Where Lies Beauty: Exhibition Opens at the Mattatuck

    

Mattatuck Museum Arts & History Center will hold an opening reception for
"Where Lies Beauty" on Friday June 25, 2010 from 5:30pm - 7:30 pm.

 

This exhibition features the work of five contemporary artists who produce beautiful objects while challenging traditional notions of subject and style. 
           
Mia Brownell takes still life food painting and couples it with science - physics and chemistry. She entwines grapes and pears with the double helix of DNA, circulatory systems and planetary orbits. She considers the value of food as nutrient, as hazard, and as colorful object. 

            Leah Joo mediates the space between public and private spaces utilizing the window as a virtual space between them. For centuries artists have used the curtain as an internal frame on the canvas to serve as a pictorial window. Joo lifts the curtain to tempt us with voyeuristic fascination.

            Susan Madacsi fools the eye with her use of material. Her forged steel sculptures belie the industrial history of the material as she forms it into lacey vessels, chunky painted platters and textured totems. 

            Eleanor Miller's landscape paintings move beyond realistic depiction to metaphors for the cycle of life. The smudges and drips that veil her scenes are contemporary devices that filter the naturalism of the subjects.

            Afarin Rahmanifar was trained in her native Iran in the classic art form of miniature painting-the art we associate with illuminated manuscripts. She uses the precise, detailed style in her collage/paintings that juxtapose American consumer imagery with imagery derived from Iranian culture.

The exhibition contains more than forty works including painting, sculpture, and mixed media and is organized by Mattatuck Museum curator, Cynthia Roznoy, Ph.D. with Suzie Fateh, Museum Collections Manager. Where Lies Beauty will be exhibited and open to the public at
the Mattatuck Museum Arts & History Center June 25, 2010 - October 24, 2010. 

 

To attend the opening reception Friday, June 25th 5:30-7:30pm,
please make a reservation online at www.mattatuckmuseum.org or
contact Cathy Filippone at (203) 753-0381 ext 10.

Admission to the opening reception is free for Museum Members
$7 non-members.
Become a member at the opening and get free admission!

This exhibition is funded by The Josephine McMillen and Lois Livingston McMillen Fund, which is committed to fostering and promoting the work of young women artists. It was established by the late Russell McMillen in honor of Josephine McMillen and Lois Livingston McMillen, his wife and daughter, respectively. Mrs. McMillen was an enthusiastic supporter of the Mattatuck Museum and Ms. Lois Livingston McMillen was an artist.

This exhibition pays homage to these creative women.