MITCHELL ROSENZWEIG
HIGHLANDS DREAMIN'
Mitchell Rosenzweig
oil on canvas
40"h x 50"w
$5,000
In cooperation with So No Gallery, South Norfolk, Conn
Copyright © Mitchell Rosenzweig, all rights reserved.
For purchase and other information, please contact:
Donna Compton
973-910-2400
TREES
Mitchell Rosenzweig
oil on canvas
18"h x 12"w
$1,800
Copyright © Mitchell Rosenzweig, all rights reserved.
For purchase and other information, please contact Donna Compton
973-910-2400
email higlandsart@njhighlandscoalition.org
ARTIST STATEMENT
"Like the seasons in nature, my paintings are consistently changing, What is now, becomes then, and vice-versa. Beautiful passages that appear through the creative process bring new questions, and ideas. Yet the work is always in its infancy, as each painting moves through long duration, sometime as long as 10 years. Inspired by nature, personal experiences, memories, music, and emotions, I continue to explore different philosophies and ideologies, since I have begun this adventure while nurturing my perception and artistic beliefs.
"There is a culmination of aesthetics which encompass my work, depth created by over lapping planes, and direct relief, vibrant colors, mixed with muted tones, and the addition of recycled printed paper. My primary focus is on the process of painting, developing color relationships, and creating infinite space. Paintings begin by layering forms of color through and drawing. The process of addition and subtraction of colors and form allows me to view the unexpected and work towards a resolution. " -- Mitchell Rosenzweig
Mitchell's abstract mixed media paintings overflow with layers of controlled chaos that comprise of strata of paint, paper, and other materials that create a multi-dimensional surface. -- Carter Burden Gallery, NYC
BIOGRAPHY
Born 1954 in West Orange, N.J. Mitchell Rosenzweig received a BFA in painting from Penn State University, University Park, PA. in 1981.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Feb 2021 Christine Frechard Gallery Pittsburgh, Pa.
Aug.2017 53rd Street Building Gallery N.Y.C. NY.
Sept. 2014 Compton Paquette Gallery, Boonton, NJ.
Feb. 2013 Hosteter Art Center, Mountville, N.J.
June.2006 Artstream, Dover, N.H.
Aug. 2006 Horizon Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M.
Aug. 2002 Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, ME.
Sept. 2001 Merrimack College, North Andover, MA
March 2001 Nahcotta, Portsmouth, N.H.
May 2000 Moses Brown Academy, Providence, R.I.
Sept. 1998 Gallery Szent-Gyorgyi, Falmouth, MA
Feb. 1996 Gallery 10, Washington, D.C
Group Shows
Jan 2023 Farmstead Art Center, Basking, NJ
Sept 2022 Parlar Gallery, Asbury Park, NJ
May 2022 So No Gallery, South Norfolk, Conn
June 2021 Alfa Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ
Dec 2020 Neo Gallery, Boonton, NJ
April 2019 Carter Burden Gallery, N.Y.C.
May 2018 Anderson Contemporary, N.Y.C
Jan. 2017 Anderson Contemporay, N.Y.C
Sept. 2016 St. Elizabeth College,, Morristown, N,J,
Sept. 2015 Atrium Gallery, Morristown, N,J,
Feb. 2014 Compton Gallery, Boonton, NJ.
Dec. 2010. Christine Richard, Pitts, Penn
Dec. 2010. Ruth Morpeth, Hopewell, NJ.
May 2009. 707 Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M.
Feb. 2009. Ruth Morpeth, Hopewell, NJ.
April 2008. 707 Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M.
June.2007 Gallery 31, Glen Gardner, N.J.
May. 2005 Hunter Kirkland, Santa Fe, N.M.
Feb. 2004 Nahcotta, Portsmouth, N.H.
Dec. 2003 Walker Kornbluth Gallery, Fairlawn, N.J.
July.2003 Gallery Horizon, Santa Fe, N.M.
July 2002 Nese Alpan Gallery, Huntington, N.Y
Jan. 2002 Handsel Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M.
Oct. 2001 Ira Pinto Gallery, Wasington, D.C.
Sept. 2001 Gallery C, Raleigh, N.C.
June 2000 Ogunquit Museum, Ogunquit, ME
June 2000 Moses Kent Museum, Exeter, N.H.
May 2000 Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, MA
Feb. 2000 Judy Rotenberg Gallery, Boston, MA
Sept. 1999 New Hampshire Institute of Art, Manchester, N.H.
July 1999 Denise Bibro Gallery, New York, N.Y.
June 1998 Moses Kent House Museum, Exeter, N.H.
May 1995 Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, MA
ART MUSEUM CURATOR
2011 Art Museum Curator Mai Kon Pan Museum, Thialand
GRANTS AND AWARDS
Nov. 2005 "Subway Film": Artstream Film Festival
New Hampshire State Council on the Arts
Audience Award
Oct. 1998 Individual Artist Fellowship
New Hampshire Council on the Arts
Jan. 1997 New Hampshire Film Festival
Highest Honors:" Nu-Knees"
New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Cash Award
REVIEWS
Aug. 2002 Solo Show Review
Ogunquit Museum
Oct. 1998 International Sculpture Magazine
Contemporary Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit
Moses Kent House Museum, Exeter, N.H.
March 1996 The Washington Review
Anne Banks: Professor Emeritus N.Virginia College
Solo Show Review
ELLIOTT RUGA
SNOW GEESE AT MERRILL CREEK RESERVOIR
Elliott Ruga
photograph, pigment on paper
17.25"h x 25.25"w
$250
© Elliott Ruga, all rights reserved.
For purchase and other information, please contact Donna Compton
973-910-2400
email higlandsart@njhighlandscoalition.org
ARTIST STATEMENT
“As an environmental policy advocate, I balance the matter-of-fact politics with a deeply felt reverence for the quenching, natural beauty of the Highlands. Here, the snow geese, perhaps noting aneagle soaring above, take flight with balletic unison, imposing a layer of visual abstraction over an otherwise quotidian landscape. The rising birds literally feather the transition from water to sky, with black feather brushstrokes and body daubs of white. This colony of tens of thousands of snow geese sit flat on the water, looking as still as a sheet of ice. When disturbed they appear as a single organism taking to the sky, like a fast rising, undulating cloud, circling the water, until they alight again on the water surface, as solid and still as a sheet of ice."
BIOGRAPHY
Policy & Communications Director, NJ Highlands Coalition
Elliott has over 25 years of environmental and historic preservation advocacy experience. Working with the Coalition since November 2007, he leads the implementation of media and educational campaigns, attends Highlands Council meetings and interacts with state legislators and regulators, Council staff, provides guidance to groups working to protect Highlands resources, and reaches out to municipalities regarding municipal conformance. Elliott Ruga is a registered Government Affairs Agent. He has a professional background of communications and multi-media production (awarded 2 Emmys), including 17 years at NBC.
VAL SIVILLI
CROW
Val Sivilli
Acrylic on Paper
21"h x 42"w, unframed
$475
Copyright © Val Sivilli, all rights reserved.
For purchase and other information, please contact Donna Compton
973-910-2400
ARTIST STATEMENT
"Crows call attention to injustice in the animal world. Crows make themselves heard. Crows live as a community. Crows are an apt metaphor for the preservation of wildlife in the highlands as well as our need to preserve it. I live along the highlands trail in western New Jersey. Crows are found everywhere and are quite vocal!" -- Val Sivilli
BIOGRAPHY
Val Sivilli is an artist and adjunct professor of fine arts. After her formative years living, working and exhibiting in Brooklyn where she was a long time assistance to Leon Golub and Nancy Spero, Val relocated to the Delaware Valley in the 1990’s. During her time in Frenchtown, NJ, Val was an active participant in the local arts community exhibiting broadly and founding the Steamroller Gallery, an artist collective. She has taught at TCNJ, Mason Gross School of the Arts and currently at BucksCCC and RVCC. She was a fellow of the Wurlitzer Foundation, is currently a member of the newly formed Steamroller Group, she was the founder of THAT, The Hunterdon Art Tour and the Owner/Operator/ Educator at The Civilian School of Art, a virtual learning venue. Working primarily as a painter and occasionally a printmaker, Val sometimes writes and illustrate stories. Born in Brooklyn, raised on Long Island, she tends not to stray too far from the banks of the Delaware River on the west coast of New Jersey where you might find her playing the accordion somewhere.
KATHLEEN THOMPSON
THISTLE
Kathleen Thompson
photograph, inkjet print on Moab Moenkopi Washi Rice paper
32"h x 24"w image, unframed
$425
Copyright © Kathleen Thompson, all rights reserve
For purchase and other information, please contact Donna Compton
973-910-2400
email higlandsart@njhighlandscoalition.org
ARTIST STATEMENT
"I am a writer and printmaker currently exploring Nalanda Miksang, the practice of contemplative photography.
"There is intention in every image, an attempt to document what I feel: a transfer of energy, a recognition of the natural and unique space in which I am viewing the subject. As it is called in Miksang, a flash of perception: the synchronization of eye and mind, connecting what you are seeing with what you are feeling, then attempting to capture the purity of that instant.
"Thistle Portrait reflects this practice. The image is resolved, achieving a focus on light and texture and a level of abstraction due to the extreme close-up format. This is enhanced through the choice of paper upon which the image is printed. Thistle Portrait embodies the paradox of beauty and decay as the plant withers and dies, dispersing her seeds to the soil and wind for future germination. The bottom of the print is left untacked to evoke elements of ephemerality and motion.
"Thistle Portrait is part of a series entitled QUIETUDE. For me, QUIETUDE is a state of being, a destination reached by pausing, observing one’s environment and discovering a sense of calm and stillness in that moment. QUIETUDE is fostered and readily found amongst the splendid natural resources of the New Jersey Highlands Region.
"A bit about the process: this work is created using only an iPhone 12 mini. The images are never manipulated or edited - no filters, no cropping, etc. The close-ups are achieved without utilizing any type of zoom functionality – I just get as close as possible to the subject and snap the photo. There is a simplicity and true joy in this approach, it is never belabored.
"The very technology being used is one that has become synonymous with people constantly looking down to check social media, email, a phone call, etc. This work is taking that technology and inviting, encouraging the viewer to stop, stand in place, inhale and turn one’s attention to the immediate surroundings, to truly see and engage with whatever is directly in front of you, in real time, in the physical world.
"A lifelong Hunterdon County resident, I completed my undergraduate work in journalism and history at Rutgers University and built a career in the nonprofit sector, including stints in public broadcasting, strategic planning and development consulting, and, most recently, philanthropy.
"It has been liberating to discover and explore my visual, authentic voice after more than 20 years of writing and creating for others. Since 2016, I have worked with a phenomenal community to create and produce The Hunterdon Art Tour (THAT), a countywide artist studio tour." -- Kathleen Thompson
TOXIC PASSION
ACT: Kathleen Thompson, Val Sivilli, Melissa Pickering*
Comprised of two prints:
1) IMAGE: Block Print with Chine Colle on Rives BFK - Limited Edition of 12
NOTE: Print #12 will be displayed. Purchaser will receive Print #6.
15” x 17” unframed
2) HAIKU: Letterpress Print on Bristol - Limited Edition of 20 - 7” x 11” unframed
$300 for the set
Copyright © Kathleen Thompson, all rights reserved
For purchase and other information, please contact Donna Compton
973-910-2400
email higlandsart@njhighlandscoalition.org
ARTISTS' STATEMENT
This collaborative work features the image of Florida’s state butterfly – the Zebra Longwing. This magical butterfly thrives on the nectar and pollen of varieties of toxic passionflower, thereby the butterfly is toxic as well, illustrating the symbiosis of nature – toxicity supporting life and vice versa. The image is paired with an original haiku poem.
The same is true for the beloved Monarch butterflies we see every summer in the New Jersey Highlands Region, which are sustained by the toxic milkweed plant. A Monarch’s bright orange and black wings signal potential predators to steer clear, as they are poisonous to eat."
*ACT is an acronym comprised of the first letters of the three artists’ studio names:
Artward – Kathleen Thompson @artward42
Civilian – Val Sivilli @valsivilli
Talisman – Melissa Pickering @talismanplace
Kathleen wrote the haiku and created an edition of 20 blind deboss prints on her vintage Morgan Line-O-Scribe letterpress. Val and Kathleen carved the wood block, which Melissa refined a bit before choosing a passionflower image for the chine colle element.
On Thursday, March 5, 2020, Kathleen, Val and Melissa hand printed an edition of 12 at Melissa’s studio. The work, comprised of the haiku and print, was offered for sale during the 2nd Annual St. Printersburg Printmaking Festival.
ED TURTON
Lily Pads in the Formal Gardens, Skylands Manor, Ringwood NJ
Ed Turton
Photograph, infrared, archival pigment on paper
26 1/2"h x 32 1/2"w including frame
(Image 17 1/2"h x 23 1/2"w)
Not for sale, but copies are available.
Copyright © Ed Turton, all rights reserved
For purchase and other information, please contact Donna Compton
973-910-2400
email higlandsart@njhighlandscoalition.org
ARTIST STATEMENT
"Infrared photography, offers photographers of all abilities the opportunity to explore a new world – the world of the unseen.
Why “unseen”? Because our eyes literally cannot see IR light, as it lies just beyond what is classified as the “visible” spectrum – light which human eyesight can detect.
"When we take photographs using infrared-equipped cameras, we are exposed to the world that can often look very different from that we are accustomed to seeing. Colors, textures, leaves and plants, human skin, and all other manner of objects can reflect IR light in unique and interesting ways.
MIROSLAV VRZALA
SILVER MINE LAKE ON SEVEN LAKES DRIVE
Harriman State Park, NY
Miroslav Vrzala
photograph
24"h x 30"w including frame
$350
Copyright © Miroslav Vrzala, all rights reserved
For purchase and other information, please contact Donna Compton
973-910-2400
email higlandsart@njhighlandscoalition.org
ARTIST STATEMENT
"Even as a young child, I always loved to draw, paint and later on love to take photographs. I find cityscapes and landscapes most interesting. My love for art and the impressionists such as Claude Monet can be seen in my photographs. My technique is simple, get up early and photograph the early light, this can be both for my landscapes and my cityscapes. You can always sleep later. Just enjoy what you’re doing. With today’s technology, you can take photographs early in the morning, while making your breakfast you can download your photos, process, print, frame and hang your photos all by lunchtime. " -- Miroslav Vrzala