2020 WWAC Member Show: Built Environment

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Our horizons often change as new structures are built and old structures are either renovated or fall into decay. The West Windsor Arts Council presents the2020 Member Show: Built Environment which features the dynamic work of 22 artists showing how they incorporate structures into their work.  Artwork featured in the show considers the built environment as a source of inspiration as it reflects identity, ancientness, modernity, interstitial space-built forms, and of course the architectural design. The exhibition is on view on the West Windsor Arts Council’s website (westwindsorarts.org).  A virtual tour is set for May 8, 2020 at 7:15pm with the juror and artists on hand to discuss their work. The juror, Alexandra Schoenberg, is both an architect and an artist with a studio in East Orange, NJ.

Juror Alexandra Schoenberg was born in Cali, Colombia. She pursued architecture studies at Universidad Javeriana in Bogota graduating in 1986. Her training in technical drafting and architectural rendering greatly influenced her art practice and love for pencil drawing. Alexandra moved to the United States in 1987, working for several architect firms.  Alexandra earned her MFA degree in 2014 from Montclair State University where she embraced the techniques of architecture drafting as an art medium. She has exhibited widely. In her art practice, different tropes of architectural representation collide to expose the mechanics of how we observe the world.

The exhibition was an open call to WWAC members and features three prize winners, chosen by the juror.  Ms. Shoenberg explains her choices:

1st Prize: Joy Kreves, Bee Habitat:  “Ms. Kreves’ work inspires us to understand ourselves and our built environment by opening a window into the work of animal architecture.  That the images are through the lens of a kaleidoscope is doubly effective because it tessellates and reflects at the same time, and helps us see why architecture springs first from acute observation of nature.  Bee Habitat also underscores the fragility of our environment and the importance of preserving the balance of the planet that we share.”

2nd Prize:  Lucretia E. McGuff-Silverman, The Tiled Hallway:  “This painting is about the joy of a ‘lived in’ place.  How we make the spaces we occupy ours. I could not help but think of the quote by Winston Churchill:  ‘We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.’ With the maximalist approach, saturated bright colors and easy strokes Ms. MgCuff-Silverman has given personality to this interior painting.”

3rd Prize:  Martin Schwartz, Crane in the City:  “Even if one did not know that the image is of the Freedom Tower in New York City, it is an image that makes you uneasy as in a premonition, as in a storm that is brewing.  The dramatic perspective and very sharp lines of composition all straight sleek and geometric, contrast with the sky and clouds reflecting in the glass. This contrast illustrates the nature/culture divide between the sharp man made that is designed and calculated and the fluid clouds that are undetermined and changing.”

The artists featured in the show include:

Zakia Ahmed, Meta Dunkly Arnold, JBettina, Nancy Collings, Johanna Ericson, Carlo Fiorentini, D.J.Haslett, Carole Jury, Joy Kreves, Eleni Litt, Judith Mazzucco, Lucretia E. McGuff-Silverman, Lena Okrainets, William Plank, Maia Reim, Karen Repka, Martin Schwartz, Deirdre Sheean, Jennifer Tungol, Zina Umyn, Barbara Weinfield, Julian Weitzenfeld.