Selections 35

Selections 35 featured works on paper by ten emerging artists. Included were: Joe Andoe, Robert Bordo, Leslie DeFrancesco, Jamie Fuller, Elinore Hollinshead, Julie Langsam, Richard Lodwig, Lisi Misera, Kerri Scharlin and Catherine Tirr. All the artists in the exhibition had been chosen through the Center's Viewing Program.

The enormous range of abstract work in Selections 35 testified to the renewed interest of contemporary artists in all forms of abstraction. At one end of the spectrum were the graceful geometric forms of Jamie Fuller's corrugated cardboard reliefs; at the other, the delight in the physicality of paint evidenced in Leslie DeFrancesco's gestural abstractions. Richard Lodwig employed a strong decorative element and elegant surface quality in his vibrantly-colored oil stick and wax diptychs. Kerri Scharlin's colorful abstractions were composed of several layers of acetate, each with a different abstract motif.

Catherine Tirr took as a source of inspiration for her charcoal drawings the bold patterning and emblematic quality of heraldic shields. Joe Andoe's black-and-white tempera abstractions were playful and child-like. Julie Langsam's densely atmospheric charcoals evoked biomorphic forms. Lisi Misera incorporated objects from everyday life, including plastic bags, paper tablecloths, and newspaper, with strong figurative elements in her bold and colorful collages. Elinore Hollinshead juxtaposed sleeping figures with motifs from classical sculpture in her large ink and wax drawings. Robert Bordo's tiny mixed media drawings of stairwells and passageways were inspired by the work of Vincent Van Gogh.

All the artists in Selections 35 participated in a symposium Wednesday, December 17 at 7:00 p.m. The artists discussed their work and answered questions from the audience.