Curent Exhibition
Lina Morielli "SKETCHBOOK: A Look Inside" May 4-June 10, 2012
Opening Reception: Fri. May 4th, 6-9pm Artist Walk & Talk: Sun. June 10, 2pm
LAA at UConn Stamford
UConn Stamford & The Loft Artists Association present Blue Skies
June 1 through July 15, 2012 Opening Reception: Sat. June 9th, 2-5pm
Artists of the LAA bring their vision of Blue Skies to the UConn Stamford Art Gallery. Loft Artist members were asked to interpret the theme Blue Skies, reflecting back in their work the meaning this phrase holds for them. “We wanted a title that inspired optimism and evoked the hopeful promise of spring”, says Alissa Siegal, who conceived the idea of the exhibit along with fellow artist Maura Shapiro and the head of UConn’s art department, Carolyn Ginsberg.
"The theme Blue Skies feels upbeat, optimistic to me”, says artist Sherry Becker. “It’s about clarity and freshness.” “I loved the concept”, adds LAA president Lisa Cuscuna, “and I tried to work it into what I usually do which is surrealistic art.” Cuscuna’s piece literally depicts a blue sky, with a dreamlike twist.
Painters, photographers and mixed media artists from Stamford’s Loft Artist Association interpreted the theme through different lenses. For artist Anne Salthouse, the theme recalled the destruction wreaked on Japan by last year’s tsunami, as well as hope in the aftermath. “The Japanese seem so well ordered and controlled, and yet this horrific disaster swept years of the past and much of the future away in an instant.” Speaking of her piece, over which ascends a phoenix, Salthouse says, “Amazingly, the blue sky floats overhead, bringing new hope. As Phoenix rises, so the people revive, rebuild and once again grow strong. “
Mixed media artist Susan Frey based her piece on a dream: “In my dream I am looking down onto the cityscape from high above. I can see through layers of blue skies and architectural forms.“ Some of the pieces on display are more abstract, leaving the viewer to think about what the artist intended to communicate. Painter Mary Louise Long says of her large-scale triptych, “The inspiration for this painting begins with a generation of ideas…my concept is the depiction of light, air, and blue skies.
The image is the sensory experience of those elements. The title comes afterwards and is a compilation of selected words from the Bridal of Triermain, a poem by Sir Walter Scott”.
Other pieces are more straightforward- a collaborative mixed media piece by Elaine Best and Phyllis Oxman features a multi hued blue sky suspended over a mountain landscape, while Margaret Tsirantonakis’ “Veranda View Afternoon II, Chania, Crete”, is part of a series of watercolor/gouaches painted in Crete in September 2011. She tells us, “I made this piece on site enveloped by the blue skies of this ancient island.”
The UConn Stamford gallery is open Mon.-Thurs. 9am-7pm, Fri. 9am-5pm and Sat. 9am-1pm. It is located at One University Place in Stamford, at the corner of Washington Blvd. and Broad St. Free parking is available at the UConn garage on Washington Blvd., 2nd level. For more information, call the UConn Art Gallery at (203) 251-8400, or the Loft Artists Association at (203) 323-4153.
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