Tag Archives: New York City

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

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

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.

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.

 

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.

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.

ROOM: Sketchbook for Analytic Action Highlights Jan Cunningham

Above: Jan Cunningham, Hant, 2023, Oil on linen, 24″ x 24″

Jan Cunningham is a painter and photographer. She lives and works in New Haven. Her work is represented by the Anita Rogers Gallery in New York.

The paintings, drawings, and photographs that make up my practice grow out of close observation of my surroundings, an awareness of the past, and memory. I am fascinated with the materiality of color and light, the mysteries of proportion and scale, and the relative and often great distance between two points in close proximity to each other. It is my hope to make present in the work the moments of equilibrium, the rhythms of disclosure, and the different realities that I discover in the act of looking and making. I hope these discoveries, evolving over time, will prompt recognition on the part of the viewer, as they have in me.

View More on AnitaRogersGallery.com

View More on ROOM website.

 

Selected Gallery Guide: June 2024

Above: nikki terry, untitled #4, 2024, watercolor, oil pastel and oil paint on paper, 30″ x 22″

Two Coats of Paint highlights Adrianne Lobel, Shirin Mirjamali & nikki terry group show.

Exhibition opens June 5.

View on AnitaRogersGallery.com

Kaló Mína Features Tomas Watson

Photo by Jon-Paul Rodriguez

MONTH IN REVIEW: May 2024

A roundup of this month’s art and design news about the makers and creators from Greece and Cyprus

Transitions was an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Tomas Watson at the Anita Rogers Gallery. It included work from 2017 to present day. This time period was characterized by radical upheaval – both emotionally and physically – for the artist.

Watson is a figurative artist that is not restricted by realism. He lived and worked in Greece for most of his career. When asked why, Watson answers, “The Greek light.”

For the closing party on May 25, the Anita Rogers Gallery transported guests to 1940s Greece with live rebetiko and smyrnaiko music, Greek food and wine, and dancing.

View More on KaloMinaNews.com

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Artwork Archive Interviews Richard Keen III

Richard Keen working in his studio. Photo courtesy of the artist and Artwork Archive.

Why One Coastal State’s Landscape is Integral to This Artist’s Creative Process

Paige Simianer | April 11, 2024

“As far back as I can remember I have made sense of the world through art,” Richard says in his artist statement.

Artwork Archive’s Featured Artist Richard Keen is known for his use of color, line, and geometry influenced by the Maine coast, where he lives and works.

His commitment to interpreting his surroundings has led the artist to develop a distinctive style that resonates with both the physical beauty and the underlying geometric patterns of the Maine coastline. Through his eyes, viewers are invited to experience the familiar landscapes of Maine in a new light, where natural and man-made structures alike are reimagined.

The methods Richard uses to paint vary. Through scraping, wiping, brushing, spraying, and the use of palette knives and scrapers, he explores the tactile possibilities of paint.

Richard’s work is characterized by a delicate balance between the precision of crisp lines and shapes—often achieved through careful taping—and the expressive qualities of brushwork and other mark-making techniques.

At the heart of the artist’s abstractions is the concept of place, a tangible link to the environments that inspire him. Yet, his art leaves ample room for viewers to embark on their own journeys of interpretation and meaning.

Through his work, Richard Keen not only captures the essence of his surroundings but also offers a window into the profound ways in which art can shape our understanding of the world.

Artwork Archive had the chance to chat with Richard Keen about the significance of the coast of Maine in his artwork, his advice for artists, and how Artwork Archive helps him manage his studio and art career!

Do you have a favorite or most satisfying part of your process? 

There is so much about the act of creating that is satisfying—I really, really love each part, so it’s hard to say which is my favorite.

The beginning, or the unknown; the middle, where my vision starts to become clear yet the finish line seems foggy and unsettled, with potential risk and failure; and…. the final piece which eventually reveals itself and calls you back over and over to stare in amazement that you actually created it.

Can you talk more about the significance of the coast of Maine in your identity as an artist?

The coast of Maine literally engulfed me.

From the first time I stood on its jagged shoreline and smelled the density of the fog and rockweed, to the moment I learned how to scuba dive, I realized it held the language necessary for me to build a dialogue with viewers and show them how I see the world.

I’ve been so lucky to live, hike, and work in this great state. I am also entangled in the working waterfront world and generally look for connections between my attraction to abstraction and the parts of Maine that surround me—whether they may be manmade or in my escapes into nature for mental grounding.