Mum's the Word Juried Fine Art Exhibit Opens October 6

John Mitty Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Smithtown Township Arts Council presents a juried fine art exhibition Mum’s the Word: Mothers, Flowers and Secrets October 6 through November 3. The public is invited to an opening reception on Saturday, October 6, 2-4 pm to meet the artists and view the exhibit.

Juror Hilary Harkness selected thirty-two artists who drew their inspiration from her theme “Mothers, Flowers and Secrets”. The artists hail from California, Iowa, South Carolina, and Ohio among others and nineteen from the NY Metropolitan area including nine from Long Island.

First Place Winner Alice Denison (Massachusetts) paints floral blossoms as if they were the only subject in the world and, accordingly, she imbues their depictions with the psychological weight and emotional space of portraiture. “These are not, however, still lives because they are very much not still. Her blossoms cascade and cluster in roiling painterly space.” Gallery NAGA

Second Place Winner An Hoang (New York City) presents alternate realities, constructed through abstract translations of processed memories in her paintings. Juxtaposing perspectival and aerial views, and through the macro/micro examination of site, the specific experience of the landscape is recontextualized, subverting the viewer’s expectations, while remaining inherently familiar. Spatial conditions are studied through compositional explorations of the relationship between color, mark, gesture and form.

Honorable Mentions: Robert Gandy (Washington, DC), Paul Hitchen (Massachusetts), Dawn Hunter (South Carolina), Beth Lovell (Connecticut), Terri Thomas (Texas)

About the juror: Hilary Harkness, who exhibits with the Mary Boone Gallery in New York City. A former professional violinist, she honed her unique artistic worldview while living in San Francisco, and now splits her time between New York City and New England. Her work has been exhibited worldwide, including the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain, and the Deste Foundation in Athens, Greece and is in the collection of the Whitney Museum. Harkness has been featured in publications including the New York Times, The New Yorker, Interview magazine, and Esquire. She has taught painting and sculpture as Artist in Residence at Yale Summer School of Art and Music, and lectured widely at institutions such as Columbia University, Boston University, Yale University, Brandeis University, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Hilary also blogs for the New York Academy of Art.  Hilary Harkness creates paintings with a historical narrative.  “In general I make an environment, then a scenario - I research it so I can believe in it. I sell the idea to myself. Only then do I unleash the characters into it to see what they do.”

Long Island Artists: Lisa Argentieri (Levittown) “Springtime In NY” Watercolor; Kyle Blumenthal (Stony Brook) “Untitled Botanical” Oil On Scrim; Roberta Cohen (Great Neck) “Autumn” Pastel; KB George (Farmingville) “Sophie's Choice Portrayed by Meryl Streep” Graphite On Paper; Irene Paquette Tetrault (Westbury) “July Moon” Radiant Concentrated Water Color; Barbara Pascal (Huntington Station) “In The Garden Of Mother Nature” Colored Pencil; Lisa Petker-Mintz (Old Bethpage) “Beneath the Clouds No 2” Mixed Media “Borella Farms” Mixed Media On Canvas;  James E. Rice (New Hyde Park) “Roosting Before The Sabbath” Gouache; Jim Scovel (Northport) “Spent Blooms” Oil

STAC, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, is supported by Town of Smithtown. This program is partially funded by Suffolk County

jmitty@longislandyellowpages.com

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