INCARNATIONS: A Group Show featuring Roberta Friedman, Sheila Kaczmarek, Lenny Moskowitz

[Jen Payne]

While many of the artists at City Gallery have been working and showing together for years, there is always an unexpected synergy to the gallery’s group shows. In July, see what happens when new member Lenny Moskowitz joins artists Roberta Friedman and Sheila Kaczmarek for the group show INCARNATIONS, on view from July 8 - July 31, with an Opening Reception on Friday, July 8 from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.
 
Moskowitz is a Connecticut painter who lives in New Haven with his wife. He graduated with his BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art and received his MFA from Michigan’s Cranbrook Academy. Lenny has participated in group and solo shows at numerous galleries throughout the U.S. and has taught classes and workshops in Connecticut, Block Island, and Nantucket. He has been awarded several residencies, such as at the Anderson Center in Michigan and NISDA Foundation in Nantucket. In the summer of 2011, he was awarded a residency at Weir Farm in Wilton, Connecticut.
 
“For me the title of this show, INCARNATIONS, fits as an accurate description of my paintings,” says Moskowitz. “Many of them have an earlier painting underneath, which shows through the shapes, colors and textures applied in the moment. I try to have a dialogue with the painting as it develops, and not force the work to be ‘something.’ I am open to surprises.”
 
Both Friedman and Kaczmarek echo this same impression that their art becomes itself, makes itself real — as if by surprise. As Friedman explains, “My exploration of the encaustic monotype allows for new discoveries of light, texture and color, depending on the characteristics of the papers used for printing.” Kaczmarek, whose work is inspired by various plant forms reminiscent of corals and fungi, explores what becomes from a combination of glazes and encaustic wax and collage. Her inspiration transforms into clay forms and collaged paintings that reveal themselves to be both familiar and transcendental.
 
Kaczmarek studied art at St. Martin’s School of Art, London; UCLA, California; and the Academie des Beaux Arts, Brussels. She has taught art for over 20 years. She is a founding member of City Gallery, President of the Guilford Art League, and served on the Board of the New Haven Paint and Clay Club. She works with mixed media, including transferred photographic images. Her interest lies in both the process of layering and in stripping away surfaces. She apprenticed in the ceramic studio of the Guilford Art Center for five years. Her work with clay incorporates paint, metal and encaustic wax. Most recently, she has been intrigued by the complexity and unexpected nature of assembling multiple organic forms.
 
As a young person Roberta studied art history and painting at the studios of Sebastiano Mineo in New York City. At Douglass College, Rutgers University , she continued her art studies in the studio art department that had been chaired and influenced by Roy Lichtenstein, and has continued to study at several studios and workshops in Philadelphia, Boston, New Mexico, Maine and Denver. More recently, she has explored the world of encaustics at the Denver Art Students League and the studio of Victoria Eubanks. After practicing law in New Haven for 30 years, Roberta continued with vigor and purpose to follow her passion for art and creating. She has been a member of City Gallery since 2011, and has exhibited her work in the greater New Haven area for the past 40 years. She has taught workshops and served on the board of Creative Arts Workshop, and has provided mentoring and instruction to children and adults in a wide range of artistic creations. Most recently, she has assisted area 4th - 7th graders in creating original artwork for greeting cards to be used to raise funds to help with Refugee Resettlement efforts in the greater New Haven area.
 
INCARNATIONS is free and open to the public, and runs July 8 - July 31, 2022. City Gallery is located at 994 State Street, New Haven, CT 06511. Gallery hours are Friday - Sunday, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m., or by appointment. City Gallery follows New Haven City’s mask mandate policy. For further information please contact City Gallery, [e-mail], www.city-gallery.org.