October 10 - November 17, 2019

440 Gallery presents Family, mixed media work by Shanee Epstein focusing on the idea of familial interconnections, encompassing her personal biological family as well as the connections that form her social and artistic families. These attachments are represented in the physical structure of her collages: she glues, layers and paints paper, fabric and small objects into an integrated whole, even sewing elements together to suggest bonds that are both tender and strong.

The work is autobiographical: by ripping, cutting and incorporating her own paintings and drawings from the past 30 years she visually reflects the history of a variety of influential relationships. There are silkscreens from her time as an undergraduate studying African art; her early attraction to angular geometric patterns, as opposed to baroque European motifs, has persisted in her work over time.

Epstein has long used a strong vertical and horizontal structure to organize her paintings, but her more recent collages have extended beyond the edge of the rectangle in a more organic and disruptive evolution. Although there are personal references in the work, Epstein communicates in the visual language of art: composition, color, line and space determine the final work of art.

Shanee Epstein is a co-founder of 440 Gallery and has exhibited extensively over the past several decades. Her work is in collections in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.

Family opens October 10 and runs though November 17. The opening reception is Sunday, October 13 from 1-4 pm.

In the Project Space: “Lost in Nature”

Ellen Chuse’s two energetic, color-saturated paintings from 2017 were inspired by succulent plants in Rome’s Orto Botanico - a favorite retreat for her during her sabbatical there in 2010. “Regardless of how abstract my work can often be, I always return to forms in nature.” says Chuse. “There’s a vitality emanating from plants that always engages me. Their form, their edges and the spaces in between are my muse.” Made in an interval between two series, these paintings reflect Chuse's continued engagement with both form and color.

Susan Greenstein signature plein-air watercolors usually include architectural streetscapes in tandem with natural flora— flowers or trees thriving in an urban setting. Here, nature takes center stage with the luminous blooms of summer filling the composition. Greenstein’s on-site painting is a holistic process. She says “the entire scene: the sounds I hear, conversations and street noise, the feel of a breeze, scent of a flower or vibrations of a passing truck, are all part of the experience.”

Doris Rodriguez’ work often portrays political and social commentary; her multi-media painting portrays a young girl on the cusp of womanhood, before she is molded to societal expectations. Says Doris, "Sofia is a portrait about the difficulty of change and personal evolution. Of a time between childhood and womanhood and the fear of leaving the security of childhood and facing the unknowns of adulthood” Each masonite panel measures 30” x 30” and is created with copper leaf, photo transfer and acrylic paint.