Elisa Contemporary Art at Fall 2017 Affordable Art Fair NYC Booth1.17

Elisa Contemporary Art at Booth 1.17 September 13-17, 2017 Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street , NY

Sara V. Cole Michelle Gagliano Amy Genser

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974 See us on

Mitch McGee Don Morris

Elisa Contemporary Art will be featuring several unique sections at the Fall 2017 Affordable Art Fair in NYC In Booth 1.17, we’ll be featuring a diverse and creative range of dimensional, mixed media artwork Dimensional Nature Inspired Artwork: Debuting California artist, Sara V. Cole Paper Constructionist Connecticut artist, Amy Genser A series of new flowers, vines and skies on wood panel by Virginia painter, Michelle Gagliano A wall of Superheroes with: Pop Art Texas artist, Mitch McGee Comic Book Constructionist, Don Morris On the “Under $500” Wall, a new Woodcut by Mitch McGee will be featured.

100% of the proceeds will be donated to help Hurricane Harvey victims.

Meet artist Amy Genser on Friday, September 15 at 5:30pm Meet artist Michelle Gagliano on Saturday, September 16 at 2pm Learn about her inspirations and creative process Michelle Gagliano will also be leading a workshop on September 16th to benefit The Art Therapy Project.

It all takes place at the Metropolitan Pavilion125 West 18th Street, NYC

Dimensional, Mixed media Nature Inspired Artwork About Sara V. Cole We’re excited to be debuting the artwork of California artist, Sara V. Cole.

Sara V. Cole currently lives and works in San Jose, CA. She is a nationally represented, internationally exhibited author, teacher and fine art painter. Cole has participated in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Bi-annual Auction and several New York Art Fairs and has placed work in the permanent collections of Hilton Hotels, the Microsoft Collection, Stanford University, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel, the Grand Hyatt in Atlanta, Iberia Bank in Louisiana, and De Anza College in Cupertino.

Cole has an extensive list of exhibition history including New York City's Asian Cultural Center Gallery, group exhibitions from Seattle, Washington to Metz, France. Cole is in the private collections of many patrons including that of Actress Sela Ward. As a lifetime proponent of social action and community service, Cole has donated works and volunteered with several non-profit organizations' fund raising auctions for nearly two decades.

Cole earned her BFA in ceramic sculpture and installation/performance art with a minor in art history in 2002.

In 2006, she completed her MFA in painting and drawing. In 2007 she studied graduate level Non-Western Contemporary Art History, all at San Jose State University in San Jose, California.

About Amy Genser: Mixed Media artist Amy Genser makes dimensional paper collages. These colorful, textural, one-of-a-kind wall pieces embody movement and processes. She masterfully manipulates paper -- each piece being cut, rolled and stacked -- to mimic organic forms and natural processes. While starting as flat piles of paper, her artwork builds and grows into 3-dimensional constructions filled with color, texture and patterns.

Amy Genser sources her inspiration from Nature and the Seas, “I often look to the natural world for inspiration. I am fascinated by the flow of water, the organization of beehives, and the organic irregularity of plants, flowers, rock formations, barnacles, moss, and seaweed. Aerial views of our landscape can also be compelling; it is interesting how the organization of our landscape becomes quilt-like when viewed from above.” Genser’s dimensional artwork is created from rolled and cut sheets mounted on painted board or canvas.

Her exploration of paper as medium began in a papermaking and bookmaking class she took, while studying for her graduate degree in graphic design at Rhode Island School of Design. Today, her work has been exhibited at many venues throughout the United States and is in public and private collections worldwide including a large installation at the Nemours Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware and the Ronald McDonald House in San Francisco. She been featured in publications such as Architectural Digest and This is Collossal.

She earned her MFA in Graphic Design from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Sara V. Cole Human Ecology 24, 2017 Acrylic & Hand cut paper on Wood Panel 36 x 36

Sara V. Cole Human Ecology 17, 2016 Acrylic & Hand cut paper on Wood Panel 30 x 30

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Sara V. Cole Human Ecology 24, 2017 Acrylic & Hand cut paper on Wood Panel 36 x 36

Sara V. Cole Human Ecology 17, 2016 Acrylic & Hand cut paper on Wood Panel 30 x 30

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Sara V. Cole Human Ecology Blue, 2017 Acrylic & Hand cut paper on Wood Panel 36 x 48

Sara V. Cole Human Ecology Green, 2017 Acrylic & Hand cut paper on Wood Panel 36 x 48

Sara Cole Overgrowth 24 acrylic, graphite, and coffee on arches cover paper 29 x 29, Framed to 33 x 33

Sara Cole Respite 7 acrylic, graphite, and coffee on arches cover paper, 22 x 30, framed to 26 x 34

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Amy Genser Don’t Let the Wave Grab You Rolled Paper & Acrylic on Board 22x22x1.5 framed to 28x28x2

Amy Genser Beware of Sea Creatures Rolled Paper & Acrylic on Board 22x22x1.5 framed to 28x28x2

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Amy Genser Sea Scatter Rolled Paper & Acrylic on Canvas 24x36x4

Amy Genser Tie Dye Rolled Paper & Acrylic on Board 18x18x1.5 framed to 22x22x2

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Amy Genser Swayed Rolled Paper & Acrylic on Board 18x18x1.5 framed to 22x22x2

Amy Genser Tsunami Rolled Paper & Acrylic on Board 18x18x1.5 framed to 22x22x2

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Flowers, vines and skies on wood panel by Virginia painter, Michelle Gagliano Michelle Gagliano’s art is a continuous engagement with the notion of beauty and experimentation. Imaginary ‘natural’ forms and textural patinas are melded in an exploration of surface alchemy, presenting the viewer with a breathtaking panorama that both evokes timeless private visions and invokes universal themes and emotions.

According to Michelle, "I am experimenting with gold, silver and metallic pigments, suspended on the surface of my panels, then reworking them, erasing, sanding, re-glazing building up and taking down, stretching into, creating a ‘history’. These pigments have a transcendent quality, present in the motifs of so many cultures, including Russian Icons, art of The Incas, Renaissance, all the way to Tibetan Thangkas. Such images were made to dazzle the spectator and I love the spiritual reverence I feel using these pigments. I am influenced also by the Bronze Age, Iron Age, even the Gilded Age. The ‘metallic ages’ have given us such a rich cultural heritage and sense of the magnificent."

Contemporary oil painter, Michelle Gagliano has been painting for over 25 years and has shown across the country, including solo exhibitions in Texas, Louisiana, California and New Mexico.

Her work is held in numerous private and corporate collections throughout the United States and Europe.

Born in Jamestown, New York, Gagliano studied painting at North Texas State University with painter Vernon Fisher. She has a degree in painting from Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire, and currently lives and works in Scottsville, Virginia.

We are thrilled our Elisa Contemporary Art artist, Michelle Gagliano will be leading a workshop on Saturday to benefit The Art Therapy Project!

The Art Therapy Project is collaborating with some of the fair’s Exhibitors to demonstrate and teach visitors how to use various art-making techniques that are used in art therapy sessions. We invite invites fair visitors to take 30-minute art lessons that explore processes including paint blowing, mixing paints, layering and more!

Demonstrations and workshops will take place onsite at the fair at The Art Therapy Project Booth 1.49.

Visitors may sign-up for a lesson on-site or at least one day in advance at info@thearttherapyproject.org. A $25 donation is required to secure your spot; all donations fund art therapy programs for trauma survivors.

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com

Michelle Gagliano Diagonal Flow Oil and glazes on Wood panel 60 x 48

Michelle Gagliano Flow Oil and glazes on Wood panel 48x36

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Michelle Gagliano Wisteria in Blue Oil and glazes on Wood panel 36 x 36

Michelle Gagliano Rhosen Oil and glazes on Wood panel 48 x 48

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Michelle Gagliano Nebular Vines series Oil and glazes on Wood panel 12 x 12 each

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com

Superheroes and Beyond Comic Book Constructionist, Don Morris Don Morris was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1935. After finishing his undergraduate work at Tulane, he obtained his doctorate degree at Louisiana State University.

The board-certified plastic surgeon developed an interest in contemporary art in the late sixties. For years he was affiliated with the Milwaukee Art Museum as a member of the acquisitions committee, as well as chairman of their Contemporary Art Society. He became an ardent collector and began working with metal as a hobby, inspired by the sculptural work of Frank Stella. He turned to comic books, however, when he “got tired of getting burned by the welding torch and hot metal.”

Morris began his art career in earnest upon retiring from plastic surgery in 2002. His constructions embody the creative and manual elements of his former medical practice, and the comic book medium allows him to incorporate the psychological side of the plastic surgery process. The uniformly undulating surface of gentle peaks and curves in the folds of the comic book pages capture the viewer with a story as they unfold. From a distance, one sees the interplay of colors and texture; up close, the superheroes fly, struggle, and climb in small fragments and vignettes. The expressive faces of the characters show all the emotion of the human psyche, and word bubbles create dialogue between the action heroes. The compilation of thousands of comic book sections form constructions ranging from four to eight feet tall, leaving viewers with an unforgettable image of energetic architectural elements in a distinctive, physical composition.

Morris has taken the iconic comic book of our youth, reduced it to narrow strips and bands, and re-invented it into a mass of bright color and texture. “Although there are many aspects of my work that can be intellectualized, the fundamentals still require that inner aesthetic sense,” explains Morris. “But in the final analysis it is the viewer that deems my work either ‘art’ or ‘folly.’ I ply my trade before a thousand critics.”

In a very short time from entering the art world, Morris has seen a meteoric rise in his prominence as an artist. His comic book constructions are found in museums and significant collections in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com

Don Morris Diamond Hero Comic Book Construction with Wood Frame 36 x 36

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Don Morris Galactic Hero Comic Book Construction with Wood Frame 44 x 44

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Don Morris Group Heroes Comic Book Construction with Wood Frame 16 x 16 each

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Superheroes and Beyond Pop Artist, Mitch McGee The influences for McGee's own artwork came from the style of Pop Art legend, Roy Lichtenstein. According to McGee, "Lichtenstein with a Red Bow was the first piece that started me down this rabbit hole. Roy Lichtenstein took comic strips and repositioned them as lithography. In an almost tongue-in-cheek fashion I wondered how I could take one of his pieces and recreate it in another medium. The easy answer for me was wood. I grew up working with it and, combined with my graphic design background, it left me with a new medium and expression that I think really works." From that start, Texas artist, McGee began to create his own style and establish his unique voice.

Today, his creativity exists in that space between painting and sculpture. In his Birch series, McGee uses pieces of wood, each illustrated, hand cut and stained or painted to create dimensional pieces. Each painting is filled with thick layers and subtle shadows. There is a warmth created by the imperfection of the birch and its grain that creates an emotional connection. Each painting is a labor of love, taking 40 to 50 hours or more to complete.

McGee has created original works inspired by Superhero comics, Sports icons, as well as romantic moments using thick lines and bold colors to bring these scenes to life in his own way. Each artwork is filled with humor, irony, compassion or seduction.

His artwork has been exhibited throughout Texas since 2001 and in New York with Elisa Contemporary Art since 2012. His work is public and private collections throughout the world including TV journalist Serena Altschul. In 2013, Mitch McGee’s artwork was featured in the March issue of Dwell Magazine, in W Magazine in October, and a solo exhibit at 1st Dibs in NYC in 2013.

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Mitch McGee More Powerful Than You Know Cut, Stained and Layered Birch Wood 40 x 33

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Mitch McGee Have You Forgotten Cut, Stained and Layered Birch Wood 36 x36

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Mitch McGee Until We Meet Again Cut, Stained and Layered Birch Wood 40 x 33

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

Mitch McGee All That I Can Limited Edition Woodcut Print Edition of 40 26 x 26

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

About Elisa Contemporary Art Elisa Contemporary Art represents a portfolio of both emerging and mid-career contemporary artists, with a focus on the dynamic use of mediums and materials. Currently about 25% of our artists are from the West Coast/Pacific.

Our art and artists do not fit into any particular current trend or fashion, but are those exploring and testing the boundaries of various media, techniques, materials and ideas about humanity, nature and our world.

Founded in 2007 by Lisa Cooper, Elisa Contemporary Art is dedicated to promoting the appreciation and collection of art as a way to enrich and heal our lives, our communities, and the world. A portion of every gallery sale is donated to charities helping underserved children heal through art. We support Free Arts NYC and The Art Therapy Project.

We will be donating a portion of Texas artist Mitch McGee artwork sales to help victims of Hurricane Harvey. The selected charity is All Hands Volunteers.

Elisa Contemporary Art has participated in international art fairs in New York, Miami and the Hamptons.

We have also curated over 15 public art exhibits in the Tri-State area. Elisa Contemporary Art has been featured in a number of publications including Ocean Home Magazine, Hamptons Cottages & Gardens, New York Spaces and The New York Times.

The Gallery is located at 5622 Mosholu Avenue, Riverdale NY (Open Thursdays 12-5pm & by appointment).

We also have an Art Salon in Fairfield, CT (open by appointment only) Owner Lisa Cooper is a member of Art Table, the New York Chapter of the Association of Women Art Dealers, the Bronx Arts Alliance, The Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County, and the Art & Architect Review Committee at Saint Peter’s Church in Manhattan.

Elisa Contemporary Art www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com Lisa@ElisaArt.com 212.729.4974

For more information, visit the website at www.ElisaContemporaryArt.com or see us on Artsy: artsy.net/elisa-contemporary 1stdibs: 1stdibs.com/dealers/elisa-contemporary-art/ Facebook: facebook.com/ElisaContemporaryArt Instagram: @ElisaContemporaryArt Twitter: @LCooperArt Houzz: houzz.com/pro/lcooperart/elisa-contemporary-art