The Huntington Arts Council will feature the work of artists Ginger Balizer- Hendler, Andrea Davide, Kasmira Mohanty and Alan Richards in an exhibition that opens with an artist reception on Friday, Jan. 15 from 6 to 8 p.m., and runs through Jan. 30 at the Main Street Gallery, 213 Main Street Huntington. All are welcome to attend.
Balizer-Hendler studied at the State University of New York at New Paltz as an English major with a minor in Theater Arts and focused on interior design at C.W. Post and The New York Institute of Technology.
Additionally, she studied “[My] work often explores surface narratives which obscure the underlying depths of what lies beneath the outer story,” Balizer-Hendler said. “Embellishments in the form of found objects and collage invite us to look beyond the veil that protects our more fragile underpinnings. The layering is symbolic of the many faces we wear: our emotions, public and private personas, and deeper primal subconscious.”
Recipient of the Award of Merit from the Long Island Biennial, Balizer-Hendler’s work was included as part of The East End Arts Council’s JumpstART program installation. She is also is a former contributing writer for Art Times.
Davide attended Syracuse University, School of Visual and Performing Arts and received a BA in Art and Biology, from Arcadia University.
“A timepiece is a time keeping device though we can neither keep time nor, hold on to it; it passes away from us,” Davide stated. “The possessions of our lives rest in our hands seemingly for an instant and fall away, most lost forever, like the passing moment.
“My sculptures, “TimePieces” respond to these eternal truths: each cog, gear, spring, each unnamed element, retrieved from memory and service, can no longer participate in noting time’s passage but binds within itself the lives and intentions of its designers, makers and original possessors,” she elaborated. “I, in turn, position these mechanical artifacts, and found objects, some anonymous, some with specific embedded histories, in a new, framed and secured relationship, with sympathetic formed supports and ties, bestowing linkage and context”.
Davide’s work has been exhibited publicly as well as collected both publicly and privately. Her resume extends into her work as a commercial artist, lecturer as well as notoriety through her artistic Military Achievements.
Mohanty, with degrees from Dowling College, Purchase College and Fashion Institute of Technology, is currently an arts educator and digital/commercial artist. Her work is featured regularly in both solo and group exhibitions.
“I began my artistic career in the photographic industry as a studio photographer and master darkroom printer,” she said. “I was driven to expand my artistic vocabulary in 1992 when a friend of mine exposed me to Photoshop. This was before most people knew what a jpeg was.
“Photoshop was a revelation to me, as important as the introduction of the metal paint tube was to the Impressionists,” she added. “It would completely change the direction of my artistic goals and aspirations. My experimentations over the past 22 years has lead me to my current creations involving vector based illustrated portraits that I’ve layered with pattern, line work and hand rendered paint samples.”
Richards uses multiple photographs or segments of photographs and/or drawings that are fused to create a single composite image. The images may be playful, satirical, or of a more serious nature.
“I try to tell a story with each image,” Richards said. “My earlier works were done in ink and watercolors and are shown on my website. My interest in computers and design evolved into composite images from multiple photographs. Sometimes people think that these images are simple photographs. Not so. They consist of multiple images in which segments of one photo are melded into the framework of the entire image.
“These image composites often take on a surrealistic feeling,” he added. “Although not formally trained in art, I have produced artworks of various sorts for many years.” Mr. Richards work is exhibited extensively across the country from Long Island to California to Florida.
The Invitational Gallery Shows are a Huntington Arts Council opportunity for small groups of artists to participate in a shared exhibit in our Main Street Gallery. For more information on the Invitational Gallery Shows and the Huntington Arts Council go to www.huntingtonarts.org or call 631-271-8423.
