April 7 - May 15, 2011

The 440 Gallery presents "Urban Tapestry" - watercolors and pastel drawings on paper by Susan Greenstein. In her first Solo exhibition with 440 Gallery, the artist presents work derived from observing architecture and nature. Working with numerous layers of paint and pastel, Greenstein looks for the rhythms and patterns in the urban landscape. She gravitates towards building facades, and other architectural elements such as Lampposts, water towers and smokestacks that are frequently peeking through a floral framework.

February 24 - April 3, 2011

The 440 Gallery presented "4 on the Verge", a special invitational show of young artists (under 35). In an effort to highlight promising talent by artists not yet represented by galleries, the members of the 440 artist collective selected 4 artists to feature in a group exhibition from Feb. 24 – April 3, 2011. 

The artists selected for the exhibition are Porter Diteman, Lisa Elmaleh, Laurie Lee-Georgescu, Cecilia Rembert. 

Lisa Elmaleh, printing from collodion (wet plate) negatives she exposed in the Everglades employing a portable darkroom, makes large scale photographs in the catacombs of the Center for Alternative Photography. The rich blacks and high overall contrast that result seem to depict the environmental urgency at the forefront of her thinking and make even a bright tropical sun ominous. 

Porter Diteman, operating in quarters reminiscent of the 70's Lower East Side, cramped, smoky and multi use, produces finely modeled charcoal drawings which are dark both visually and spiritually. These nudes seem to address the link between classicism and pornography. 

Laura Lee Georgescu demonstrates a remarkable facility in two modes. Her abstraction hovers near expressionism, but never quite abandons the landscape from which it is derived. While her representational works have a political edge her concern with color remains paramount. 

Cecelia Rembert combines abstraction, representation and symbolism in her large scale oils which illustrate their own origins and transformation. Her permissive approach to subject matter generates images that are complex enough spatially to accommodate her private mythologies. 

Daniel Weiner, the curator for "4 on the Verge", is the Associate Director of Contemporary Art at James Graham Gallery, in New York City, and has co-curated exhibitions with artist Joe Fyfe (Color Climax, 2008) and writer/art critic and painter John Zinsser (Blue, 2009) and has made art for more than 20 years.

January 13 - February 20, 2011

For his debut exhibition at 440 Gallery, Tom Bovo presents a selection of recent photographs about his favorite, and most accommodating subject, New York City. Most images were created with a digital camera and all are printed on fine art paper by the artist. The results of the materials and techniques he uses are painterly photographs that challenge preconceived ideas of classic photography. Even the subject matter Bovo finds in his travels around the city is not what you would expect. As the artist says of his work, “I find, or create, moments where the usual meets the unusual,” which sets the stage for his playful, and at times surreal, vision. The photographs are not presented as didactic statements of some final truth—these photographs are an invitation to look, see, and ask. They are the opening lines of what could be an interesting discussion. 

In addition, the exhibit featured a production of a short play based on work from the exhibit by dramatist Anne Phelan, Did You Hear the One About the Carp that Hailed a Taxi. The play was performed in the gallery space. There were also two bills of readings on other nights, of short plays based on work from the exhibit. These plays were written by students in Ms. Phelan's Playwriting class at the Chelsea Rep Lab under the auspices of The Acting Studio.

December 2, 2010 - January 9, 2011

This annual juried exhibition featured the work of artists from all over the country, but with the majority of the participants from Brooklyn. All works of art are 12 inches or smaller and of a great variety of media and styles, including painting, photography, sculpture, collage and mixed media. 

The jurors for the 2010 small works show, Julie Bills and Russell Calabrese, Directors at Gering & Lopez Gallery in New York have made their selections. The artists chosen were: 

Tomoko Abe, Elyce Abrams, Jonathan Allmaier, Audrey Anastasi, Carla Aurich, Esther Babb, Ananda Balingit-LeFills, Rene Barkett, Vicki Behm, Brian Bishop, Jim Boden, Lynn Buckley, Rachel Burgess, Nan Carey, Dave Abe Cassis, Cat Celebrezze, Cathy Choi, Matthew De Leon, Carole DeBeer, Patricia Denys, Daniel Dueck, Gail Elkin-Scott, Annie Ewaskio, Andrew B. Feldman, Wayne Ferris, Tim Fisher, Wendy Fung, Daniel Gerwin, Sheila Goloborotko, Jason Gondo, Anna Goszczynska, Marshall Harmon, Stefan Hengst, Howard Heyman, YK Hong, Elizabeth Hoy, Laura Hughes, Rhia Hurt, Robert Johnson, Marc Kehoe, Matthew Kirby, Claudia Ledwith, Hwayoun Lee, Terri Lindbloom, Alise Loebelsohn, Georgia Marantos, Tod Mason, David W. Maxwell, Graham McNamara, Andy Mecca, Matthew Mecca, Margarita Mileva, Damali Miller, Josh Millis, Gabriela Molina, Sylvie Muller, Emmy Park, Dominic Quintana, Mark Rosenthal, Ryan Schroeder, Andrew Small, Ned Snider, Frances Sniffen, William Tarnowski, Yuko Uchida, Louis Watts, Daniel John Weiner, Cate Whittemore, Evan Zelermyer. 

Russell Calabrese is the Founder and co-Director of Editions Fawbush. Calabrese has published editions with artists such as Kiki Smith, Karen Davie, Christian Marclay, Sol Lewitt and Jack Pierson. Editions Fawbush projects have been acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the New York Public Library, NY; the Museum of Contemporary Art, and others. 

Julie Bills, of Pomona College, writes critically about contemporary art. Ms. Bills serves as the Secretary on the Board of Directors of Friends of E.1027, a non-profit devoted to the restoration of Eileen Gray's villa in Southern France. She is curating a group exhibition at Gering & López next summer with Al Moran of OHWOW, Miami.

October 21 - November 28, 2010

Rite”, the debut exhibition of Katharine Colona Hopkins. For the exhibition, Hopkins presents three large-scale works that encompass painting, wall- drawing, and animation. The artist creates an inexplicit entrance into a subterranean space accompanied by a diagram that illustrates its interior, while an animated drawing abstracts these spaces and takes the viewer on a claustrophobic journey through dark passages. The weight of the imagery is in contradiction to the lightness of the materials Hopkins uses; graphite and charcoal are drawn or projected onto the walls, panels of delicate Japanese paper serve as the canvas for the large-scale ink and watercolor painting. 

Hopkins’ images derive from a longstanding interest in the archetypal relationship between humans and subterranean spaces. She states, “These spaces have the ability to fill our imaginations and penetrate our psyche in potent ways. They evoke foreboding and unsettling reactions. I am fascinated with the idea of confronting these dark corners—peering into them, walking into them, and perhaps, discovering the opposite in ourselves—a sense of lightness and peace.”

September 9 - October 17, 2010

“Horizon” - works on paper by Gail Flanery. In her first solo exhibition with the 440 gallery, the artist presented a series of monotypes. Flanery derives imagery from the natural world, using elements and structures in her composition that allude to landscape. Through the painterly process of monotype printmaking, she builds layers of pastel colors on top of a printed image, achieving a depth of texture and emotional resonance. Simplified forms and planes of expressive color contribute a mood and sensibility at once slightly abstract and highly atmospheric. 

The artist said of her work: My artwork is inherently suggestive of landscape, although the geography is not specific. These landscapes are unpopulated. The work evolves and develops with a consideration of space and a use of color that suggests and refers to natural elements.

July 1 - July 25, 2010

We share our planet with other living creatures: they have been hunted, feared, revered, domesticated and recorded in humankind's earliest art. The theme for this year's 440 Gallery theme show is animals, from Amoeba to Zebra. 

There were many excellent entries in response to our call for artists, and the Juror, Ylva Rouse, made her final selection. The artists were: Dave AbeCassis, Josephine Bentivegna, Jordan Bruner, Giora Carmi, Elsabe J. Dixon, Kathryn King Eddy, Sean Gallagher, collaborators Amy Chase Gulden and Kristin Baldwin, Erica Harris, Jason Kass, Nikki Katsikas, C.Owen Lavoie, Lisa Lotta Lindgren, Garrett McDonald, Ruth McKerrell, Lenore Fiore Mills, John Nickle, Dan Nuttall, Carolyn Oberst, PD Packard, Maya Pindyck, Kristian Rangel, Brooke Ripley, Dave Rittinger, Bekka Sage, Joyce Silver, Andrew Small, Steve Snell, Frances Sniffen, Maria Torffield. 

The juror, Ylva Rouse was Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs for U.S. Biennial, Inc., the producer of Prospect New Orleans, the largest international Arts Biennial in the U.S., founded by Dan Cameron in 2007. She has collaborated previously with Dan Cameron, such as for the El Jardin Salvaje (The Savage Garden) at the Caixa Foundation and Cocido yCrudo (The Cooked and the Raw) for the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid. As Exhibitions Curator at the Reina Sofia Museum, she organized touring retrospectives of work by Robert Ryman, Gerhard Richter, Agnes Martin, and Joan Miró, and presented work by Jeff Wall, Pepe Espaliú and Robert Gober among many others. As Director of the Javier López Gallery, she worked with artists John M. Armleder, Liam Gillick, Jenny Holzer, Alex Katz, Matthew McCaslin and Tatsuo Miyajima.

May 20 - June 27, 2010

A year ago artist Shanee Epstein's young son Ezra died a month shy of his 17th birthday. This exhibit at 440 Gallery in Park Slope Brooklyn features work by Ms. Epstein as well as work by her son, Ezra Weidenfeld, a precociously gifted artist and musician. Together their work constitutes a powerful installation that chronicles a year of mourning and a painfully altered family life. 

The show is a dialogue between not only a grieving mother and her son, but also a dialogue between two artists. Weidenfeld's sensitively rendered drawings of everyday objects, scissors, a water bottle, his bike helmet, give us a glimpse of his irretrievable potential. Epstein's paintings and collages using old photos, papers and stones are poignant, yet a restrained testament to intense grief and loss. Epstein says this work "gave me a way to process my grief and a way to get such intense pain out of my body." The work of both of these artists is compelling in its technical and formal qualities. Combined with the emotional intensity of the narrative, this show is not to be missed.

April 8 - May 16, 2010

Brooklyn artist Karen Gibbons presented "Sweet Home", her second solo exhibition at the 440 Gallery. The work included painting, sculpture, drawing and assemblage of mixed and varied media creating powerful physical and emotional surfaces. Sizes ranging from small drawings, mono-prints and wall sculptures to larger freestanding sculptures. 

The work in this show was colorful, organic and seductive. "Split Second" was a free standing sculpture where three thin narrow strips of azure blue come together to support a green sphere; simultaneously delicate and stable. The color was bold, and the textural treatment of this piece made it feel like a painting come to life. "Gowanus Time # 2" mixed oil, collage and chalk on fabric-covered wood. The result was a textured painting where lines are heavy and areas of color seem to float. The square format and rough-hewn feel of this piece reinforced a muscular quality where quirky composition contrasts sharply with a bold palate. Blue, ochre and warm peach tones depict an intriguing, dream-like landscape. Gibbons stated, "This work explores passions and demons. My method is to play with these relationships, finding a way to be unafraid of insecurity." 

A long time Brooklyn resident, the artist's neighborhood is inspiration for an exploration of "home" in its many guises. Gibbons takes a creative approach to life and her many endeavors. She holds masters' degrees in both painting and art therapy. She is a registered yoga instructor and a parent of three. She uses this show to gather the unruly elements of life under one roof and the result is rich with layering and allusion. See more work by Karen Gibbons at www.karengibbonsart.com.

 February 25 - April 4, 2010

Amy Williams exhibits a series of photographs mounted on aluminum; with no glass or protective surface obscuring the viewer's ability to see clearly and directly into the swirling, transforming patterns created by a swimming hole in Woodstock, NY. 

Williams employs traditional photography, without the application of digital manipulation, to convey deep emotion combined with a sensitive use of technical skill bringing us effortlessly into her perception of the world. In doing so, she allows us to experience the magic of nature in a timeless setting. The drawings created on the water’s surface transform the images from realism to impressionism. Photography is generally a practice of straight documentation, photo realistic with crystal clear information. In these photos, the graininess and sparkle of light create a painterly effect that could be mistaken for a drawing or painting. She captures the glimmer of sunlight and the mystery of deep shadows that fade to black. Although the subject matter remains consistent, there is a diverse microcosm of visual effects at play within the natural setting: white foaming bubbles against a black background; magentas, blues, greens and yellows sparkling off a natural brownish gray streambed; pastel rainbows formed in bubbles that explode on the surface. Williams sets a different mood for each image with the subtle orchestration of light and darkness. The title of the show “Within You Without You” refers to the experience of personal reflection created while looking into water.

January 14 - February 21, 2010

Ellen Chuse's paintings and drawings explored landscape and the body in deeply personal ways. She examined organic forms in nature and moves between representation and abstraction. Fertile Ground continued this process with images that emerge from her connection to the ocean and the spirit that inhabits it. “The ocean is the mother of us all,” said Chuse. “Life begins in water. There are deep mysteries within.” 

The artist combined graphite and acrylic or oil on paper. The works varied in size: some were small oils on treated paper while the acrylics were larger. Some paintings had little indication of the graphite while others emphasize the drawing with both line and brush stroke. Working intuitively, the artist built both the form and the color over time, sometimes rubbing, scraping and even sanding the surface to create a layered texture and depth of color. Having worked for years in black and white, Chuse plunged into color with an intensity that she often finds startling. “Color has such deep emotional content which an artist must respect even as she balances formal considerations,” said Chuse. These strong, colorful and evocative paintings certainly demonstrated this balance.

December 3, 2009 - January 10, 2010

This annual juried exhibition features the work of artists from all over the country, but with the majority of the participants from Brooklyn. All work is 12 inches or smaller and of a great variety of media and styles, including painting, photography, sculpture, collage and mixed media. The juror this year was Charles Long, internationally exhibited artist with work included in the Whitney Biennial, New York's Museum of Modern Art, MCA Chicago, Museo de Arte Moderno Mexico City, Mori Art Museum Tokyo, the Hirshorn in Washington and more. Long is represented in New York by Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, two NEA Grants, two Pollock-Krasner Grants and a Louis Comfort Tiffany grant. Long has taught at the California Institute of the Arts, Art Center College of Art and Design and Otis College of Art and Design and Harvard University.

October 22 - November 29, 2009

In this installation, Daniel Weiner aspires to work in the tradition of Wallace Berman, George Herms and Ray Johnson, making intimately scaled, highly personal assemblage and collage. In his 5th body of work since 2003, Weiner continues to seek out texts and objects with problematic correspondence to their intended context. He reads a college writing handbook as poetry, electrical diagrams as symbols of bad relationships and the nightstand becomes symbolic geography. The telephone is given especially dire significance because of its purported role in connecting people. The flexibility of contexts and outmoded methods of communication both reflect badly on the endeavor of self-expression. Weiner hopes to show that the act of communicating belies its purpose and is marked with the tragic solemnity of essential isolation. And this is the good news. The artist sees this condition as an ethical testing ground. He attempts to respond to the question of what can and should be said.

September 10 - October 18, 2009

Based on an underlying grid pattern that contains expressive gesture and exuberant color, the work is notable for a sophisticated color palette, evidence of McDonald's more than 20 years as an instructor of color theory at Parsons School of Design and a Professor at Kingsborough Community College. His latest works are multi-paneled paintings on raw linen using a mixed media of oil, acrylic and pastel.

June 25 - July 25, 2009

Trevor Brown, Nan Carey, Cat Celebrezze, Ann Cofta, Adrian Coleman, Ron Diamond, Richard Eagan, Shanee Epstein, Todd Erickson, Terence Finley, Karen Gibbons, Risa Glickman, Susan Greenstein, Hazel Hankin, Azmeer Hossain, Ellen Kahn, Evelyn Lampert, Marion Lerner-Levine, Richard Lubell. Philomena Marano, Ruth Marchese, Tod Mason. Joanne McFarland, Kathleen Migliore-Newton, Lenore Fiore Mills, Jules A. A. Peemoeller, William Sayler, Francis Sills, Christine Staehelin, Matthew Veiderman, Ella Yang.

The work in the show includes a broad range of styles and techniques including painting,drawing, photography, prints, mixed and new media that depict the borough of Brooklyn, NY.

May 14 - June 21, 2009

"Re-Marks" is a series of paintings and collage that combine earlier marks, juxtaposed with new painting. This new body of work indicates a return to collage for Shanee Epstein after four years of immersion in color exploration. Becoming conscious of the amount of the materials Epstein was using led her to reclaim and recover older work. This palette of mixed paint and earlier images creates a dialogue within the pieces between new and old marks. Epstein says "These newer pieces chronicle the passage of time through the history of my mark making. These works, in effect, become my visual autobiography."

April 2 - May 10, 2009

“HEX” refers to the hexagon, a recurring shape in the work, and also suggests hex as a spell or a curse. The work is dominated by the geometry of traditional Appalachian quilt patterns: one large canvas is a honey colored maze of hexagons and some wall-mounted sculptures are constructed in the traditional "contained crazy" pattern. There are also drawings that represent the hexadecimal base 16 numeral system (hex) used in computer engineering, the artist's nod toward the blessing and curse of the digital revolution. Noting the universal recurrence of geometric patterns in nature, folk art and even the pixilation of contemporary image making, the artist states "It is not so much the content but the shape and patterns themselves that have the power to mesmerize."

Feb. 19 - March 29, 2009

Ellen Kahn’s paintings and works on paper focus on the psychological struggle that is involved with trying to break free from childhood and move out into the world to discover one’s own identity. As in the famous Sisyphus myth, where Sisyphus keeps trying again and again to push a heavy boulder up a hill only to be pushed back continually by its weight, Alice tries to journey forward and explore wonderland only to continually be pushed back again and again by all of the strange and unexpected barriers that try to stop her. The text in these works references two specific passages from the Carroll books: one from Through the Looking-Glass, in the chapter called “The Garden of Live Flowers,” where no matter which path Alice chooses it always twists back to her house, and the other from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, right at the beginning where Alice falls down the rabbit hole only to discover that she cannot get through the little doors into the garden beyond.

January. 8 - February 15, 2009

Richard Eagan presents two strains of his characteristic constructed paintings, picking up themes from early work and bringing them forward. Two fairly large works are presented, each with a series of smaller “satellite” pieces that expand on the themes of the larger. In one series, Mr. Eagan’s familiar “bursting” elements are brought into play in pieces suggestive of the critical decline of the artist’s beloved amusement beach at Coney Island. In the second series, variations on the “target” theme are worked in an introspective, mysterious way, recalling the last days of the live-ammunition shooting galleries on the streets of Coney.

November 28 - January 4, 2009

Duality informs the work of painter Tom Vega in his show “Luz/Oscuridad.” These abstract works are expressions of light and shadow, joy and sorrow, luminosity and opacity, delicacy and assertion. Contradictory and complimentary opposites are twinned in this intense colorist’s palette.

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