Artists: Lauren Mabry, Alyse Rosner and Becca Lowry. Photo: Karen Sheer
Women are surely having a moment now at the Flinn Gallery with the opening of another fine exhibit. Venus Fly highlights exuberant color and an attention to detail by three artists each working in different media: large-scale paintings, mixed media wood carvings, and ceramics.
Super fresh and super fly!
The show runs through January 24, 2018 and features new abstract work by artists Becca Lowry, Lauren Mabry, and Alyse Rosner.
Viewing a painting by Alyse Rosner. Photo: Karen Sheer
Sculpture by Lauren Mabry. Photo: Karen Sheer
Detailing of a wood carving by Becca Lowry. Photo: Karen Sheer
Curator Tracy McKenna says that “Venus Fly focuses on colorful abstraction at the darkest time of the year. The theme of female made art is a direct result of last year’s election campaign and result. I felt very strongly that the gallery should feature women artists at the one year mark of this presidency. The art, like the Greenwich Library, is apolitical.”
Artist Becca Lowry at the opening. Photo: Karen Sheer
Work by Becca Lowry. Photo: Karen Sheer
Work by Becca Lowry. Photo: Karen Sheer
Becca Lowry’s wall-hung wood sculptures are organically shaped carvings, woven and painted in multiple layers to form what the artist describes as “modern interpretations of warrior shields.” These pieces are built to protect, each custom-made to safeguard against a particular threat. “I love that shields operate on both a symbolic and functional level,” says Lowry. One may see skeletal-like forms, musical instruments and tribal influences in these cleverly detailed works.
Her deeply carved wood with painted areas and sections incorporate wound thread or wire, fabric, and tassels on some of the edges. Lowry adds,”while exploring each piece, the initial intention becomes something else.”
Lowry’s work has been shown at VOLTA Art Fair and Governor’s Island and featured in Artforum. Lowry lives and works in Branford, CT.
Artist Lauren Mabry at the opening. Photo: Karen Sheer
Works by Lauren Mabry. Photo: Karen Sheer
Works by Lauren Mabry. Photo: Karen Sheer
Philadelphia-based Lauren Mabry states that her ceramics “capture the ephemeral state of glaze when it’s in the process of being poured—neither a solid nor a liquid.” Highly colored and based on a classic cylindrical shape, she considers each cylinder to be a round painting.
Mabry explains she makes all of her own glazes and “the transformation during firing is most exciting.” Bold hues intermingle with quiet tints and shades; glossy metallic color adds a tremendous amount of depth.
Mabry won the 2014 Emerging Artist Award from the National Council on Education for Ceramic Arts, received a Pew Fellowship, and has work in several museum collections.
Artist Alyse Rosner at the opening. Photo: Karen Sheer
Painting by Alyse Rosner. Photo: Karen Sheer
Painting by Alyse Rosner. Photo: Karen Sheer
Paintings by Alyse Rosner. Photo: Karen Sheer
Alyse Rosner’s large-scale acrylic paintings begin with graphite rubbings from nature, then are built up in layers of pattern and color to create what she terms “a world that spreads out to every edge. I am interested in toxicity and how we are altering the world,” says Rosner.
She incorporates her surroundings, personal experience and environmental concerns into the work which she considers autobiographical.
Highly regarded by fellow artists, the Westport resident participated in the Radius program at the Aldrich Museum and is the recipient of two Connecticut State grants. She has shown extensively, most recently at the Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane University.
Curator Tracy McKenna at the opening. Photo: Karen Sheer
“Exhibiting female artists shouldn’t be considered a political statement in 2017,” states Venus Fly Curator, Tracy McKenna. “Women make up the majority of MFA students and professional artists, yet continue to be under-represented in commercial galleries and museums. The Flinn Gallery’s all female volunteer committee seeks to redress that balance by featuring three female artists working in different media but with a shared commitment to material-based abstraction.”
At the opening. Photo: Karen Sheer
At the opening. Photo: Karen Sheer
At the opening. Photo: Karen Sheer
Venus Fly runs through 24, 2018.
Events:
January 6
2:00 pm: Artist Talk. As part of the Library’s Friday Film series.
Art Lounge from 6-7:45 pm in the gallery will be followed by Hidden Figures film starring Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae, and Kevin Costner at 8:00 in the Cole Auditorium.
The Flinn Gallery, sponsored by the Friends of the Greenwich Library, is located on the second floor of the library’s main branch at 101 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich CT.
The gallery is open daily Monday to Saturday 10-5, Thursday until 8, and Sunday 1-5. To learn more visit: www.flinngallery.com/venus-fly/