this case autumn leaves. The leaves are transformed through reflections and highlights into abstraction, and begin to organize themselves into new compositions. Shades of various colors, shadows and textures highlight movement and provide the framework to view the busy and secret life of leaves. His work in this series illustrates how photo-based imagery may help extend the use of less explored dimensions of photography to create contemporary art.
Because ROSEMARY LYONS was so shocked and appalled at the stories of the #me too movement and having had her own harassment experiences, a creative response seemed imperative to her. She states, “My own talents include being a good listener and a painter who specializes in egg tempera paintings of the exquisite flowers from my garden. Flowers seem to be a wonderful metaphor for what women are expected to do: be strong and beautiful through all storms and drought. I know that this work is important...the only sadness is that there are so many stories.” The works shown in this exhibit are her response.
MICHAEL RECK, though primarily an abstract artist, uses NYC and urban living for his inspiration in this new series of drawings/ paintings. In almost Haiku like phrasing, the artist states the following about the urban imagery that stimulated his visual response and was the foundation for these works:
“The graffiti covered subways I grew up riding.
The stripes of painted crosswalks underfoot.
The constant sight of buildings coming down and rising.
All of this has found it's way into my recent work.”
Artist and former chair of the art department at Southeastern Missouri University, SARAH RILEY, is a printmaker who incorporates many different techniques into her work. The original inspiration for DeCode/ReCode was one of her own life drawings, transformed into a series of twenty-five limited edition prints. The head of the figure and other photos were scanned, digitally manipulated and layered. She sees the process of allowing the image and successive variations to build and change spontaneously and organically with each added layer “to mimic the human condition, one woman/many women, issues of identity and history, especially women’s history.”
Meredeth Turshen creates intriguing oil paintings on paper that can be interpreted as summery landscapes or read as abstract works. Starting with drawings of live models, Turshen explores the use of the female figure as the basis of layered work. Her gestural abstractions use colors that are rich and subtle, giving the work tension and depth. Studies began at age ten at the Art Students League in New York with Saturday classes for children and continued, after majoring in studio art at Oberlin College, in workshops at Pratt, the Printmaking Council of NJ, the Rutgers Center for Innovative Printmaking, the CT Center for Graphic Arts, and for the past ten years at Vermont Studio Center. Turshen joined Viridian in 2007. She is a member of the National Association of Women Artists.
We hope to see you in January at this exhibition of captivating artworks.
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
Alan Gaynor is showing two works at the Limner Gallery in Hudson, NY
Alan Gaynor is showing two works at the Limner Gallery in Hudson, NY
LIMNER GALLERY
Holiday Small Works Exhibition and Sale
December 1 - 29, 2018
Reception, December 1, 5-7pm
123 Warren Street
Hudson, NY 12534
518-828-2343
TheLimner@aol.com
Gallery Hours
Thurs - Sun 12-5
Mon-Wed by appt.
Artists Talk on Art presents : "When the Artist is the Art": Panel & short videos & performances curated by Vernita N'Cognita and Coco Dolle
Press Release: “Who’s Naughty / Who’s Nice”Viridian’s Annual Holiday Invitational
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
“Who’s Naughty / Who’s Nice”
Viridian’s Annual Holiday Invitational
November 27 – December 29, 2018
Opening reception: Thursday, November 29, 6–8pm
“East Village Happening in Chelsea”: An evening of short performances:
Thursday, December 13, 7pm (come before 8pm, so you aren’t locked out!)
Chelsea, NYC: Viridian Artists is pleased to present “Who’s Naughty / Who’s Nice,” Viridian’s Annual Holiday Invitational from November 27 – December 29, 2018 with an Opening Reception Thursday, November 29, 6–8pm & on Thursday, December 13 at 7pm, an evening of short performances, “East Village Happening in Chelsea” (come before 8pm so you aren’t locked out!)
Who’s naughty / who’s nice is a phrase from a Christmas song composed in 1934: “You better watch out / You better not cry / Better not pout / I'm telling you why / Santa Claus is coming to town / He's making a list / And checking it twice / Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice...” and it’s a carol that has stayed in our memories, reawakening holiday remembrances and the worry of what gift to get for whom. Why not give art? “Who’s naughty / who’s nice” is an exhibit filled with the perfect present for whoever is naughty/ whoever is nice! Some of the art addresses the subject, some doesn’t, but all is open to interpretation. And of course, in today’s world, art can be the safest way to speak one’s mind. Is our world making us forget how to be nice?
Viridian’s holiday show in December is an annual event filled with art by gallery artists and their artist-friends. In addition, Viridian will open its holiday Arte Shoppe, filled with artist-made cards, jewelry and small artworks. All items in the Arte Shoppe are priced at $99 or less.
In addition, on Thursday, December 13 at 7pm, Viridian presents an “East Village Happening in Chelsea,” an evening of short 8-minute or less performances and readings organized by Armand Ruhlman.
This was a special year, for Viridian reached its 50th birthday. To honor the nearly 200 artists who have been a part of the gallery in these past 50 years a catalog has been created and is available for just $10.
In these times of fake news and the dis-reality of horrible things being done in the name of the law, discerning and interpreting it all can be most safely done through art. We hope you will join us, perhaps putting thoughts of politics aside for a festive evening of celebrating the good and giving to those we care about.
Featured artists include:
Renee Borkow * Ellen Burnett * Henry Coupe * May DeViney * Kiffi Diamond * Bernice Faegenburg * David Fitzgerald * Tazuko Fuji * Alan Gaynor * Wally Gilbert * Kazuo Ishikawa * Kat King * Namiyo Kubo * Marco Lando * Ron Moore * Nancy Nicol * John Nieman * Stacey Clarfield Newman * Mary Tooley Parker * Srividya Kannan Ramachandran * Oi Sawa * Susan Sills * Virginia Evans Smit * Angela Smith * Robert Smith * Arlene Finger * Deborah Sudran * Toto Takamori * Bob Tomlinson * Marie-Ange Hoda Ackad * Deb Flagel * Juliette Gordon * Joshua Greenberg * John Lloyd * Barbara Hillerman Lieske * Charles Hildebrandt * Rosemary Lyons * Michael Reck * Carolina Poggi * Sarah Riley * Kathleen Shanahan * Carol Quint * Meredeth Turshen * Jenny Belin * Vernita N’Cognita * Carol Quint * Bernice Sokol Kramer * Elizabeth Ginsberg * Petronia Paley * Flora Hogman * Sunny Chapman * Gregg Biermann * Sheila Smith * Angela M. LaMonte * Jane Talcott * Marqusha Oliver * Marcia Lloyd * Ursula Clark * Marianna Winterdale * Marc S. Miller * Natasha Ozhiganova * Ayako Bando * Betty Jacobson * Tanya Levina * Carol Brookes * Sharon Wybrants * Susan Redeker * Aomi Kikuchi * Katherine Ellinger Smith * Jon Melnick * Eileen Mullan * Jasmine Spencer * Ed Herman *& others
Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12–6pm
For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Gallery Director at 212-414-4040 or viridianartistsinc@gmail.com or view the gallery website: www.viridianartists.com
Opening Reception For Ellen Burnett's Solo Exhibition At ARTIFACT: Wednesday, November 7th, 6-8 PM
“The View From Here”, Ellen Burnett's solo exhibition at ARTIFACT will be on view November 7th-November 26th, with an opening reception on November 7th from 6-8pm.
ARTIFACT is located at 84 Orchard Street, NYC.
ArtTable Event For Srividya Kannan Ramachandran's Solo Exhibition: “A.I. Generated Art”
“Meditating amidst a worldly blaze” by Srividya Kannan Ramachandran
MeetAT at Viridian Artists
Thursday, November 8, 2018
6:30- 8:00 PM
Join ArtTable for a MeetAT at Viridian Artists. ArtTable MeetATs take place every other month with members and friends meeting for drinks and light refreshments at a gallery space. Open to Prospective Members! Feel free to bring a friend!
Srividya Kannan Ramachandran Speaks about Artificial Intelligence In the Arts: An Interview with YouTube influencer
Press Release: Vernita Nemec's Installation, “The Endless Junkmail Scroll” on exhibit at the Edward Williams Gallery
“The Endless Junkmail Scroll” on exhibit at the Edward Williams Gallery
Teaneck (October 9, 2018) – Artist Vernita Nemec presents “The Endless Junkmail Scroll”, which will be on display at the Edward Williams Gallery on Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Metropolitan Campus from Monday, October 15, through Friday, November 30, 2018.
The Gallery is located in FDU’s Edward Williams Hall, 150 Kotte Place, Hackensack, N.J. Gallery hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; and Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. There is no admission charge.
About the Artist
“The Endless Junkmail Scroll” is Vernita Nemec AKA N’Cognita’s solution to dealing with all that mail we get that tries to persuade us to borrow money, open another charge account or accept services we have no need for. It is a site-specific installation of junkmail that has been collaged, painted and hung, twisted, curling and meandering through the space with lighting and shadows accentuating its presence.
The artist states, “I think of the Endless Junkmail Scroll Installation as an interactive site to be physically experienced as an environment that in past times might have been a forest or jungle since destroyed in order to make the paper that becomes the endless junkmail filling our mailboxes daily. I want the Endless Junk Mail Scroll to be a thought-provoking installation that addresses environmental issues of the 21st century: the destruction of natural resources, the overloading of landfills, over-consumption of material possessions, over-crowding. Issues that if not addressed with recycling and re-use will result in life, as we know it, being over.”
Nemec has exhibited her work through the world, presenting not only visual art but also performance art in which she incorporates both movement and text. Her art is in many collections throughout the world, including the Savaria Museum in Hungary, the Museum of Modern Art and in the Sylvia Sleigh Collection of Feminist Art at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. In addition to being an artist and independent curator, Nemec is also the director of Viridian Artists, a gallery in the Chelsea art district of New York City.
Press Release: "New Artists Pop Up"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
"NEW ARTISTS POP UP"
October 23- October 27, 2018
Reception Thursday October 25th, 6-8pm
Ernesto Ruiz Bry * Ellen Burnett * Kiffi Diamond * Kazuo Ishikawa * Marco Lando * Nancy Nicol
Chelsea, NYC: Viridian Artists is pleased to present "NEW ARTISTS POP UP"The exhibition continues from October 23- October 27, 2018 with an opening reception October 25th, 6-8pm.
Its always exciting the first time one sees a small body of work by an unfamiliar artist, so periodically Viridian uses whenever available moments arise, to do so. These 6 artists are yet to have solo exhibits at the gallery, but we seized this moment to introduce their art to you in a short one week pop-up exhibition. All but Marco Lando who uses photography as his media of choice, incorporate found objects or collage in their work.
Ernesto Ruiz Bry is an Argentinian artist based in Fort Lauderdale. Bry creates large collages of sport figures primarily, whom he admires for their perseverance and fortitude. His collages employ images from magazines that would be discarded if not used to create art. Like many who work in the collage medium, he feels that the recycling of the magazine images is not only helping to save the environment, but serves to give them a new life as well.
Ellen Burnett and Kiffi Diamond are both artists who recycle discards, though their recycling is focused not on paper, but on objects of all sorts. Burnett was one of the winning artists in our 28th Annual Competition juried by Susan Thompson of the Guggenheim Museum. At an early age, her mother introduced her to collage and assemblage by often taking her to MOMA and teaching her frugality, after having lived through the Great Depression. Burnett creates both collages and sculptural compositions from a wide range of objects and materials she collects and meticulously organizes in her studio.
Kiffi Diamond is a collage and assemblage artist too, who was born into a family of artists in Los Angeles. Her interest in collecting and collage comes out of an early passion for Victorian ephemera. Using her signature style and strong design sense, she combines idiosyncratic materials into witty visual narratives.
Kazuo Ishikawa comes to Viridian from Tokyo, Japan. He has a very unique way that he approaches creating his collage/ assemblages that incorporate plastic, metal and wood as well as paper. He begins his compositions first with vanishing points that he then connects with lines and shapes, keeping the work in bas relief with just an illusion of dimension.
Marco Lando’s photographic practice is intended as epic and revolutionary. Fragments of architecture and portions of cities exist against the background of a cloudy sky or mountain peaks, creating the scenario of the “Alchemy” series. In order to create an immediate visual and emotional upheaval, Lando often chooses to play architecture against nature: representing what matters most, daily life and shelter, while employing objects such as blankets, as metaphorical tools.
Nancy Nicol is still a New Yorker at heart, after commuting daily as a school kid from New Jersey & collecting found objects, bits of rusty metal and whatever along the way. Now she lives in a totally different setting on Cape Cod, but her early NYC journeys to school, the museums and urban neighborhoods still impact the art she makes today. Her collages and sculptures continue to be created from the detritus of moments.
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
Press Release: Srividya Kannan Ramachandran: “A.I. Generated Art”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
Srividya Kannan Ramachandran
“A.I. Generated Art”
October 30 - November 24, 2018
Opening reception, Thursday, November 1st, 6-8PM
Closing reception on Saturday November 24th, 4-6PM
Chelsea, NYC: Viridian Artists is pleased to present "A.I. Generated Art", our first solo exhibition of AI-generated images by Srividya Kannan Ramachandran. Her exhibition continues from October 30th to November 24th, 2018 with an opening reception, Thursday, November 1st, 6-8PM and a closing reception on Saturday November 24th, 4-6PM.
“A.I. Generated Art” is a collection of images that were generated from an A.I.’s consciousness. All but one of the images (can you guess which?) in this show were entirely created by artificial neural networks. Like a parent or teacher teaching art to a student, Ramachandran trained the artificial brain with her pre-existing corpus of abstract art. After the training process is complete, the A.I. is free to generate new art in the same style that it has learned. The promise of imbuing a machine with creativity opens new vistas for “art” as we define and know it.
For decades now, computers have been used to automate routine and tedious tasks. But what lay beyond the ability of computers, was to simulate the human intelligence, and even beyond that, lay artistic creativity. Technology has evolved to a point where A.I. can now “learn” from an artist and generate new art by itself. What then is the meaning of art? This ground-breaking work by Ramachandran, a data scientist by day and an artist by night, at the intersection of technology and art, seeks to redefine aesthetics for an A.I. dominated future.
In Ramachandran’s words – “The purpose of my art is to delight those who set aside searching for purposes in life, if only it be for the brief time they spend gazing at my work. Beneath the ever-running reductionist outer mind, we all possess a silent mental substratum. Reposing in this substratum – termed ‘chitta’ in Sanskrit – yields a serene sense of bliss and also an effortless identification with a universal transcendent self. Our innate propensities embedded in our sub-conscious prevent us from resting perpetually in this tranquil state. Instead, these propensities impel us to react to all inputs in Pavlovian reflexive fashion.”
The aim of Ramachandran’s art then is to gently attenuate these propensities by using abstraction to directly color the chitta and induce in it a sense of “impersonal” delight that is distinct from the usual responses of either joy or disappointment. Art perceived by this inner intuitive self, escapes the confines of being the artist’s work solely and is uniquely reborn in every gaze on it within each distinct individual.
The artist will be speaking about the technical details of creating these works at MLConf 2018, a machine learning conference in San Francisco on November 14, 2018.
This will be Ramachandran’s first solo show at Viridian Artists. She was initially invited to become a part of Viridian after being one of 30 artists selected for the Director’s Choice exhibit, a juried exhibit that happens periodically at Viridian. We look forward to your seeing these wonderful new artworks.
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
Ellen Burnett: Open Studio Evening: Friday January 21st, 7-10 PM
And They Danced by the Light of the Moon
27”w x 25”h x 2”d
Mixed Media including wood, rubber, string, wire, sand, glass, telephone cord, crystal beads
Ellen Burnett will be having an Open Studio event on Friday, January 21st, 7-10 pm
***************************
Open Studio Evening -
Friday, September 21, 7-10pm
34 Liberty Place
Weehawken, NJ
Wally Gilbert : Art Show in in Cambridge, MA
Wally Gilbert
Art Show
University Place
124 Mount Auburn Street
Cambridge, MA.
Opening Party:
Thursday, October 4, 6 – 8 pm
Artist's Talk:
Thursday, October 11, 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Press Release: BOB TOMLINSON “Still Crazy After All These Years”: A Retrospective
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
BOB TOMLINSON
“Still Crazy After All These Years”
A RETROSPECTIVE
October 2 - 20, 2018
Opening reception Saturday, October 6, 2018 3-6 pm
Champagne and conversation with the artist, Saturday, October 20, 3–4 pm
Chelsea, NYC: Viridian Artists is pleased to present a retrospective of works by Bob Tomlinson. The exhibit opens October 2nd with a reception on Saturday October 6th, 3-6 p.m. The work will be on view through October 20th. The artist will be at the gallery on Saturday, October 20th, the final day of the exhibit, for champagne and conversation from 3-4 p.m.
There are two kinds of artists, a Picasso who is constantly changing his style and a Balthus who is relatively stylistically stable. The first case does not exclude recurrent themes and a recognizable mark, nor does the second exclude a subtle stylistic evolution. Tomlinson’s art is somewhere between the two. One of the joys of a retrospective is that it allows both the viewer and the artist to reflect on recurrent elements and themes in the work.
In Tomlinson’s art, it is not far-fetched to see echoes of the early woodcuts in the graphic style of his later works. His abstract collages prepare the viewer for the collage passages of the later oil and collage paintings. Beyond variations of style and media, in Tomlinson’s paintings there is an ongoing concern with the human body as the primary expressive tool. Faces are turned away and except for the portraits, we seldom see the eyes. Ignoring the traditional distinction between naturalistically depicted figures and abstract forms, the sensuous color and bold, sinuous contours of this artist’s elusive and lyrical paintings play on the tension between figurative references and abstracted shapes.
Tomlinson is a Jamaican-American artist born in Brooklyn, New York. He has shown widely in Paris, London, Amsterdam and New York and is represented in many international public and private collections including those of the Clark-Atlanta University Museum, City University of New York, the late Dr. Maya Angelou, Sir Shean McConnell, Lord and Lady Hirshfield, Sr. Franco Trecanni, Mme Linda Weil-Curiel and Herr Frits Bernard.
A graduate of Pratt Institute and the CUNY Graduate Center, Tomlinson is also a scholar of French Literature and Aesthetics and has lectured and published in both disciplines, as well as in Afro-American Studies. He figures in the books, 100 New York Painters by Cynthia M. Dantzic (Schiffer, 2006) andBlack Paris Profiles by Monique E. Wells (2012) and is one of the artists studied in a recent Masters Thesis by Charlotte Barat, Artistes Noirs Américains à Paris (1945-1969), (Université de Paris I, Panthéon- Sorbonne, 2014). He is also the subject of a film project by well-known documentary filmmaker Louis Massiah.
Gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday 12 pm - 6 pm
For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Director, at 212 414 4040 or viridianartistsinc@gmail.com
Work by Marie-Ange Hoda Ackad featured in Dab Art's Quarterly Journal and Online Exhibition
Two works by Marie-Ange Hoda Ackad have been selected for Dab Art’s online exhibition and its first quarterly journal. Journals will also be added to the permanent catalog in the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) Balch Art Research Library.
These political works along with 33 others from different artists are currently featured in an online exhibition from September 1 until December 1 for Dab Art and Artsy.
This exhibition explores various views on current political, geopolitical, and social issues from a selected group of contemporary artists.
Viridian's Summer Intern Marqusha Oliver Featured in the Southeast Missouri News
Southeast Fine Arts Student Explores New York Art Scene
Southeast Missouri State University student Marqusha Oliver traveled to New York City this summer to intern in one of the city’s finest and most highly respected art galleries.
Oliver interned at Viridian Artists Inc., an artist-owned, professionally operated gallery, located in New York City in the Chelsea region of Manhattan. The gallery is one of the city’s oldest artist-owned galleries housing contemporary art.
Courtesy of Southeast Missouri State University
Press Release: John Nieman: "Art with a Story"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Please List
JOHN NIEMAN
"Art with a Story"
September 4th-September 29th, 2018
Opening Reception, Thursday, September 6th, 6-8 pm.
Closing Reception, Saturday, September 29th, 4-6pm
Chelsea, NYC: Viridian Artists is pleased to present "Art with a Story", an exhibition of paintings by John Nieman. The exhibition continues from September 4th to September 29th, 2018 with an opening reception, Thursday, September 6th, 6-8 pm.
Art with a Story is more than a series of paintings, but a body of work that is also a book & a series of audio recordings as well. As a book, its 139 pages of what one reviewer called “Flash Fiction” are one-page stories filled with creativity and inspiration overlaying the paintings that they are about. Here in this exhibit we are made privy to the paintings themselves for unlike other authors who use a photograph to inspire the words & story, Nieman creates watercolors to draw us in. He then superimposes words connected to and clarifying what the images are about – giving them a deeper meaning then the surface of reality and what is seen at first glance.
Multi-talented as both a writer and a painter, the images are realistic in their execution with a slightly soft focus, but with the addition of his words, he adds meanings that go much deeper than the object depicted. With the layering of both word & image the artist’s intention is to create space for a bigger impact of the themes of the works. "A picture is worth a thousand words" describes his art perfectly, though only superficially, since for him it is the idea that holds the greatest importance whether word or image or both. And hoping to make people see reality in a different light, both the ordinary and the unusual, these paintings incorporate words and images in equal power.
The artist, who has been a "voice over actor", has added recordings that can be listened to while viewing. "Hi-tech" recording of these stories he has written in the artist’s voice accompany all the images are accessible by a QR code or cell phone number. You can just “read” the painting, but if you do, you risk missing his dramatic interpretation. John Nieman's art continually connects the verbal and the visual, whether with recordings accompanying the art or in paintings with images that have words superimposed and often both, as in this exhibit.
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, but he is no “Mad Man” at heart. Since leaving the advertising world he has exhibited widely and collections of his paintings and poems have been published in "The Art of Lists" and "The Art of More Lists" and "The Wanted Book". Nieman's art hangs in collections throughout Europe and the US.
This will be John Nieman's second solo exhibit at Viridian, his first a series of Wanted Posters of people who are wanted because of their good deeds and ability to inspire rather than their crimes.
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
Painting by Nancy Nicol in Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Silent Auction
"Two Herring Gulls," oil on panel for the 12x12 exhibit and silent auction at PAAM, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, one of 307 entries. Bids start at $125.00