Report by Paula Antolini
May 10, 2017 2:49PM EDT
PHOTOS/VIDEO: Bethel Arts 2017 Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Reception, May 6th
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Saturday, May 6, 2017, at approximately 5:15 p.m., which officially open the Bethel Arts 2017 Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit. The Grand Opening Reception was directly following, at the Bethel Public Library.
The exhibit includes 11 sculptures from artists Thomas Manning, Matt Rink and Sarah Bade, Justin Perlman, Jodi Carlson, Steven Brooks, B.A. D’Alessandro, Daniel Lewis, Richard Pitt, Kate Winn, David Boyajian and Todd Austin. There is also a piece from Jim Felice that remained in the exhibit from last year.
Photo: Seven of the artists participating in this year’s sculpture exhibit.
The art is located on the CJH Municipal Center lawn and Bethel Public Library grounds. (View map below.)
This year’s exhibit is being curated by renowned sculpture, David Boyajian, whose sculpture barn, in New Fairfield, CT, is home to creative works ranging from metal sculptures to works on paper and hosts an array of exhibits throughout the year, representing a wide variety of artists.
Boyajian was joined on the municipal lawn, by some of the other sculptors who have work in this exhibit, along with Economic Development Director Janice Chrzescijanek, and they cut the red ribbon, holding it near the sculpture located at the entrance to the CJH Municipal Center, to officially open the exhibit.
Chrzescijanek thanked Boyajian for all is help in the past two years, and said that the Town of Bethel has coordinated with CityCenter in Danbury, CT, to do a similar exhibit in the next month or so on Main Street.
The exhibit in Bethel will be on display from May 2017 through 2018. Many of these pieces are for sale (purchase prices can be found below). Please email info@bethelartsct.org for purchase information.
VIEW VIDEO OF RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY BELOW:
Sculptor B. A. D’Allesandro, who created a piece in the exhibit called “This Kiss,” located on the front corner of the library grounds (number 7 on map below) spoke with Bethel Advocate about her approach to this particular creation. She said she was thinking about Robert Indiana’s “Love” piece. “I thought I could simplify it simply by an ‘X’ and an ‘O’, she said, “and exactly, that’s what I did. A nice big ‘X’ and a little ‘O.’ ” She started “playing with the metal” she said, and laid it down and saw an ‘X’ and she said “ah, it’s a kiss.” Then the red ball is the hug, D’Allesandro said. “X’s and O’s.”
D’Allesandro said she’s inspired by the city more than nature, likes geometric shapes, and architecture. “I’m not very good with organic, but angles and triangles and circles, I like playing with them and mixing them up in any kind of composition, hopefully in a three-dimensional way.” In fact when asked what she’d be doing if she were not s fine artist, she said she’s be an architect.
VIEW SCULPTURES AND ARTISTS INFORMATION AND MORE PHOTOS OF THE EVENT BELOW.
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(Click on map to view larger.)
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01
EMERGING JOY
Artist: Steven Brooks
Artist’s Statement- Born in New York City, I grew up in New Jersey and have lived in Connecticut since graduating from Pratt Institute with honors and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design. I was a licensed architect in New York, an NCIDQ qualified Interior Designer and a LEED Accredited Professional with the US Green Building Council. Together with my business partner Frank Loffredo, we ran Loffredo Brooks Architects where as an interior designer, architect and industrial designer, I was the recipient of IBD awards for seating and furniture systems and a number of architectural and interior design awards. The design world also offered me the opportunities of being an instructor at Paier College of Art in New Haven, the Parsons School of Design in NYC, and an adjunct professor at the NY School of Interior Design.
After 25 years of wearing a suit and tie, it has been a wonderful life changing direction to explore sculpture and the world of three dimensional art. Meeting David Boyajian in 2009 awakened thoughts and desires to work three dimensionally to create forms and to manipulate space with a sense of movement and freedom. My art explores the relationship of positive and negative space ad is about movement, energy and the inherent balance of forms and lines in steel. I am looking forward to continuing this journey of discovery and exploration.
This piece is for sale: $8,500.
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02
FALLING TABLES
Artist: Todd Austin
Artist’s Statement- Falling Tables is a representation of the current political upheaval that is occurring in our country. With the concept that whatever discussions of progress that were “on the table” are now completely without solid weight. Not only do these tables represent the center of a home, these objects of keen necessity represent the meeting place of family and conversation, civility and human interaction and understanding. A place of decision making, a place of “breaking bread.” They represent foundations of trust, security, calmness and humility. These tables can represent you and I. Now, the tables, with no ability to perform their given function only to serve as a reminder that without a platform for progress we will all fall together.
This piece is for sale: $8000.
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03
WAKING UP
Artist: Jodi Carlson
Artist’s Statement- Aluminum, repurposed street signs, 2-part auto paint.
Jodi Carlson is a metal sculptor who creates abstract and semi-abstract art. She specializes in aluminum welding and using repurposed materials such as street signs, advertisements and tools in her sculptures. Due to her heavy use of welding equipment, having a great tool bag is something she prioritizes. Her large scale work can be seen in public art at the Leonia Sculpture Garden in in Leonia, NJ., at City Hall in Yonkers, NY., and at the Municipal Campus of Clifton, NJ. Jodi is commissioned by private individuals to create sculptures frequently.
This piece is for sale: $8500.
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04
GREEN
Artist: Richard Pitts
Artist’s Statement- Originally from New Jersey, Richard Pitts is a Pratt Institute graduate with a military background who began with a studio on 18th Street, NYC, is a founding member of the First Street Gallery now located in Chelsea, NY (an artist run gallery), full professor of Fine Art at the Fashion Institute of Technology, founding member of Urban Studio Unbound, President of M55 Art.
“Since the 1970s, landscape has served as either framework or subject while the acquisition of meaning has shifted toward the viewer. Richard Pitts continues to explore the various metaphors inherent to the natural environment, suggesting that art is not only bridged with life but is also a product of it. In creating this new series of free-standing, abstract sculptures, the artist lends form to the notion of placeless-ness, rendering a series of aesthetic intersections where personal narratives commune with the visual. Intended for both interior and exterior sites, Richard Pitts’ new selection of colorful, metallic objects free up the art experience even further by utilizing the tenets of formalism to touch upon a deeper sense of “being” in the world.
“Pitts has expanded into the third-dimension by forging the drawn line into a single, hand-held object. Extending this idea onto a series of surfaces that echo the thick, black line seen in his earlier work, the artist compiles a series of randomly tailored surfaces that connect with one another to represent either frosty, wall-hung starburst shapes or tall, wing-like forms. Pitts utilizes the drawn line as a springboard for sculptures that attempt to draw on their own, within the scope of physical space.
Richard Pitts’ new sculptures are complex in that they symbolize time or, more simply, the thought or feeling of a particular moment. In 2001 Pitts began breaking down the painted figure into a series of panels that fit together in a puzzle-like fashion. This gradual separation of colors appeared five years later in a series of tall totem structures that reflected a variety of juxtaposing colors, patterns and textures, which were separated by a thick, undulating black line, echoing the construct of stained glass windows. However in giving shape to a series of metaphysical characteristics that are rarely captured within figurative painting, Pitts has moved the idea of sculpture away from its multi-layered, object-based history and toward one’s personal mythology.
Portions in quotes above written by Jill Conner
Artist Website: Richardpittssculpture.com
This piece is for sale: $7000.
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05
SARCOPHAGUS
Artist: Daniel Lewis
Artist’s Statement- Coming Soon.
This piece is for sale: $6000.
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06
HIGH RISE NEST
Artist: Kate Winn
Artist’s Statement-
I’ve noticed that I return over and over to certain themes, abstract forms, and compositions. I’m not sure why. There is something about the line between atmosphere and earth, about the interaction between the tops of trees and air that attracts my eye. I am drawn to sky reflected in water on the ground, cold and dusk, the patterns of melting snow on a hillside, and the incredible loneliness I feel when night overtakes wild winter land.
Then there are the patterns made by our presence, the trails and shapes we leave as part of some relationship to a place, and that pattern’s intersection with other shapes and sky. When these interactions coincide, there is truly nothing else I can do but try to bring the elements together on a canvas or in a sculpture and tell the story of that moment as best I can.
For more information and other works, visit katewinnstudios.com
This piece is for sale: $8000.
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07
THE KISS
Artist: B.A. D’Alessandro
Artist’s Statement- Coming Soon.
B.A. attended two Westchester County colleges, receiving an Associate of Arts degree at Briarcliff College and a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Studio Art with an emphasis in sculpture at Marymount College. B.A. studied welding techniques at Silvermine Art Center, New Canaan with David Boyajian and followed him to his studio at The Sculpture Barn in New Fairfield, Connecticut.
B.A. D’Alessandro has created sculptures in a variety of materials, but has been concentrating on steel for the last twenty years. Steel lends itself well to straight lines, angles and curves; the influence of geometric shapes is apparent in her sculptures. Taking “pre-formed” stock pieces of steel, the artist arranges and organizes them to create strong, balanced structures. Painting them black gives each its own elegance. Adding color in the past few years to selected pieces has given them a new boldness.
This piece is for sale: $12500.
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08
WINTER
Artist: Justin Pearlman
Artist’s Statement- Coming Soon.
This piece is for sale: $25000.
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09
MAPLE SEEDS
Artist: David Boyajian
Artist’s Statement- Coming Soon.
This piece is for sale: $10000.
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10
THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN
Artist: Jim Felice
Artist’s Statement- As a musician, I’ve learned that a performer responds to the unique energy of a particular time and place. By interacting with new materials and configurations each day, I incorporate spontaneity and improvisation into my creative process. Playing with material, form, color and shape allows me to combine unexpected variables. I approach sculpting like a jazz musician at an impromptu jam session — after years of rehearsal, I jump in and let the work develop.
I would like my work to create a child like sense of wonder.
This piece is for sale: $17,000.
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11
ROGUE WAVE
Artist: Thomas Manning
Artist’s Statement- Coming Soon.
This piece is for sale: $7000 …
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RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY AND RECEPTION:
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Bethel Arts is a community-based nonprofit organization that seeks to promote, build and support all facets of the arts and creative culture in the town of Bethel, CT. Membership includes area artists of all sorts, educators, businesses and audiences that know the importance of building and sustaining a vibrant creative community. From music to theatre to visual arts to new media, Bethel Arts aims to generate an atmosphere of collaboration, growth, and vitality in Bethel.
For more information, visit www.BethelArtsCT.org.
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