PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4/27/15
Contact: Leslie LaSala, Director of Marketing & Communications
203-222-7070 leslie@westportartscenter.org
Attached images:
1. Richard Klein, juror of SOLOS 2015. He is the Exhibitions Director of
the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT
2. Selected artist Maria Lara-Whelpley’s “GeoMap,” paper yarn spun from
1984 USGS Connecticut survey maps (20inx16in)
3. Selected artist Norma Minkowitz’s “Make a Wish” collage, pen & ink
drawing (22in x 26in)
4. Selected artist Rick Schaefer’s oversized, “Gelbvieh” charcoal on
vellum mounted on aluminum (42in x 65in)
SOLOS Exhibition Showcases the Artistic Talent and
Diversity of the Region
The Westport Arts Center will open its SOLOS 2015 exhibition celebrating the
artistic talent and diversity of the Arts Center’s artist members on Friday, May 8
from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Now in its ninth year, SOLOS 2015 will run May 8 – June 27, and is free and
open to the public. The exhibition is sponsored by the Sun Hill Foundation, in
remembrance of Susan Malloy.
SOLOS 2015 is designed to discover and showcase new works of art by talented
artists in the region, and also helps new artists discover the Westport Arts
Center. It is juried by Richard Klein, an artist, curator, and writer who has been
Exhibitions Director of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT
since 1999. All of the artwork in SOLOS 2015 is available for purchase.
“SOLOS 2015 reflects the artistic highlights of the region, featuring artists that
fully focus on their practice. It is wonderful to have such diverse and thoughtprovoking works of art at the Westport Arts Center,” said Helen Klisser During,
the Westport Arts Center’s Artistic Director.
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“Richard Klein is one of the strongest curators in our region; to be selected for
SOLOS 2015 means you’ve made quite an impression. This year there was a
very strong body of work to select from and a record number of applicants. It
was an extremely difficult decision for Richard,” commented Klisser During.
The February 2015 call for entries generated close to 200 artist proposals for
consideration, and out of this pool of talent, eight artists were selected to
showcase 33 artworks in total.
Richard Klein explained, “The resulting exhibitions are stylistically diverse,
spanning painting, sculpture, photography and mixed media, but are thematically
linked by the common threads of a clear and singular vision, the wholeness of
successful execution, and a sense of being present in this moment in history.”
The exhibition spans from new, emerging artists to well-established artists who
have exhibited widely. Selected artists include:
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Joy Bush, Hamden, CT
Loren Eiferman, Katonah, NY
Maria Lara-Whelpley, West Redding, CT
Gaye Korbet, Cambridge, MA
Michael Kozlowski, Trumbull, CT
Norma Minkowitz, Westport, CT
Rick Shaefer, Fairfield, CT
Catherine Vanaria, New Fairfield, CT
Visitors to the exhibition will encounter a diverse range of works, including
wooden sculptures that reflect interconnections between culture and science
(Eiferman), roadmaps made of mixed media materials (Lara-Whelpley), and ink
and pen drawing containing hidden meanings (Minkowitz).
Of the selected works, Klein stated “A good work of art will be inexorably
connected to the time in which it is made. The works I’ve chosen … all contain
some sense of the now. Not the hip ‘now’ of hyperactive, popular culture, but
rather the deep now of human endeavor that surrounds being alive and present
in the second decade of the twenty first century.”
For more information on the exhibition, contact the Westport Arts Center at
203/222-7070 or visit the website: http://www.westportartscenter.org.
About the Curator
Richard Klein is an artist, curator, and writer. As an artist, he has exhibited
widely, including the Neuberger Museum of Art at SUNY Purchase, Caren
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Golden Fine Art, New York, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan,
WI, Hales Gallery, London, Gavlak Gallery, Palm Beach, FL, Portland Institute of
Contemporary Art, Portland, OR, and the Tufts University Art Gallery, Medford,
MA. His work is included in numerous public and private collections, including the
Norton Family Collection, Santa Monica, CA, the DeCordova Sculpture Park and
Museum, Lincoln, MA, and the Connecticut Artists Collection (State of
Connecticut), Hartford, CT.
Since 1999 Klein has been exhibitions director of The Aldrich Contemporary Art
Museum in Ridgefield, CT. In his sixteen year career as a curator of
contemporary art he has organized over 80 exhibitions, including solo shows of
the work of Roy Lichtenstein, Janine Antoni, Sol LeWitt, Mark Dion, Michael Joo,
Hank Willis Thomas, Brad Kahlhamer, Roy McMakin, Mary Temple, Jessica
Stockholder, Tom Sachs, and Elana Herzog. Major curatorial projects at The
Aldrich have included Fred Wilson: Black Like Me (2006), Elizabeth Peyton:
Portrait of an Artist (2008) and Shimon Attie: MetroPAL.IS. (2011).
His essays on art and culture have appeared in Cabinet Magazine and have
been included in books published by Hatje Cantz, Damiani, Picturebox, and the
University of Chicago Press, among others. In November of 2014 he will be
exhibiting his work at Aberson Exhibits in Tulsa, Oklahoma in connection with a
panel discussion based on the book Living and Sustaining a Creative Life
published in 2013. Klein was one of the contributing essayists for the book.
Related Programs:
Westport Arts Center ArtSpeaks: Tuesday, May 26 from 6 p.m. -8 p.m.
Richard Klein, Exhibitions Director of the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, will
speak as part of the Westport Arts Center’s ArtSpeaks series on Tuesday, May
26 from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. ArtSpeaks is designed to bring accomplished,
groundbreaking and renowned leaders of the art world to the local
community. Tickets for the event are available through the Westport Arts Center
website: http://www.westportartscenter.org or by phone (203/222-7070).
Westport Arts Center Project Space: May 8 – June 27
The Westport Arts Center will launch its residency program, EAST meets
WESTport, in the Westport Arts Center’s Project Space beginning May 8.
The selected artist is Marton Nemes from Hungary. Nemes, and his exhibited
work, were selected by jurors Helen Klisser During, the Westport Arts Center’s
Artistic Director, and Julia Mechtler from David Zwirner Gallery in New York City.
The exhibition will be free and open to the public.
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A collaboration between the Westport Arts Center and Quinnipiac University, the
residency program was founded to provide artists with an opportunity to find new
inspiration, to introduce visiting artists to New York and Connecticut's art
communities and its many supporters, and to infuse Connecticut with artistic
inspiration from around the world.
About the Westport Arts Center
The Westport Arts Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting
community through the arts, reaches more than 11,000 people annually through
outstanding programs in visual arts, arts education, and the performance arts of
Chamber music, Jazz, and film.
The Westport Arts Center also receives philanthropic support from 4th Row
Films, the Aibel Foundation, the Arnhold Foundation, Artur and Heida Hermanns
Holde Foundation, Inc., Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Bernstein
Global Wealth Management, Borrowed - A Vintage Inspired Company, the Brant
Foundation, CBP, Cannupa Foundation, the Carl Marks Foundation, Cohen and
Wolf, P.C., the Connecticut Office of the Arts, EC Infosystems, Finn Dixon &
Herling LLP, Fairfield County Bank, Fairfield County Community Foundation,
Festivities, Gault, Energy, Geiger's, GWAY Marketing Gymnasium, the Hall Art
Foundation, KD & J Botanica, Land Rover Milford, Landtech, Lillian August,
LLBH Private Wealth Management LLC, Madison/Mott, Main Street
Resources/Green Village Initiative, Meadow Ridge, Melissa & Doug, the
Mitchell’s Family of Stores, Moffly Media, Newman’s Own Foundation, Riverside
Management Group, Saugatuck Sweets, the Shack Sackler Foundation, the
Sheffer Family Foundation, Sontag Advisory LLC, Stamford Tent, Steel Shed,
Sun Hill Foundation, Thomas C. Hofstetter and Daniel Baron of The Saugatuck
Group, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth
Management, Westport Family Counseling, Westport Now, Westport Resources,
Westport Special Education PTA, William J. Rosenbloom Charitable Trust, Xerox
Foundation, WPKN, WSHU Public Radio Group, and Yellowtail.
For more information, contact the Westport Arts Center at (203) 222-7070 or
www.westportartscenter.org. The Westport Arts Center gallery is open seven
days a week, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 12 p.m. to 4
p.m., at 51 Riverside Avenue, Westport, CT.
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