Alyssa Monks: Blurring the Line Between Realism and Abstraction

Alyssa Monks - I Said No - 2018 - Oil on Linen - 36 x 36 inches - Forum Gallery, New YorkAfter graduating from such prestigious programs as the Lorenzo de’ Medici art school and the New York Academy of Art’s Graduate School of Figurative Art, Alyssa Monks (born 1977) has become one of the leading forces in subject painting. Monks’ paintings have been featured in numerous exhibitions everywhere from Germany, to Georgia, to New York City. She has been awarded the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant for Painting three times, and has become a member of the New York Academy of Art’s Board of Trustees.

She blurs and fuses layers of space in her almost photorealistic works, to create immersive abstraction that feels uniquely intimate and provocative. Of her own work Monks says, “My intention is to transfer the intimacy and vulnerability of my human experience into a painted surface.” While the artist’s complex works embody various techniques and styles, Monk’s response is, “I don’t think it’s the job of the artist to label their own work. I just paint it.”

OAC ‘Art Speaks’ Presents “Scribbler”: Allison Midgley, Sol LeWitt Apprentice

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“My friend asked, You’re coming up this weekend, right? Only that chance question led to my participation in the installation of Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawing #1268: Scribbles: Staircase (AKAG) at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo NY. My talk will center on the experience, the installation process, its influence on my own work, and my growing appreciation for this major American artist.” 

OAC Vice-President Allison Midgley is an Ossining resident and a trainer, artist, and teacher. Currently, in her role as the Westchester Library System Senior Technology Training Coordinator, she coordinates and delivers support to library staff in system software, digital literacy, existing and emerging technologies, and innovation and maker program professional development. 

Allison received her Bachelor of Arts in Art and Education from the University of Dallas in Irving, TX. In addition to participating in a variety of print editioning projects, in 2010 she was privileged to participate in the installation of Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawing # 1268: Scribbles: Staircase (AKAG) at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY. Most recent exhibitions include A Round Now In a Square Time collaborative show with Sheila Kalkbrenner at the David A. Howe Public Library in Wellsville, NY (2013) and Moments: Before/During/After at the Briarcliff Manor Public Library (2016). 

Through mixed media, photos, and combinations of traditional and emerging technologies, she investigates ordinariness and time; light, surfaces, and textures; and shifts in literal and figurative perspective and focus.

Join us at the OAC Steamer Firehouse Gallery on Sunday, March 3rd @ 2 PM, to enjoy this exciting presentation.

The OAC Steamer Firehouse Gallery is located at 117 Main Street - 2nd Floor - Ossining, NY

FREE Admission / Light Refreshments / Donations Welcome

Ed Malsberg: “A Lifetime of Art”

(click photo for larger image)“A Lifetime of Art” is an exhibit featuring the work of Ossining artist, Ed Malsberg, who will celebrate his 100th birthday in 2019.

A native of Boston, Ed graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art, in 1940; a Fine Arts major.

He studied printmaking at the School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. During WWII, he served overseas in a topography unit and on the staff of Stars and Stripes European edition as an artist. After the war he began a lengthy career as a free-lance illustrator in New York in advertising and publishing.

Edward's clients included major advertising agencies and book publishers and the subject matter ranged from humorous, decorative illustration, to science, natural history, biology, physiology, children’s books and textbooks.

He also won an award from the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1968 for book illustration.

These days, Ed is engaged in his lifelong passion for landscape painting in his favorite mediums, watercolor and pastel. Ed is the most senior member of the Ossining Arts Council, and he regularly attends all of OAC’s meetings and event.

There will be a Reception for Ed’s exhibit on Tuesday, December 11th, at the Ossining Public Library, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. The library is located at 53 Croton Avenue in Ossining, NY. The exhibit runs from December 5th - 29th. 

Don’t miss this wonderful event featuring the work of a truly remarkable artist—and person!

“Artistic Phases of a Moon Child”

(click photo for larger image)Please join us at OAC ‘Art Speaks’ on Sunday, November 4th. Artist Renée Kilbride Edelman will will take us on a journey through her own history and experiences as an artist. She’ll share pieces of her art with us, talk about what inspires her work, and discuss her evolution as a painter.

This program will be held at the OAC Steamer Firehouse Gallery - 117 Main St., 2nd Floor, Ossining, NY 10562. Admission is FREE and light refreshments will be served. Donations are welcome.

Jenny Saville Painting Sells for $12.4 M. at Sotheby’s London, Record for Living Female Artist

Photo from an Interview with Jenny Saville“On Friday night, in a salesroom at Sotheby’s London, Jenny Saville’s masterful seated nude self-portrait Propped (1992), which features the artist gazing down at the viewer, with a long quotation from a feminist French critic scribbled across the canvas, made a record-shattering £9.5 million ($12.4 million) against an estimate of £3 million to £4 million.

That figure is not only the new high mark for a Saville at auction, it is also the most ever paid at auction for the work of a living female artist.” (Reprinted from article by Judd Tully on Art News)

Jenny Saville (born 7 May 1970) is a contemporary British painter associated with the Young British Artists, a group of concept driven artists. Saville is often credited with “reinventing figure painting for contemporary art, as well as originating a new and challenging way of painting the female nude…”. From the start of her career, Saville has engaged in an exploration of the body that borrows conventions from a long tradition in figure painting.