20
September
6:00 pm — 9:00 pm
Alfa Art Gallery
108 Church Street

New Brunswick, NJ 08901 United States
Free
Loading Events
  • This event has passed.

Opening Reception: Saturday, September 20 @ 6-9 pm
Exhibition Duration: September 16 – October 4, 2014
Juror: Jeffrey Wechsler

MSHAC Poster (Revised)

MSHAC – Summer pavilion

Alfa Art Gallery is once again opening its doors to M-SHAC in the 2014 sequel to “A Summer Pavilion.” This year’s exhibition, “A Summer Pavilion II,” features artwork of members of the M-SHAC community. The pieces on display in the exhibition were chosen from a range of submissions. Of these works, a select few will be awarded monetary prizes.

The opening reception of “A Summer Pavilion II” is set to take place on September 20th from 6 to 9 p.m. The exhibition will be on display at Alfa Art Gallery from September 16th to October 4th. The gallery is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. every Tuesday through Saturday. It is located at 108 Church Street in the heart of New Brunswick.

The Millburn-Short Hills Arts Center, known as M-SHAC, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the development of local artists. The organization consists of more than 150 members hailing from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The artists’ works span a variety of media including oils, watercolors, pastels, collages, sculptures, and photographs.

This exhibition presents work from the following artists:

The pieces in this exhibition are unified by their common goal to portray a specific attitude pertaining to a particular moment in time and space. Each piece recalls a moment in summer, and in so doing recalls the emotion of the season as a whole. The artists strike a careful balance between the familiar and the unexpected, such that the public is encouraged to open its mind to the unpredictable, using everyday life as a reference point. In this way, each work demands the viewer to expand his or her mind in a unique dimension. Just as the viewer is challenged by the novelty found in each work, the artist must also rise to the occasion to produce a fresh piece, in spite of the ever-growing worldwide collection of art.

“A Summer Pavilion II” brings together the distinct art of fourteen different artists, unified under the organization M-SHAC. The thinness of Alison Hooper’s sculptures, made of transparent packing tape, contrasts the rich layering of images in Peter Alessandria’s long exposure photographs. Elizabeth Perez Diner communicates her open-mindedness not only by mixing media but also by pulling her inspiration from various time periods. In this way, Perez Diner transports her viewers through a journey of time and the accompanying series of emotions. Michael Fenton’s oil paintings recount snapshots of history through the expression in the faces of his subjects. Anastasia Mancuso works in pastels to document the historical square “Place de Concorde” in Paris. The exhibition also displays the works of another artist, Takayo Futurama, who also works in oil to generate her own unique perspective based on universal themes.

These fourteen artists are similarly united in their effort to recreate the beauty in nature. Nat Bernard has channeled her efforts to capture the effortless beauty of nature in both her ink piece and oil painting. Similarly, Leina’ala Schwartz captures the splendor of tranquil landscapes and structures in her oil paintings in the exhibition. Mike Dziomba encourages viewers to walk down his “Shadowy Path” through his mastery of acrylics. Chris Siasat also makes use of acrylics – allegedly his favorite medium – to play with unexpected angles in his paintings of familiar scenes. Similarly, Adela Lezama achieves color depth in her work “Apple Basket” through her mastery of acrylics. Susanna Anastasia also depicts fruit in her oil painting “Jersey Fresh,” in which she skillfully emphasizes the reflection of color between objects.

The gritty impasto texture of Margareta Greeley’s “Dancing Birches” gives depth and strength to the expressive dance of the trees. Mike Fenton, on the other hand, achieves a rich expressiveness in his oil paintings through the raw emotion conveyed on the faces of his subjects. In “French Lavender,” Rita Agron directs her pastel strokes in precise directions such that the overall field appears to be dancing with the wind.

The following pieces received honorable mention:

  • “Marissa” by Takayo Futamura
  • “Colorful Spin” by Chris Siasat

Monetary sums were awarded for the following works:

  • Third Place: “French Lavender” by Rita Agron
  • Second Place: “Jersey Fresh” by Susanna Anastasia
  • First Place: “Point Pleasant #2” by Peter Alessandria

The Alfa Art Gallery aims to support emerging and well-established artists to give their work exposure and a critical following within the art community. For more information about the gallery, visit www.alfaart.org.

Details

Date:
September 20, 2014
Time:
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm EDT
Cost:
Free
Event Category:
Event Tags:
, , , , ,
Organizer:
Galina Kourteva
Phone:
(732) 296-6720
Email:
galina@alfaart.org
Organizer Website:
www.alfaart.org