For Immediate Release
Wendy Shalen
Family Matters: Drawings, Paintings, Prints and Handmade Paper
April 22 to May 17, 2014
New York, NY – Prince Street Gallery announces a solo exhibition of new works by Wendy Shalen, opening on April 22. The gallery is located at 530 West 25th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues. The artist will be present for an opening reception on April 26, from 3 to 7 p.m., a closing reception on May 17, from 3 to 6 p.m., and each Saturday during the show’s run.
The exhibition will feature some of the range of Ms. Shalen’s works – self-portraits, figurative charcoal and silverpoint drawings and watercolors, alongside handmade paper vintage lace embossments, drypoint etchings and monotypes.
“In this exhibition, I put aside my recent environmental art and draw inspiration from my 101-year-old mother, my baby granddaughter, other relatives and our family dog. The show focuses on contrasts -- between generations, sensibilities, materials and techniques. I hope to capture and communicate emotions that we share -- watching my late grandmother struggle with dementia and the fear of death at 90, watching my own mother in bed unable to walk or speak, yet free of pain and with a strong heart. At the same time, I celebrate my daughter’s excitement and exhaustion in caring for a newborn, the formal joy of my parents’ wedding day, and the amazing gift of having twins. The work, comprising watercolor, charcoal, graphite and silverpoint drawings, and monoprints done with drypoint, is in part from life and in part inspired by a recently discovered, 70-year old album of family photographs.”
Alongside sensitive paintings, drawings and prints, Shalen displays a series of contemporary handmade paper embossments that incorporate and give new purpose to her grandmother’s antique lacework. “My strongest memories of Sophie were the conversations we had while she was knitting or crocheting or sewing -- shawls, afghans, linens and beaded collars. I have used her vintage lace in embossed impressions in wet pulp. The pulp was macerated from my unsuccessful watercolors and I recycled the lace and the pulp, hoping to bring new life to both. This has helped me remember and honor both the effort of painting and my grandmother’s creative spirit.”
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Wendy Shalen teaches drawing, painting and portfolio development at The Art Students League of New York. Her work is represented in many private collections and has been featured in London at Abbot & Holder, in New York at Allan Stone Gallery, Prince Street Gallery, The Salmagundi Club, The National Academy of Design and The National Arts Club, in Martha’s Vineyard at Carol Craven Gallery, Gardner-Colby Gallery and Fielder & Fielder, and at The Katonah Museum of Art, The Housatonic Museum of Art, and Silvermine Guild Galleries. Ms. Shalen has taught figure and landscape drawing and painting to adults and teens for more than 35 years. A graduate of Brandeis University, she studied at the Art Students League in the late 1970s with Daniel Greene, Harvey Dinnerstein and Robert Beverly Hale, and privately with Burton Silverman.
Ms. Shalen’s studio is located in Waccabuc, New York. Additional information and images can be found on: www.wendyshalen.com.