Joseph Clarke
INCIPIENCE May 25. - July 31. Artist Bio Joseph Clarke Is a Connecticut based artist living in Litchfield County and working from his Kent studio. Clarke has been creating large colorful artworks that he describes as action sculptures. Working with house paints, epoxy resin and canvas he sculpts high gloss, textural pieces that are reminiscent of something within the realm of finish fetish. Each work, usually monocramatic, is stretched on a hand made strainer that Clarke builds himself in his wood shop. Coming from a line of do it yourself builders, working with his hands comes naturally. His Grandfather Victor was an electrician, plumber, mechanic, carpenter, and antiauthoritarian. These are all attributes that were passed down to Clarke’s father Mark who additionally became an impressive boat builder, with patented designs that are still in use today. Clarke’s Grandmother Yvonne was also an artist who illustrated professionally and painted often. Joseph Graduated from the Hartford Art School in 2018 with a Bachelors in Fine Art and immediately after started working as a studio assistant for his now ex-professor Power Boothe. This initial apprenticeship had a domino effect that landed him in many artists studios over the years, Including artist Kathleen Kucka who, after founding and opening Furnace Art on Paper in Falls Village, CT, made Clarke associate director of the gallery where he works today. Being a Skateboarder, snowboarder, and artist most of his life Clarke has never been one for following the rest of the pack, he finds joy in mapping his own path in ways that allow for more innovative and creative thinking. |
Call & Response
through November 19. by The Rev. Dr. Mark Bozzuti - Jones and Dr. Kathy Bozzuti - Jones These paintings and photographs invite the viewer to see with the eyes of the heart and to flow in response to the calls of nature, life, and the divine. Artmaking is our way of responding to these invitations. What is calling to you? The Rev. Dr. Mark Bozzuti-Jones serves as director of Spiritual Formation at Trinity Retreat Center. Artist, poet, social activist, reggae enthusiast, and author of eight books, his most recent books include, Face to the Rising Sun: Reflections on Spirituals & Justice and Absalom Jones: America’s First Black Priest, 2021. Dr. Kathy Bozzuti-Jones is an interfaith minister, essayist, spiritual director, certified mindfulness instructor and contemplative photographer, who has exhibited her photos since 2006 at Trinity Wall Street in New York, as well as in Boston, Washington, and online with ECVA (Episcopalians in the Visual Arts – ECVA.org). |
Emily Waters
MATRIX May 27. - July 30. 2023 The Souterrain Gallery is pleased to present Matrix, an exhibition of new paintings by Brooklyn-based artist Emily Waters from May 27 through June 30, 2023. The solo exhibition includes 45 portraits (acrylic on wooden panels) comprising 15 matrilineal lines (daughter, mother, and grandmother) displayed with TK watercolors on paper displayed as "relics" with real-life mementos associated with each of the women. The works are inspired by Waters’ recent visit to Lisbon's Church of São Roque, where busts of saints and queens were displayed with their reliquaries and portraits arranged in columns resembling a family tree. For Waters, the portraits called to mind the statues in the Catholic church she attended as a child in rural Illinois, sparking memories of her own mother and grandmother and the influence they had on her life. Each painting in Matrix, originating in portraits of Waters’ friends and neighbors, conveys some critical essence of the woman represented, whether still alive or long deceased. “In the days of old, we would think of the influence the church or state had upon us. Now, we follow celebrities and other influencers," says Waters. “I think of the impact one has as an individual, then, as a mother and grandmother. What impact do we have on the next generation or even how we understand the preceding one? Is it more than genetics?” In addition to the works on display in Matrix, on May 28, the Souterrain Gallery will host “Tea and Matriarchy,” a public event during which the living subjects of Waters’ series will bring additional mementos and photos to initiate a conversation about those no longer present and the impact they continue to have on each other’s lives. Matrix is the second of two exhibitions by Waters presented by the Souterrain Gallery in which she invents a visual language to talk about history, gender, and influence. Last year's “Persistence/Insistence” series pit ancient Greek women against Egyptian-style Birdmen in a timeless conversation on civilization and power. ### About Emily Waters Emily Waters is an artist and teacher living in Brooklyn. She was raised on a farm in Illinois with eight siblings. She was educated at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel and has worked in the graphic design department of the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. For the past several years, she has taught 2D Design at the Cooper Union. |
Emily Waters
P E R S I S T E N C E July 30.- September 17. 2022 Persistence/Insistence is a series of paintings on paper that feature a Birdman and a Woman. The woman figure is based on Greek vase paintings. She represents growth, life, love, beauty, art, and friendship. She persists in creativity even while the Birdman insists that all is his for the taking. The Birdman is based on Egyptian figures. He represents a culture that had survived 5000 years and sees no reason to change. Emily Waters is an artist and teacher living in Brooklyn. She was raised on a farm in Illinois with 8 siblings. She was educated at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Basel, Switzerland and has worked in the graphic design department of the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum. For the past several years, she has taught 2D Design at Cooper Union and Drawing/Imaging at Parsons in New York City. Press : by Kathleen Hulser public historian & cultural project manager https://kathleenhulser.medium.com/persistence-insistence-emily-waters-at-souterrain-gallery-f6ebd6141db5 |
S A M P L E R
May 28. - July 23. Sam Berenfield, sam-berenfield.com
Noah Pica, noahpica.com Emma Redmond, emmaredmond.com Elizabeth Schweizer, elizabethschweizer.com Stefan Sehringer, stefansehringer.com Cassie Sheedy, casssheedy.com Krista Young, kristamarieyoung.com |
Amber Maida
Oubliette September 4. - November 21. 2021 Artist Statement -b. 1980 Buffalo, NY Amber’s work begins with a spiritual ritual of Chi-cultivation, grounding her deeply into the earth; embodying its energy and guiding her hands like a dance, while simultaneously building a universal, yet intimate story within each work. This symbiotic connection with these energies charges the materials with positivity, preserving a storied past or one yet to be known. Embedded elements of nature enrich the layered, textural quality and symbolic language of her work. Gathered found or saved objects such as preserved plant matter, crystals,fabrics, steel cut nails, eggshells, feathers and bees are fused with paint becoming a visual journal, that honor both the materials and her message. In 2010 Amber sustained major lung surgery, which invited a greater awareness of time, life, love and gratitude. This experience led her to create new collections of mixed media paintings and sculptures based on the intense process of healing and discovery of many silver-linings.Each work aims to honor dualities such as fragility while building/unlocking strength, the old with the new, macro/ micro, and nature vs. man-made materials. Currently, she is enjoying living life, and creating in Warren, CT with her husband, Pete,and their poodle, Eros. more information at : www.ambermaida.com |
Amber Maida’s work has been included in juried, solo, and group exhibitions throughout the US and in the UK, including The New Britain Museum of American Art (New Britain, CT), The Mattatuck Museum (Waterbury, CT), The Housatonic Museum of Art (Bridgeport, CT),The Silvermine Guild of Art (New Canaan, CT), LA Artcore Annex Gallery (Los Angeles, CA); ArtCube Gallery (Laguna Beach, CA), The Gallery at Black Rock (Bridgeport, CT), Station Gallery (NYC), AIRS (New Haven, CT); Bunny Gunner Gallery (Claremont, CA), The Franklin Arts Center (Brainerd, MN), redFISH Gallery (East Aurora, NY), TheArtBay Gallery (Staffordshire, UK) and others. Maida’s solo exhibition titled “The Silver Lining” was featured at Serendipity Gallery in 2015 (Litchfield, CT). “Entrances and Exits,” a solo exhibition at The Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT was awarded to Amber Maida, by the 2016 Mixmaster Juror, Elizabeth Denny, Owner/Director of The Denny Gallery, NYC. From 2007-2009, her paintings were represented at the White Space Gallery (New Haven, CT). A suite of paintings by the artist were selected by Richard’s of Greenwich for the 2009 Art to the Avenue public art exhibition (Greenwich, CT).Throughout her career, Amber’s work has also been featured in several journals including Litchfield Magazine (May/June, 2015), Mode Moderne Journal (issue I, 2012, and issue XI, 2013), Artscope Magazine (July/August 2010), Ink Magazine (January 2008), and in several issues of Art World News Magazine (2009-2015), as well as other publications.Amber currently resides in Warren, CT.
|