Eleni Smolen Girl by the Sea / Guardians Woodstock Artists Association & Museum March 7 - April 5, 2020 (closed March 13, 2020 due to the pandemic lockdown and never reopened to the public)
Hermione 2019 Oil and Ink on Arches Oil Paper to Birch Panel 51 x 46 inches Framed
Uki 2019 Oil and Ink on Arches Oil Paper to Birch Panel 51 x 46 inches Framed
Siobhan 2020 Oil and Ink on Paper, Thread, Fabric 51 x 31 inches Framed
Anastasia 2020 Oil and Ink on Paper, Thread, Fabric 51 x 31 inches Framed
detail, Anastasia
Penelope 2020 Oil and Ink on Paper, Thread, Fabric 51 x 31 inches Framed
Beatrix 2019 Oil and Ink on Arches Oil Paper to Birch Panel 51 x 31 inches Framed
DanaĂŤ 2019 Oil and Ink on Arches Oil Paper to Birch Panel 51 x 31 inches Framed
Tapeesa (Arctic Flower) 2019 Oil and Ink on Arches Oil Paper to Birch Panel 51 x 31 inches Framed
Greta’s Voyage 2020 Oil and Ink on Arches Oil Paper to Birch Panel 51 x 31 inches Framed
Atiqtalik (Polar Bear Mother) 2019 Oil and Ink on Arches Oil Paper to Birch Panel 51 x 31 inches Framed
Thalassa (Sea) 2019 Oil and Ink on Arches Oil Paper to Birch Panel 51 x 31 inches Framed
Illuminated Girl by the Sea Memory Flag Installation 2018-2020 20 Memory Flags (16 x 16 inches) Mixed Media on Paper Thread, Fabric 5 Bamboo Poles LED Lighting Light Wall Hanging Frame Hardware 110 x 72 inches x 4 inches
Eleni Smolen The artist found her calling in her early forties when she moved from New York City to the rural Southern Tier surrounded by dense woodlands, stone walls, abandoned apple orchards and a diversity of wildlife. After years of living, working and commuting in Brooklyn and Manhattan at various non-profits and corporations, including outpatient mental health centers and the Brooklyn Hospital Center’s NICU, her dream was to move to the country. It was the solitude and quiet that first allowed her to paint (Biophilia Series) in a small upstairs bedroom of a little farmhouse at the top of a winding, dead-end dirt road. Living in the woods she had found her utopia. Eleni Smolen is deeply connected to and concerned about the natural world. She ascribes to Edward O. Wilson’s concept of “biophilia,” the word he coined to describe humankind’s deep affinity for nature. The artist believes nature is, as Wilson describes it, “the refuge of the spirit, remote, static, richer even than imagination.” Smolen’s current work explores memory as well as the ambiguity of nostalgia. Girl by the Sea and Guardians Series are both inspired by the discovery of a photograph of the artist taken by her mother when the family was in Étretat, France in 1959. Girl by the Sea initially riffs on this one image in dozens of smaller sketches, later developed into “memory flags.” The larger Guardians Series eliminates the peripheral details of the memorialized Étretat photograph and brings the ever-changing girl holding the bird front and center. Working through the losses and grievances inherent in a personal history – especially the sudden loss of a mother – Smolen experiences a cathartic release in the creation of this new body of work. Smolen presently lives in Beacon with her husband, David, and their dog, Henry. She has a studio in Newburgh, New York at Regal Bag Studios on the waterfront.
elenismolen.com theoganzstudio.com TheoGanz Studio Catalogues https://issuu.com/elenismolen beacon3d.org E.O. Wilson / Of Ants and Men film https://www.pbs.org/show/eo-wilson-ants-and-men/ Rachel Carson (1907-1964) https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/26/the-right-way-to-rememberrachel-carson
Brief Chronology Born Deep River, Ontario, Canada 1955-1965 Family lives in Scotch Plains, NJ (58-60 London, England) 1965 1965-69
Family returns to Canada Attends high-school in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
1970 1972
Attends Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS Travels throughout Greece for three months with Maternal Grandmother
1976 1979 1987 1980-89
Bachelor of Arts, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario Moves to Brooklyn, New York Travels to France and Greece Works in non-profit, publishing, advertising in Manhattan
1989 1989-1996
Masters of Social Work, New York University Brooklyn Community Service Supervisor, Transitional Living Community, East New York Brooklyn Psychiatric Centers Clinical social worker, outpatient mental health, Bushwick Brooklyn Hospital Center, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Fort Greene
1997
Moves to rural Southern Tier, New York Starts to paint full-time (Biophilia Series) Father diagnosed with dementia n Toronto
1999
Names Brooklyn studio TheoGanz Studio from Eternity and a Day (Theo A. + B. Ganz)
2001
Travels to Venice
2002 2003
Father moved to long-term care in Toronto Solo exhibition, Biophilia, Delaware Valley Arts Center Gallery, Narrowsburg, NY
2006
Father dies (9/06/25 - 3/27/06) Curates Elegy in a Variable Key (paintings + vocals) TheoGanz Studio, Brooklyn Group exhibition, Art for Water, sponsored by Damascus Citizens, Manhattan Curates SONYA Invitational, TheoGanz Studio, Brooklyn Group exhibition, 6X6, Delaware Valley Arts Center Gallery, Narrowsburg, NY Two-person exhibition, Two Painters, Windsor Whip Works Gallery, Windsor, NY
2007
Group exhibition, Enigma, Holland Tunnel Gallery, Paros, Greece Group, 8th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Shippensburg University, (juror, Stephen Haller)
2009
Moves to Beacon, NY Maternal Grandmother dies in Toronto Participates in Beacon Open Studios
2011
Solo exhibition, Persistent Song, Bank Square, Beacon Group exhibition, Annual Members Show, Garrison Art Center
2012
Opens “TheoGanz Studio� as fine art gallery, 149 Main Street, Beacon Travels to Cycladic Islands, Greece
2013
Inaugurates public art project, Beacon 3D in Beacon, NY Solo exhibition, These are Mine, TheoGanz Studio, Beacon
2014
Group exhibition, Dispatches from Eternity, TheoGanz Studio Curates 2nd Annual Beacon 3D Exhibition Travels to Cycladic Islands, Greece
2015
Group, Meeting Past with Present, Akin Museum & Library Group, Women of the Hudson Valley, Howland Cultural Center Group, Small Works, The Catalyst Gallery Curates 3rd Annual Beacon 3D Exhibition
2016
Group exhibition, Behold the Moon, The Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden, North Salem, New York Group, Women of the Hudson Valley, Howland Cultural Center Group, The Wind Will Carry Us, TheoGanz Studio, Beacon Participates in Beacon Open Studios Curates 4th Annual Beacon 3D Exhibition
2017
Mother dies suddenly in Toronto (8/10/17) Curates 5th Annual Beacon 3D Exhibition Inaugurates Equinox Series, Music + Voice at the Howland Cultural Center, Beacon
05/2018
Closes brick & mortar TheoGanz Studio at 149 Main Street and continues to represent Inuit art + curate at alternate venues Travels to Cape Dorset, Nunavut and visits new Kenojuak Ashevak Cultural Arts Center with new Kinngait Studio facilities Presents the 59th Annual Print Release from Cape Dorset at TheoGanz Studio Curates 6th Annual Beacon 3D Exhibition Curates (in memoriam) Hiro Ichikawa (1959-2017): Mountains & Rivers Without End/Paintings From a Trail, Scenic Hudson’s River Center, Beacon Curates The Magical Creatures of Meelia Kelly: Drawings from the Archives
2019
Curates The imPerfect Poetics ofPlace, Hudson Beach Gallery Curates Still Still Moving (30+Artists Celebrate Women’s History Month, Howland CC Resumes daily art practice at Regal Bag Studios, Newburgh, NY Begins Girl by the Sea and Guardian Series Participates in 9th Annual Newburgh Open Studio
2020
Group exhibition, Artists Invite Artists, Buster Levi Gallery, Cold Spring, NY Inaugurates 3D Body_of_Work Series 3/12/20 in-depth artist talks at Beahive Solo exhibition, Girl by the Sea/Guardians, Woodstock Artists Association & Museum; juror, Kristen Dodge, owner, SEPTEMBER, Hudson, NY (March 7-April 5) This exhibition was only open until March 13th when it closed due to COVID-19. Subsequently notified by WAAM on June 29, 2020 that no imminent reopening was scheduled and to de-install exhibition) Group, Voices I Remember, The Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden, North Salem, NY (June 10-Sept 19, 2020) (Postponed by C-19) Group, 20/20 Vision, Holland Tunnel Gallery, Newburgh Group, Reflect, Buster Levi Gallery, Cold Spring, New York Group, Show of Hands, SEPTEMBER, Hudson, New York
detail, Anastasia
Press https://www.chronogram.com/hudsonvalley/9-hudson-valley-art-exhibits-to-get-you-through- to-spring/ Content?oid=10103541 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/24/nyregion/things-to-do-in-the-hudson-valley-july-23through-31.html https://highlandscurrent.org/2020/01/26/prints-from-the-far-north/ https://www.newburghny.org/9th-annual-newburgh-open-studios/ https://highlandscurrent.org/2018/10/02/long-dock-exhibit/ https://highlandscurrent.org/2018/12/29/art-beat-can-art-keep-up-with-the-times/ https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/entertainment/arts/2017/05/11/beacon-has- becomemagnet-emerging-and-established-artists/100750276/ https://highlandscurrent.org/2016/03/04/howland-shows-work-43-female-artists/ https://highlandscurrent.org/2013/02/04/new-paintings-by-eleni-smolen-opening-at-theo-ganz- feb-7/ https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/nyregion/in-beacon-an-arty-evening-stroll.html The River Reporter, August 7-13, 2003, Biophilia celebrates the natural world
Ode to an Unnamed Islet, Maine 2020 5 Rocks, Walnut
Acknowledgments
Many thanks go out to the following individuals for their help and support:
Kristen Dodge, owner/director, SEPTEMBER, Hudson, New York for selecting the work for a 2020 solo exhibition at WAAM;
Janice La Motta, artist, former Executive Director, WAAM, not only for her support but for the installation photographs of the exhibition;
Carl Van Brunt, artist, writer, curator, former gallery director/owner, for highlighting the exhibition in the March 2020 Chronogram;
Howard Goodman, artist/photographer, for the high-resolution photographs of the Guardian paintings;
Susanna Ronner, artist, graphic designer, for the announcement card; David Smolen, cabinetmaker/woodworker, for the design and fabrication of both the light wall and the Girl by the Sea glass and wood sculpture.
Eleni Smolen theoganzstudio@tds.net Beacon, New York August 2020