NEW CANAAN, CT, Feb. 14, 2020—On Sunday, Mar. 1, Silvermine Galleries will host an opening reception for two new exhibitions: Sofie Swann ~ A Cluttered Mind, and the annual Silvermine School of Art Faculty Exhibition, featuring a dazzling array of work across every discipline by Silvermine’s distinguished faculty members. The two exhibitions run from Feb. 26 to Mar. 21. A reception for artists and the public will take place on Sun., Mar. 1 from 2–4pm.
Sofie Swann ~ A Cluttered Mind
Sofie Swann, 2018 winner of Silvermine’s prestigious national A•ONE exhibition, presents new paintings in her first solo exhibition at the Silvermine Galleries. Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, Swann graduated from Smith College, holds a law degree, and studied art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Her powerful abstractions expand our understanding of her emotional journey to find a place to call home. For Swann, “every painting starts with an emotion, a feeling often triggered by an event, place, thing or person, remembered or imagined. I have no preconceived notions of compositions or forms. I simply start with colors and build from there. It’s a free-flowing synergy between me and the medium. I like to manipulate the paint so that accidents happen. Nothing is pre-planned, nothing is sketched.” Swann’s paintings have a layered quality. They are detailed and free-wheeling at the same time. The play of pattern and refreshing disorder can evoke street maps, forests, and falling rain, and the compositions in Sofie Swann ~ A Cluttered Mind make the viewer want to return again and again for another look.
Silvermine School of Art Faculty Exhibition
The Silvermine School of Art, founded in 1924, has consistently drawn faculty members who are known locally, regionally, nationally, and even internationally for mastery of skills and techniques, communication of unique visions, and professional approaches to process and presentation. Once a year, the faculty, many of whom are Silvermine Guild members, exhibit their new work in a dynamic exhibition that shows a wide array of approaches to painting, drawing, ceramics, photography, sculpture, mixed media, and printmaking. Artists employing master crafts in jewelry, metalwork, and woodworking are an integral part of the Silvermine faculty, and their work will be on view. Among the works of art represented in the exhibition are ceramics by Jon Puzzuoli; mixed media collages by Inez Andrucyk, Justin Perlman, and Matthew Shelley; paintings by David Dunlop, Dean Fisher, and Dmitri Wright; metalsmithing by Michael Lake; and woodworking by Mark Andreas. Come see one of the most varied and vibrant exhibits of the year by the instructors who have earned honors for “Best Art Classes” for the Silvermine Arts Center from Moffly Media and Connecticut Magazine.
In addition, the School of Art will host early spring workshops and lectures by faculty members, many of whom are exhibiting work in the Faculty Exhibition. Emmy Award-winning teacher David Dunlop will lead a one-week workshop, “New Horizons and Old Traditions in Landscape Painting: Oil, Acrylic & Watercolor” from March 30 through April 3, 10am–3pm. Matthew Shelley will continue his lecture series on modern art with “Understanding Modern Art, Part 2,” on Thurs., Mar. 5 from 1:30–3pm. On Thurs., April 9, Shelley will present “Understanding Abstraction” from 1:30–3pm.
For those interested in art classes at Silvermine, the Silvermine School of Art Faculty Exhibition is an excellent introduction to the Silvermine community. Visit the Silvermine Galleries to see wide-ranging works by the faculty members, and view a list of upcoming workshops and classes at silvermineart.org.
