"Gaudi's Dream"
© Karen V. Neems

Photographer and digital mixed media artist Karen V. Neems is featured in a solo exhibition, "Off the Grid: Recent Photocollages and Mixed Media", from August 30 - September 17, 2011 at Mamaroneck Artist's Guild. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, September 10, from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

From the Guild's website:
"In the current exhibition, Karen V. Neems explores the concept of the grid in various dimensions, ranging from the strictly formal sense to that of a psychological barrier, either protecting or confining. The compositions are layered, merged and repeated; the grids conceal and simultaneously reveal. The elements have a certain familiarity, but the space remains a mystery, creating a visual puzzle."

Mamaroneck Artists' Guild is located at 126 Larchmont Avenue, Larchmont, NY

"Veiled" Paris 2005

Harrison Judd's exhibition, "Mannequins: Paris, New York, Milan", May 1-21 at the WindhamArts Collaborative in Willimantic will have an opening reception on May 8 from 5-7 pm. Judd has been photographing mannequins for many years in locations near and far.

I found what his artist's statement had to say interesting, particularly about mannequins being "both messengers of popular culture and receptacles of our projections". The latter seems particularly true: the mannequins often seem caught in moments of emotion, as we relate our own feelings to their plastic expressions, however tender or blank.

WindhamArts is located at 866 Main St. Willimantic, CT.

"Miriam"

This weekend, client Karen V. Neems' exhibit, "Musings" opens at the Mayor's Gallery in Stamford, CT. There will be an opening reception Thursday, May 14 5-7:30 pm. A percentage of sales will be donated to the Sexual Assault Crisis and Education Center.

Featured along with her paintings, collages and mixed media pieces are photographs from her "Unmade Bed" series, for which we made the archival prints. Neems captures the play of light on tumbles of bedding and clothes. From her artists' statement: "As I take these forms (the unmade beds) a step further, I have used the abstract folds of the bed sheets as a muse to lead the viewer to another place." Instead of focusing on the disorganization, we are invited to see the unmade beds as another form of artistic expression.

The Mayor's Gallery is located at Government Center 10th Floor, 888 Washington Blvd. in downtown Stamford. There is a parking garage right next to the building.

~Lys

Karen V. Neems: Off the Grid

Upcoming Exhibitions: "Mannequins" from Harrison Judd and "Musings" from Karen Neems