Category Archives: Events

Two Coats of Paint Recommends Visiting Anita Rogers Gallery for Phil Hale’s ANTICLIMB

Anita Rogers Gallery: Phil Hale, Sketch for ANTICLIMB, 2025, Graphite on found paper, 25″ x 25″

NYC Selected Gallery Guide: April, 2025

From my perspective, April has become a prime month for exhibitions in NYC, sandwiched between March’s print and photo fairs and the May Madness of the big spring fairs. The city’s brick-and-mortar art galleries take center stage, and there’s no shortage of engaging exhibitions. I’m looking forward to Rick Briggs’s offbeat abstraction at Satchel Projects in Chelsea, Carolyn Case’s “wild domestic” paintings in Asya Geisberg’s temporary Cortlandt Alley space in Tribeca, and Dustin Hodges’ new work at 15 Orient, also in Tribeca. Artist-writer Mira Dayal has what tracks as an austere, smart solo at Spencer Brownstone. On the opposite side of the emotional spectrum, “Love Poems,” a big, heartfelt group show curated by Chris Martin, is on view at Anton Kern. With due respect to Eliot, April has become one of my favorite months. I’ll see you out there.

— Sharon Butler

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AD 275 | Tomas Watson

Artist Decoded by Yoshino

Tomas Watson (b.1971) is a British artist who has lived and worked in Greece since 1994. He studied at the Slade School of Art in London.

In 1998, he won the BP Portrait Award and was subsequently commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to paint the author John Fowles. This portrait is in their permanent collection.

He is represented by the Jill George Gallery in London (www.jillgeorgegallery.co.uk) and Accesso Galleria in Tuscany (www.accessogalleria.com)

 

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

– Tomas recounts where his artistic journey began (00:02:11)

– The importance of mentorship (00:07:46)

– Tomas’s experiences at Slade University in London from 1990 – 1994 (00:09:28)

– Discussing mark-making (00:14:42)

– Having the courage to trust your artistic vision and perspective (00:26:22)

– Tomas winning the BP Portrait Award in 1998 (00:35:33)

– Cultivating a creative community and creating collective dialogue (00:43:35)

– Tomas discusses his process of creating carborundum etchings and using various other mediums (00:54:01)

– Tomas speaks about the Sigri Arts Retreat, the artist retreat he co-founded with his partner, Cindy Camatsos, in Lesvos, Greece (01:10:56)

– Living alternative lifestyles, staying patient, and allowing oneself to grow over time (01:18:36)

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A Journey Called Aviva

Aviva Rahmani – “Tolstoy and I” Series  (Photo credit: www.avivarahmani.com)

From Conceptual Roots to Eco-Activism and Literary Conversations

by Antonino La Vela –

My deep admiration for Aviva Rahmani, and the privilege of knowing her personally, has only deepened my respect for her visionary practice over time. Every encounter with her draws me into a realm where art transcends aesthetics, delving into history, politics, and the intricate dance between the individual and the collective. Meeting Aviva was transformative, revealing her boundless creativity, incisive intellect, and fervent emotional drive.

Reflecting on my previous article, I realize it was penned when I didn’t truly know her on a personal level, it was merely the tip of an iceberg. Since then, my journey and ongoing conversations with Aviva have taken me to a new depth, prompting me to uncover those hidden facets of her work that often go unnoticed. In this and future articles, I aim to capture not just the brilliance of her art, but the overall essence of Aviva.

Although my writing may sometimes seem to put her on a pedestal, my goal is not to idolize her but to harness her conceptual approach as a beacon… as a way for improving the world, especially when politics falter and society drifts away from the true meaning of living together. In a somewhat selfish attempt to learn from a remarkable woman, I hope this journey will not only honor her but also inspire, in some way, us all to learn, grow, and reconnect as individuals and as human beings.

This is my aim as a Thinkism Artist, and it is the very reason I write.

View the Full Post on Antonino La Vela Art Blog

From the Ashes: How The Los Angeles Wildfires Affected the Local Art Market

Robert Szot, Palisades, 2025, Oil and metal leaf on linen, 80 x 74 in

By Basha Shapiro, Art Markets Co-Editor of MADE IN BED & Past ARG Intern

As wildfires raged through Los Angeles in January, leaving destruction in their wake, the city’s artist community came together—not just to mourn and grieve, but to rebuild and uplift one another. I spoke with several LA-based art market professionals about the impact of the fires, exploring themes of loss, risk management, insurance challenges, and Frieze LA.

“There’s the financial aspect—the loss of raw materials, a space to work—but really, it’s the loss of completed works that you spent countless hours on. You can never get those back.”

– Robert Szot

Szot told me about a piece he had been working on at the time the fires broke out, “[There] was a painting I had been working on for about six weeks and was struggling to figure out. I finished that painting that week [that the fires started], and I looked at it and thought, ‘there is something emotional about this painting that I didn’t see before’. I began to realize that it was connected to my father, who died about three years ago. His first house was in the Palisades, and he used to talk about having bought that house as a young man. [I’m] thinking about him in that house, and I’m thinking about the current conditions of the Palisades, how that neighborhood has just been kind of wiped off the face of the earth. I looked at this painting differently. And when I look at it now it’s always going to be that stark reminder of that week. The painting is actually called Palisades.”

View on AnitaRogersGallery.com

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Artnet’s 5 Artists to Watch: Henry Mandell

Henry Mandell, Superunknown 46C, 2023, UV polymer on aluminum, 44 x 43 in

Contemporary American artist Henry Mandell uses specially self-developed algorithms and other digital tools to transform the language of data and information as well as human expression and aesthetics. Across Mandell’s works, a deep interest in interconnectedness, both thematically and scientifically, is brought to the fore, resulting in generative compositions that explore everything from language to the cosmos. On view through March 1, 2025, Mandell is part of a dual-artist exhibition featuring a range of his paintings that speak to the phenomenon of Quantum Entanglement.

View on AnitaRogersGallery.com

View the Full List here.

Entanglement is Connecting Artistic Minds and Quantum Ideas at Anita Rogers Gallery

Installation image of ENTANGLEMENT (2025). Photo by Jon-Paul Rodriguez

“Entanglement” is more than an exhibition title. It is a concept that unites art with the mysteries of science. On display until March 1, 2025, at Anita Rogers Gallery in New York City, this unique show brings together the works of Simon Bertrand and Henry Mandell. “Entanglement” challenges what separates art from science, logic from emotion, and distance from connection. Have you ever wondered how creativity can mirror the laws of nature? “Entanglement” invites the viewer to explore these questions in a thoughtful, personal way.

The exhibition “Entanglement” brings two brilliant artists together. Simon Bertrand and Henry Mandell work in different countries and studios. Their creative paths had not crossed until the gallery connected them. Yet their works echo one another. Each piece reflects a shared interest in astrophysics, metaphysics, history, nature, and literature. “Entanglement” shows that seemingly separate ideas can merge into a harmonious dialogue.

The viewer is asked to question the boundaries between disciplines. What does it mean to be connected? How can art make sense of distant ideas? “Entanglement” sparks these reflections. Simple marks on paper become a symbol of cosmic ties. Every stroke is a reminder that order can arise from complexity. The exhibition captures the beauty of connection, whether in art or in the fabric of the universe.

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Richard Keen’s Work on View at the Midwest Museum of American Art

January 10 – March 2, 2025

Sourced from the MMAA Permanent Collection, this new exhibit encompasses all forms of abstraction in painting, drawing, sculpture and printmaking. Joining these historic works are pieces by living artists from the Michiana Region who, through their studio practice, embrace formal qualities of line, shape, color, and texture. Some works, both historic and contemporary, show elements of lyrical abstraction, hard-edge painting, and expressionist tendencies.

Art by well-known names from the 20th Century include Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, and Sam Francis. These pieces joined with works by Bill Kremer, Jake Webster, Nektaria Matheos, Liz Roetzel, Susan Henshaw, Margarita Kulys, Edwin Shelton, Jack Kapsa, Richard Keen, Douglas Witmer, and Richard Roth, prove that echoes of the past can be reintroduced into the art-making process of the 21st Century in totally new and personal ways. Over 100 works by 63 artists are displayed in this exhibition.

Curated by Director, Brian Byrn, Abstraction in America, is a dynamic visual experience that will continue on view through March 2. The exhibit is sponsored by Donors from the American Circle of support.

View More at MidwestMuseum.org

 

Gary Gissler: The Emily Harvey Foundation Residency in Venice

Congratulations to artist Gary Gissler on his current residency at The Emily Harvey Foundation in Venice!

The Emily Harvey Foundation offers residencies in Venice, Italy, for innovative international artists, writers, musicians, videographers, dancers and other creative thinkers with preference given to those 40 years or older.

While Gissler is in Venice, he will have a solo exhibition, titled “appena“, opening January 23rd, at Castello 925.

Appena means:

only, barely, hardly

these drawings will explore the nature of pace and presence; continuing a long standing interest in the character of the sublime, this project will inquire into the measure of time, and the essence of what is barely there…

Gary Gissler is an American artist working in New York City and in the Catskills. Having exhibited widely, he has been the subject of many solo exhibitions, often with accompanying catalogues. He has been reviewed in Art in America, Flash Art, Art News, The New Yorker, ArtNet, and others. He has a long history of being collected privately, and his work is currently included at the RISD Museum and the Neuberger Museum. He has been awarded a Pollock Krasner Grant and a Chinati Foundation Artist Residency. Gissler will have a solo exhibition at Anita Rogers Gallery in September 2025.

More on The Emily Harvey Foundation

Artistcloseup Spotlights Richard Keen

Richard Keen, Form Singularity No. 310

Richard is an artist based in ME, USA. He had recent shows at: Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN, Moss Galleries, Falmouth /Portland, ME, Sunne Savage Gallery at Shaw Contemporary in Northeast Harbor, ME, and Anita Rogers Gallery NYC, NY. He has completed public art projects and received multiple grant awards.

View Richard Keen’s Full Artist Profile.

Brainard Carey Interviews Robert Szot

In the past few years, Brainard Carey has interviewed a number of artists, writers, architects, curators, museum directors, and poets, including Flavin Judd, Marina Abramović, Mary Heilman, Robert Storr, Nancy Spector, and more.  Learn more.

On November 15, 2024, Brainard Carey sat down with artist Robert Szot to discuss Szot’s solo exhibition, The Picturesque Survival Of Other Days.

Listen to Robert Szot’s Interview with Brainard Carey Here.