James Brooks
“A”, 1954
Oil on canvas, 17" x 23"

Margaret Evangeline
"Camille - Red & Gold", 2010
Oil on canvas, 77" x 77"


Margaret Evangeline
"Almost Saint", 2008
Oil on canvas, 72" x 72"

Mark Gibian
"Fuente", 1989
Steel and glass, 15" x 21" x 12"

Mark Gibian
"Virella", 1991
Steel and glass, 28" x 36" x 11"

William Manning
"Painting #302", 2011
Collage, Acrylic on Masonite, 24" x 30"

Andy Moses
"Dimentia at Dawn", 2007
Acrylic on Canvas, 16" x 20"

Nancy Steinson
"Streak", 2010
Steel, oil paint, patina (wall sculpture), 27" x 36" x 3 1/2"

Nancy Steinson
"Blue Bird"
Bronze with Patina, 8" x 24" x 4 1/4"

"FOCAL POINTS"
May 5 - July 2, 2011
Margaret Evangeline, Mark Gibian, William Manning, Andy Moses and Nancy Steinson

The five (not so) younger artists in this exhibit take their cue using form, function and space to produce refined quality pieces of art that are well crafted and a joy to live with in the twenty-first century. Their high standards and creative talent make each truly one of a kind.

Margaret Evangeline possesses multifaceted artistic
visions. Her work addresses ideas of female power, social issues, artistic process and the power of images.
The present flower series seems to depart from the previous aggressive, shot-through steel panels, but there is an underlying theme of “bursting” that communicates Evangeline's emotional message. The camellias are harsh, often splattered outlines that seem to drip and wash away from the canvas through neutral, yellow, but also passionately red colors. These paintings portray the essence of imperfection: Evangeline says she relies on “the little thing that ruins it” in order to keep an artwork alive. These floral forms may be identified as ‘jewels of knowledge’ portrayed in Buddhist imagery and reflect Evangeline’s Zen philosophies. Whether using gun shots, flowers, or disasters that assault humanity, Margaret Evangeline’s art portrays an emotional drama that can be at times unsettling but always visceral.

Sculptor Mark Gibian is one of the rare artists to fuse organic and industrial elements in his designs. His work primarily consists of metal “skeletons” that have been sheathed over by transparent glass which sometimes create animalistic or biomorphic figures. There is a predominant architectural theme that makes his objects so versatile and their unique forms possess a vital energy that continue to pulsate to the viewer. Large-scale pieces have been installed in outdoor spaces in Manhattan and Brooklyn, while functional furniture adds a whimsical style to the space they inhabit. The urban landscape may be the best environment in which Gibian’s objects can reside; the duality of biological and manufactured forces within his sculptures are best experienced in metropolitan parks and spaces where the industrial and the natural unite.

William Manning’s five decades of work is a unique marriage of the organic and the geometric, the aesthetic and the symbolic. Whether looking at his paper, canvas, three dimensional or vertical paintings, Manning’s intense graphic designs serve as the result of the union of Cubist and Abstract Expressionist styles. He paints and uses collage much in the same way that Picasso did in order to fuse harsh, graphic designs with expressive, gestured  strokes. Much of Manning’s inspiration comes from nature and landscape, especially that of his native Maine and Monhegan Island. His work dons a somewhat mystical connotation that is both comforting and disquieting. The different forms of his  works play with the audience’s sense of perception. His paintings, both through medium and form, strike the viewer visually and spatially leaving them with a liberated sense of color, design, and shape. He  is represented in many museums and private collections.

Andy Moses’ paintings float somewhere between the abstract and the representational. At first his work seems limited to a color and form vocabulary, but Moses creates vast atmospheres dedicated to land, water and sky; opposing elements that morph together becoming indistinguishable. The artist has taken lessons from the masters before him, such as Pollock, Turner, Rothko, and his father Ed Moses, in order to create fluid spaces of pure movement by laying the canvas horizontal, pouring the paint, and letting gravity determine the painting’s fate. Line and color are enhanced within convex and concave canvases that establish illusions of depth and space that either surround us or engulf us in vibrant colors. One is immediately put to ease when looking at his work because it conjures up notions of  Earth’s familiar elements, but also dares to double as the infinite cosmos. While the titles of the paintings refer to geological sites or coastal towns, Moses negates concepts of time and location within worlds of seemingly timeless and endless motion.

Nancy Steinson’s sculpture is often described as “lyrical”, “sensuous”, and “simple”. And yet, these words do not suffice in an understanding of the artist’s intention. While her sculptures are made of steel, Steinson exceeds industrial terms while staying true to clarity of form and ignoring the nonessential. The artist strays away from a purely minimalist style, opting for a mergence of curvilinear and planar forms which can result in soft and hard objects that never bore the viewer. For example, Blue Bird’s energy is strong and dynamic because of its harsh angles jutting out to simultaneously give it flight and stability so that it can stand on its own. Softer works such as Numina possess a smoother essence that portrays more sensual powers, but her work transcends common definitions of femininity. Even the curves of her structures are supplemented with straighter angles that electrically charge her work with opposing forces. In the end, Steinson achieves a purity of design and intention that she hopes “reveals the inner life of human existence.”

For more information, please contact:
Anita Shapolsky Gallery at ashapolsky@nyc.rr.com or at 212-452-1094.
Visit our website at www.anitashapolskygallery.com.
Gallery Hours: Tue – Sat 11 – 6 PM. “Always call”.