The Ketcham Inn Foundation & Education Center
JAMIE FORBES GALLERY & SunStorm Arts Center
STEVE BELLONE COUNTY EXECUTIVE
90 Montauk Highway, Center Moriches, NY 11934
BERTRAM E. SEIDES PRESIDENT
631-909-1192 (South side of Montauk Hwy. Across from Ketcham Inn) Present
Pros & Protégés As Differing Views DAN WELDEN • AMY WORTH • DAN CHRISTOFFEL JUSTIN GREENWALD • CHRISTOPHER MAIORANA • JUSTIN MAYER
Opening Reception Saturday, October 28, 2017• 4-6 PM The Jamie Forbes Gallery exhibition Pros and Protégés as Differing Views introduces the viewing audience to the protégé artists Justin Greenwald, Christopher Maiorana and Justin Mayer. As “pros” of renown Dan Welden, Amy Worth and Dan Christoffel have mentored, supported and selected these three young artists about whom they feel strongly as talents to be seen. Each protégé — with their differing challenges — is presented within the exhibition as a creative talent outside of the mainstream. A gifted use of color, medium and space is demonstrated in Justin Greenwald’s works making it easy to understand the exceptional quality which caught Dan Welden’s eye. Greenwald met Dan Welden (pioneer of alternative printmaking since 1970 and Professor Emeritus of Escuela de Beas Artes, in Cuzco, Peru), while a high school student. Dan visited his art class to demonstrate and introduce print making. Greenwald entered Carnegie JUSTIN GREENWALD DAN WELDEN Mellon University where the fit for him at that time was not right. Justin did not paint for seven years until he reignited his art process/interest and reconnected with Welden, a self-described “experimenter and explorer and a seeker of beauty. When I set out to work, I don’t have an image in mind, nor a specific focus, but, my vision unfolds as the work develops. I am process oriented, interested in employing materials and techniques to the ‘landscape’ of my mind. I believe that my creative act takes place during the ‘act’ of creativity, with no end in sight. My drawings, paintings and prints evolve from the idea of linear pathways echoing from the tracks of animals in nature, fissures in rock palisades and the patterns created by my hands becoming ‘playful’ with the tools I work with.” The works as Earth Elements dialogued by Greenwald in a series of wooden hewed split logs boards emote an earthy quality though medium and context of color. The artist explains, “I began the Armadillo series as a sculptural installation. I created it with re-purposed wood that I cut, drilled, planed, sanded and stained before drawing and writing on the individual pieces. My work involves creating numbers and letters in an overlapping pattern. I am more concerned with composition and structure, rather than with legibility. In addition, I am intentionally blurring the line between insider and outsider art. I put my heart into these wood panels. The solar-plate etchings are an extension of the work on wood.”Adds Welden‚ “Justin Greenwald is without doubt, one of the most focused, self-directed artists I’ve ever known. On his mission, he never deviates from the ultimate goal of inner satisfaction. His talent may not be obvious to all but having known him more than half his life, I have seen his unwavering commitment to creativity.” Greenwald states an intricacy of detail which may be seen as utilizing numbers combined to create a glyph as an introspective unknown language. Possibly a reflection or remembrance of something being transcribed, the transcriptions may be seen painted on the wood as modern computer code when placed on the surface of the wood as imagery. A feeling arises from the green, silver,
black, and brown painted panels recognizable as a universal message waiting to be read. The wood and paper works displayed in this exhibition demonstrate that Greenwald owns the space in which he paints. Designating medium to the background with a similarity to Outsider Art, Greenwald integrates his work as elements to be experienced. A gifted use of texture, medium, and space is demonstrated from Greenwald’s works. Seen when painted on the wood as modern computer code is placed within the surface of the wood as imagery. Welden has been in the forefront of health and safety for working artists. He developed Solarplate printmaking and water based monotypes and has educated artists of all levels. He has co-authored Printmaking in the Sun, and directs Hampton Editions, Ltd. through which he has collaborated with artists including Willem de Kooning, Eric Fischl and Dan Flavin, among many others. He received international residency grants for China, Belgium and New Zealand, as well as several domestic awards. His 83 solo exhibitions have taken him to professional visits in over 53 countries. In 2016 he received a ‘Lifetime Achievement Grant’ from A/E Foundation. Recently his ‘solo exhibit’ of works on paper was featured at The Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis, MA.
AMY WORTH
CHRISTOPHER MAIORANA
Christopher Maiorana met Amy Worth in her studio when he came for art lessons. Maiorana works though the lens of Downs Syndrome. During time spent with his mentor teacher, Worth saw Maiorana’s remarkable use of color and two-dimensional space. “He translates what he sees applying color with a clarity rarely seen or unattainable by other artists,” notes Worth. A pure gift of spontaneity invites all viewers into Maiorana’s world of imagery. Regarding his process Maiorana relates, “I focus on different paintings. I mix different colors. I start with the background. I like the blue sky and the beautiful beaches. Inspired by my parents, I like baking and cooking. I am inspired by my garden, even the fence and the chicken coop. I focus on different paintings. I mix different colors starting with the background. I like to paint pink roses, red roses, fruit trees, and vegetable gardens. I like to do something a little different.” His palette is unfiltered — a sophisticated blend of billowing forms placed to construct flowing landscapes and still life paintings. During his tenure with Worth, Maiorana has taken part in a student exhibition and a sold out one man exhibition at Worth’s South St. Gallery in Greenport, Long Island. His special lens offers a courage to others seeking to display the different unique within us all. Worth understands. “Working with Christopher continues to be a joy for me because of his enthusiasm and willingness to take chances. It is because of these qualities that I have learned from him too.” Amy Worth’s commitment to Christopher Maiorana is as a person in addition to forwarding his works as exceptional with labels. Her work is, and was always about the medium, color and texture. “After a long career as a textile artist I picked up a brush and began to paint in my own voice. When I began creating my own work I was delighted to find that the years I’d spent matching color in gouache translated well to oil and that I could mix the hue and value I desired. Inspired by contemporary impressionist Peggi Kroll Roberts, I strive to say as much as I can in thick, intentional strokes. My landscapes and still life paintings are generally in a small format. Teaching drawing and painting, and considering the elements of art and the principles of design, has helped me focus on and develop my technique. Working with a palette knife is both liberating, for the freedom to plaster the canvas, and restrictive as mistakes are not easily corrected. Color is my passion and adjusting value and the intensity of a hue is a process I love. I spend a great deal of time on the composition and even more time mixing color. The actual painting happens fairly quickly. It is my intention to push my technique towards abstraction without losing the energy and beauty of my subject. I live in Orient, on the East End of Long Island, in an environment renowned for beautiful light and vista. I don’t think this landscape will ever cease to inspire me but I look forward to exploring other terrains. My aim is to build a body of work that evokes the spirit of my subject with both color and technique.”
As an artist, Justin Mayer is very much influenced by our contemporary culture which is both constantly evolving and vastly diverse. Justin Mayer met Dan Christoffel, one of his art professors, while a student attending Long Island University, Brookville NY. “Christoffel has become one of Long Island’s most recognized historical artists and manages to combine both his passion for history and his talent as a representational painter. His paintings are historical stories, not just portraits. They represent our country at times of change and promise.” Newsday, 2010. Represented in this exhibit are examples of his passion for Lincoln, Whitman, and Jazz. JUSTIN MAYER DAN CHRISTOFFEL Mayer decided to get his degree later than sooner. Time and life’s lessons through experience had set Mayer free to state his personalized highly styled visual language. Mayer brought his energy and developed sense of iconic messaging within image to class. Those qualities of creativity did not go un-noticed by Christoffel, who saw Mayer’s distinctive style emerging. Mayer’s work crosses over between street and outsider art as complete dialogs containing social statements. Mayer relates his sense of street art in his distinctive tapestry works he calls murals on canvas. Contemporary icons and symbols are combined. The artist states his exampled work‚ American Chaos in Color “summarizes a reflection of my influences today.” The juxtaposition of images within this piece are incorporating his personal kaleidoscope of our collective consciousness and this work is an exercise in discovery on his questioning of our societal roles. Mayer’s stories related as a composition utilize unique stylized emblems, like patches of life combined with known street characters after Keith Haring’s “art babies” to incorporate his personal experience. Dan Christoffel understood Mayer’s work as an important artistic statement in contemporary art and language containing energy and life for the viewer to experience. “The concept of fine art as we examine it today is one of associations comprised of societal influences both modern and historical. Today’s expansive appetite for original concepts have influenced myself and the world and time period that I occupy.”
I want to thank the Pros in our exhibition — Dan Welden, Amy Worth and Dan Christoffel. Each is accomplished and recognized as both artists and academics. By participating in Pros & Protégés as Differing Views‚ they support freedom of self-expression that may be defined as outsider or differing in each protégé: Justin Greenwald, Christopher Maiorana and Justin Mayer. Each pro, having carved out impressive careers over multiple decades, knows the difficulty encountered by emerging young artists. A generosity of spirit and nature opens the door to a form of expression we as viewers may have missed. A lens which is different outside the box when qualified by our Pros broadens our visual language and experience. We, the audience, are offered the opportunity to appreciate the creative expression Welden, Worth and Christoffel bring into view via selected works by Greenwald, Maiorana and Mayer. My special thanks to Dan Welden who suggested our theme, introduced me to his fellow Pros and connected all parties. “I think you (we) have something special here,” Dan recently wrote to me. Together Dan Welden, Amy Worth and Dan Christoffel brought their protégés together and we have a multi-textural outof-the-box art exhibition offered to enliven the status-quo. A very special thank you to Bert Seides for his untiring support and hard work to create a showplace for art in our beautiful town — Center Moriches. Without his effort, this gallery would not be. It is my hope all enjoy our show, Jamie Forbes.
reprinted from
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