MARLENE YU FEATURED AT GEORGES BERGES GALLERY

Georges Bergès Gallery held an opening reception with a theme of The Feminine Sublime, curated by world-renowned art critic, poet, and historian Donald Kuspit, featuring abstract paintings by Alex Chowaniec, Carol Brown Goldberg, Hisako Kobayashi, Jill Krutick, Carol Ross, Sonia Stark, and Marlene Tseng Yu.

Works of the women artists were chosen for the exhibition due to their being “oceanic--wombcentric--one way or the other,” said Kuspit. In one of his essays Luspit explains the difference between “wombcentric and phallocentric art more fully, and show in some detail the oceanic character of the works in the exhibition.”

Internationally known Marlene Tseng Yu featured two of her 10 foot x 6 foot 

abstract murals from her earlier collection titled “Molten Lava in Circle” 1971, 

Molten Lava Series, Acrylic on canvas and ” Milky Way “1987

( space& universe series), Acrylic on canvas.  

Both paintings were from her collection at her Rainforest Art Foundation studio located in Long Island City.  The Marlene Yu Museum, located in Shreveport, LA is a second location maintained by her daughter Stephanie Yu Lusk. 

Marlene and her husband James offer the opportunity for artists to exhibit their work regarding nature with no buildings or people in any of the pieces.  The next exhibit will take place on May 3^rd with a theme of International Photographers and is free of charge to both the artists and public. 

ANOTHER OPENING; ANOTHER ART SHOW

Art Historian and Art Critic Donald Kuspit presented the latest art display at the Rainforest Art Foundation, one of which is located in Long Island City.  Entitled 50 Years Creations On her eighty’s birthday 1937-2017, Marjorie Grigonis is the artist whose works fill the walls.   “This is a memorial exhibition for her,” said Kuspit. “She is known for works of painting on paper and various forms of art.  Along with Marlene Yu and one other artist there was supposed to be an exhibition of three women artists who turned 80.  However, Marjorie died just before her 80^th birthday and I wanted to have a separate exhibition dedicated to her. I want to show the range of her works that we were able to get a hold of as there are many others in private collections which were not accessible to me.” 

 

Kuspit had known Grigonis since the 1980’s as well as having met both Marlene Tseng Yu and her husband James.  Marlene curated this exhibition.  Kuspit is responsible for the catalogue, which includes his introductory and comments on the art.  “Marjorie was very much influenced by a famous artist Anton Ehrenzweig who wrote The Hidden Order of Art.” In the book Ehrenzweig had written, “Grigonis’s spontaneously applied form elements are fragile and subject to unpredictable changes of mood” and viewing her as a “creative thinker.”

Grigonis had spent part of every year the last three decades on the rocky coast of Maine and has visited other countries whenever it was possible.  This show in her works of repetition having visited Japan, France, Germany, Mexico, China and Italy along with  group of paintings inspired by her trip to Morocco and the Sahara.

Grigonis  writes, “My abstract drawings and paintings are the visual record of exploration, criticism, trial and err, and discovery. The process is both determined and spontaneous; it includes critical reworking and accident as I look for something I haven’t seen before.  There is pre-planning so the characteristics of the media are in large part responsible for the look of each piece.”  Grigonis tends to find unusual combinations and humor with her abstracts.  Collages are another style to view that she includes “material gathered from travels and at home” that refer to a culture “and may have more of the feel of a narrative.”

The catalogue divides the art work into the categories of: Unconscious color paintings; Linear tendency drawings; Prints and etchings, Collage, Portraits of artist; along with Poems by Donald Kuspit. 

Exhibition dates are from October 14 through November 30, 2017.  Rainforest Art Foundation is located at 36-48 37^th Street. Hours are: Tue-Fri 1:00pm – 5:00 pm. Phone: 347-242-2769.  www.rainforestfoundation.org.