Turning the Screw Back: (re)FOCUS Redresses Censorship of Feminist Art

by Ilene Dube, JerseyArts.com - published 2024-04-14
In the current exhibition at the CASE Gallery at Rowan University, a basket sits on a podium overflowing with black buttons whose white letters ask: "Where's Bernstein?" Just who is Bernstein, anyway?

Bridging Nature and the Man-Made - "Reverie of the Natural & Found" Combines Assemblage and Environmental Art at WhittemoreCCC

by Sara Catherine Lichon - published 2024-03-29
On a sunny spring evening, you enter a small and unassuming art gallery nestled in the forest. It's buzzing with excitement. Classical guitar weaves through the rooms, filling the space between conversations and observations. On a table near the door lies a gigantic, custom-made charcuterie board of upcycled wood, filled with marinated feta, sun dried tomatoes, pickled mushrooms and green strawberries, crostini's, smoked salmon, whipped ricotta spread, and cheeses locally sourced from local farms and food purveyors.* After grabbing a snack, you move from room to room, greeted by a variety of unique and intricate pieces.

Playing Seriously at the Hunterdon Art Museum

by Ilene Dube, JerseyArts.com - published 2024-03-28
The Pattern & Decoration (P&D) movement emerged in the 1970s as an "irreverent upstart movement," to borrow the words of New York Times art critic Roberta Smith. It offered an alternative "to the general manliness of modernism," and elevated women's work. It looked to decorative traditions across the world, to surfaces like textiles, to wallpaper, manuscript illuminations, mosaics, glassware, embroideries, and architectural flourishes, writes Tess Thakara at Artsy.net.

Medford Arts "Just Faces" Juried Exhibition

by Chris Lillja, JerseyArts.com - published 2024-03-21
The Medford Arts Center, nestled in the town of Medford, New Jersey, serves as a vibrant hub for the arts community in the area. It is a place where artists and art enthusiasts come together to celebrate and indulge in the beauty of creative expression. The center plays a pivotal role in enriching the cultural landscape of the region by offering a diverse array of programs and events that cater to people of all ages and interests. From art exhibitions and workshops to performances and educational programs, the Medford Arts Center is dedicated to fostering an environment where the arts can flourish. Its mission is to showcase local artists' talents and inspire and engage the community, making art accessible to everyone. With its welcoming atmosphere and commitment to the arts, the Medford Arts Center is a beacon of creativity and cultural engagement in southern New Jersey.

'We Are the River' Uses Beauty to Convey a Dire Warning

by Ilene Dube, JerseyArts.com - published 2024-03-14
Driving from central New Jersey to the Gallery at Stockton University on a late February day in which the sunshine hinted at spring, I became aware of the changes to the landscape. Trees gave way to tall grasses, the earth seemed sandier, and the Shore was not far away. There were signs for rivers and other bodies of water.

From "Survivors of Colonization" to "Kings and Queens of the Diaspora," Montclair Art Museum presents Black Joy and Leisure in a Major Exhibition

by Ilene Dube, JerseyArts.com - published 2024-02-29
It's an all-star lineup of artists' names, from Faith Ringgold and Howardena Pindell to Emma Amos, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Willie Cole, Bettye Saar, Joyce Scott... 59 in total! These are among the best of the best of contemporary artists, who just happen to be Black. And who just happen to be in the collection of the Montclair Art Museum.

Jersey Arts Podcast - Flower & Flame: A New Documentary Highlighting Glasswork Artist, Paul J. Stankard

by Gina Marie Rodriguez, JerseyArts.com - published 2024-02-22
Paul J. Stankard is an internationally acclaimed artist and pioneer in the studio glass movement. His lifelike, nature-based glassworks have changed the paperweight world over his forty-year artistic career. Having begun his career working in scientific glassblowing, it was through this industry that he found creativity and learned that he was indeed an artist.

Believing in Bright Colors and Angels Gets Artist Freda Williams through the Atrocities

by Ilene Dube, JerseyArts.com - published 2024-02-15
As soon as the banner announcing the retrospective of Freda Williams hung from the red brick façade of Artworks Trenton, the excitement began. "She has so many stories to tell," Artistic Director Addison Vincent said of the 86-year-old artist who has lived all but the first five years of her life in Greater Trenton.

Life Forms are Blooming and Breathing at ArtYard in Frenchtown

by Ilene Dube, JerseyArts.com - published 2024-01-18
It may be the middle of winter, but two exhibitions on view at ArtYard in Frenchtown connect us to the world of plants, living things, and the lightness of being. Kendall Buster: What Blooms is on view through January 21, and Lucia Monge: While a Leaf Breathes can be seen through January 28.