Events

Paint Power! Opens New Season at Heaven Art Gallery

Heaven Antiques and Art Gallery on Cookman Ave in downtown Asbury Park opens its new season with Paint Power! on Saturday, April 27 featuring the work of 14 abstract and representational painters whose work captures the physical and tactile quality of paint as demonstrated through the deliberate act of applying paint to a surface. “The point of this exhibition,” comments gallery curator, Dennis Carroll, “is for the viewer to see the paint first: its liquidity, viscosity, opacity, and transparency. To be aware of the marks paint makes by brushing, scratching, pouring, scraping, layering, and splattering makes us feel something — whether it is a scene or portrait we are looking at or a luscious field of colors and shapes.” Artist David French, who pushes and shoves the paint across his canvases, calls it “capturing our physical experience of existing in the world, shared human emotions, histories and heightened moments of awareness.” While French’s work, and that of Maribel Guerrero, Grace Modia, Steven Rosensweig, John Salvi, and Carroll are abstract, other artists, including Maddy Cohen, Ann Marie Fitzsimmons, Jamie Patterson, Stephanie Riggi, Karen Starret and Michael Teters, apply the same painterly techniques to specific subject matter. Cohen, whose work ranges from gardens to landscapes to moments in history,  comments that the malleability and sensual qualities of oil paint have always enticed her. She has been able to showcase these characteristics by layering paint on paint on paint and scraping through the layers using palette knives rather than brushes. Starett also develops surfaces by layering and by scratching, incising, and obscuring specific areas to reveal the undercoat while Riggi paints flowers by buiding up acrylic paint and emulsion with sculpting knifes to create a dimensional, textured effect. 

 The public is invited to meet many of the artists at an opening reception for Paint Power! on Saturday, April 27 from 7-9 pm. Heaven Art and Antiques Gallery is at 721 Cookman Ave in downtown Asbury Park. The gallery is open Sunday, Monday and Thursday from noon to 5 pm; Friday from 11 am to 6 pm; and Saturday from 11 am to 9 pm. Paint Power will remain on view through June 23.

Painting by John Salvi

The Asbury Park Historical Society has been offered ownership of the Stephen Crane House by its present owner, Frank D’Alessandro, for the price of one dollar.  Although this is a bargain purchase price, much fund raising needs to be done to enable the historical society to own this unique historic gem. You can help by contributing directly through Indegogo-http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stephen-crane-house-acquisition-and-restoration-project. Your contributions are tax deductible!

Asbury Park artists are being mobilized and sent into cultural battle on Thursday, May 2.

Arts Guild New Jersey and The Rahway Arts District presents PREEMPTIVE STRIKE! as the theme for their First Thursday celebration on May 2, 2013. This event features a group of more than 40 artists and musicians from Asbury Park who plan to invade the north before the annual summer invasion of their own Jersey Shore begins.

“Armed with only their arts the shore locals are planning this surprise attack to begin on May 2nd and will continue through May 30, 2013,” organizers write to us.  If you’d like to meet and welcome these Shore residents, a gallery crawl will occur between 6:30pm and 8:30pm at Arts Guild New Jersey, The gallery at the Rahway Arts District and select windows on Irving Street. Music presentations will take place between 8:00pm and 10:30pm at Aria Bistro & Bar at Hotel Indigo, Flynn’s Irish Pub & Steakhouse, The Rail House 1449, and The Waiting Room.

The exhibitions will feature artworks by Asbury Park artists Janice M. Ashby, Paul Bonelli, Joseph Borzotta, Richard Buntzen, Dennis Carroll, Doris China, David French, Megan Gale, Richard Hatter, Kevin Hinkle, Molly Johnson, Rande Johnson, Ruben A. Martinez, Anne Massoni, Billy Mecca, Joe Nicita, Michelle Parks, Andrew Pawlan, Laura Petrovich-Cheney, Porkchop, Dave Scelfo, Patrick Schiavino, Katelyn Schuh, Jeffrey Seeds, Sara Stadtmiller, Lily Szabo, Scott Szegeski, John Viggiano, and Richard Zimmerman.

The musicians and bands participating are Empire Escort, KJA and the Lonely Teardrop Band, Rick Barry, Melissa Chill, Sofia Nicole, Justin & Alina (Sibling Rivalry), Seapost (Renee Maskin & Colin Ryan), George Wirth, Jo Wymer, and many more.

More info about the evening follows, from the folks behind the campaign:

ABOUT PREEMPTIVE STRIKE – When an attack or invasion is known to be imminent, a “defensive” policy often deployed is to attack the aggressors before they can perpetrate their invasion. This is the condition in which the Jersey Shore finds itself each summer as the Shore experiences an onslaught of invaders from the north who overtake their beaches and thoroughfares.

This is mostly due to the beaches in Northern New Jersey being unusable due to the pollution. In their defense, it should also be noted that the Shore beaches receive funding from the State of New Jersey and thus, belong to all the residents of New Jersey. And let us not forget that the Shore definitely benefits from the millions of dollars these tourists spend each summer.

But, while tourist are an important component of the Shore’s economy, these BENNY’s and Shoobies (as they are also known) are viewed in a different light by the Shore inhabitant, who often find them to be quite intolerable.

They drive slow in the left lane, never use their blinkers, and cut you off without a second thought; they think they own the beach running around, kicking sand everywhere, and blasting their radios; they are obnoxiously loud in public and their children are even worse – especially in restaurants; and on top of this, they dress atrociously and often can be easily spotted as the ones wearing sox under their sandals.

Realizing that something needs to be done to meet this inevitable assault and try to “nip it in the bud”, a group of artists from Asbury Park are planning to attack the north before this annual summer invasion can begins.

Their plan is twofold – 1) to try to culturally civilize these northern hordes to make their visits to the shore more palatable, and 2) to keep them so busy looking at great art that they might forget their planned excursion.

Sometimes such a show of strength is necessary to foster a meaningful era of peace and cooperation. Perhaps Ronald Reagan recognized this when he decided to rename the MX missile “The Peacekeeper”.

It is our hope that this “Preemptive Strike” will act as just such a “show of strength” by making our neighbors to the north recognize the Jersey Shore as an area equally rich in cultural and artistic excellence. In addition to mutual respect, we intend this event to initiate future collaborative efforts that will promote all the arts in a united New Jersey.

Parlor Gallery presents the opening of our new group show “Fresh” on Saturday, April 27. Artists in this show include Scott Hove, Don Harger, Jason Woodside, Steve Seely, Carl E. Smith, Kevin Hebb, Brooke Holloway & William Goodman. This show will hang from April 27 until June 2.

The Gallery 13 proudly presents Ray Yeager & Jack Fusco’s exhibition, opening on May 4th at 6pm. Be sure to come in and check out these two artists work, images highlighting New Jersey’s shores, Sandy destruction, starry skies, and many more.

On Saturday, June 1, artists from the Winsor & Newton and Liquitex Artist Outreach Program will gather in Asbury Park from across North America to teach and inspire local artists during the Third Annual Day of Demos event.    Highlighting the free day, attendees will participate in the on-site painting of a Toyota Scion car! 

Demonstrations include:

Experimenting with Liquitex acrylic mediums

Mixing Winsor & Newton Artists’ Oil Bar and tube colors

The do’s and don’t of varnishing with Liquitex varnishes

Winsor & Newton supplies for watercolor plein air painting

Funky pigments and making your own paint

Working on a variety of surfaces:  choosing the correct Liquitex medium

Liquitex water-based Professional Spray Paint and NEW Professional Acrylic Paint Markers

Intermixability:  Painting a Toyota Scion with Liquitex sprays, markers and tube colors!

 The Day of Demos is a free event for the art community and a wonderful opportunity for attendees to learn about oils, watercolors, acrylics, acrylic paint markers and spray paint.

The Day of Demos will line the street of Cookman Avenue in front of the Shoppes at the Arcade (658 Cookman Ave.) in Asbury Park.  Attendance for the Day of Demos will be capped at 80 participants.  Pre-registration for the event is suggested.  All pre-registered attendees will receive a complimentary product gift bag care of Liquitex and Winsor & Newton.  To register for the event, or to learn more, please visit www.CollectiveArtTank.com.