Now and Then

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 13:21:49 -0400

Please join us from Monday, February 25, 2013 to Friday, March 15, 2013

Claudia Sperry lives and works in Northampton Massachusetts. She earned an MFA in Painting from Hunter College in New York City and a BA in Art History from Fairfield University. Her art education started at the Art Students League in New York in 1971, where she concentrated on painting and drawing from the model. She is a recipient of a Vermont Arts Council Grant and is represented by Fresh Paint in Los Angeles, CA. Her work is included in the corporate collection of Nordstrom, J.Crew and The MGM Grand in Las Vegas to name just a few. Locally she has been included in group and one person exhibitions at The Oxbow Gallery, The Hampden Gallery Incubator Project Space, The Herter Art Gallery, Zea Mays Printmaking Gallery and Wunderarts. Her most recent teaching position was at Holyoke Community College. Sperry also enjoys making artist books and has two in the collection of The Mortimer Rare Book Room at Smith College.
 “The works of Claudia Sperry communicate a depth of meaning beyond mere appearance,” writes David Gibson, an independent New York curator and arts writer. “They speak of the struggle to achieve meaningful form, a role that only the artist is prepared to fulfill. Sperry has developed an aesthetic that combines the conscious and unconscious qualities of painterly expression, giving each painting a memory of its own, and a dynamic borrowed from her precursors, the alchemists. Place one color next to another, read the signs, build a form that accrues in meaning as it adds to an oeuvre. It’s not about analysis, her work, but about feeling our way through an experience. Ambiguity is her greatest tool. She speaks not to the viewer, but to the painting, asking it questions which it refuses to answer. The truth is that meaning follows beauty, the rest is silence.”

The promise of painting, especially abstract painting, has to do with its ability to take us into various modes of the world. Each painter attempts to delineate a specific perspective on how matter is organized, how space is allotted, how color and light, depth and viscosity work to establish standards for understanding how the universe affects us. Sperry achieves a level of mature investigation into such matters.

The exhibit will be displayed from Monday, February 25, 2013 to Friday, March 15, 2013. Please join us for the opening reception that will take place Sunday, March 3 from 2-4pm.

Perceptions

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 17:28:39 -0500

Economy of We

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 13:25:41 -0500

Please join us from Tuesday, November 13, 2012 to Friday, November 30, 2012

The Economy of We is an archive of barter depictions, exchange stories, and reciprocity agreements. From clothing swaps and unpaid internships to corporate barter brokers and the origin myth of money, barter conjures a variety of subjects, both haggler and communitarian.

The exhibit will be displayed from Tuesday, November 13, 2012 to Friday, November 30, 2012. Please join us for the opening reception that will take place Tuesday, November 27th from 5-7pm, which will also include an artist’s talk.

Elusive

Fri, 2 Nov 2012 13:36:17 -0400

Laurie LeBreton makes sculptures with handmade paper. Her artwork includes nontraditional books made with traditional binding techniques and paper sculptures constructed on armatures, with saturated, vibrant colors.
LeBreton examines ideas of impermanence, the role of chance, the interplay of joy and sorrow and the futility of control. Installations respond to currents of air, underscoring the idea of impermanence. Using traditional abaca fibers with nontraditional materials challenges the viewer's perception of the everyday and the ephemeral.

The exhibit will be displayed from Monday, October 15, 2012 to Friday, November 2, 2012. Please join us for the opening reception that will take place Thursday, October 18 from 5-7pm, with an artist’s talk at 6pm.

Quiet Power

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 13:43:19 -0400

The Center for Multicultural Advancement and Student Success in partnership with Career Services, the Student Legal Services Office, with the guidance of Student Union Art Gallery, Workplace Learning and Development, Legal Counsel and other members of the UMass community bring you an innovative and interactive exhibit on introversion. Introverted people are often times outshined by their Extraverted counterparts because their energy flows inward, focus on thoughts and ideas and prefer quiet activities. Through their quiet demeanor Introverted people possess might, are highly organized and productive. Take for example Rosa Parks, Steve Wozniak and Ghandi. This exhibit highlights images of famous, historical and UMass members who identify as introverts. It is complemented by literature, videos, and a daily one hour of career service counseling session. This session allows guests to explore careers based on their personality. Guests can find out their personality score as well as leave their print on the exhibit quietly. As a result of attending this exhibit guests will be able to identify personality differences of introverts and extroverts.

CMASS provides academic support, cultural enrichment, student development as well as support for institutional diversity on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. To learn more
visit http://www.umass.edu/multiculturalaffairs
Career Services provides career planning and exploration, internship programs, help with resumes and cover letters, interview skills, and self-assessment instruments for undergraduate and graduate students of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. To learn more visit http://www.umass.edu/careers Student Legal Services provides counseling, advice, research, education, representation, and
referral for all fee-paying students at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst concerning
legal matters. To learn more visit http://umassslso.org

The exhibit will be displayed from Monday, October 1, 2012 to Thursday, October 12, 2012. Please join us for the opening reception that will take place Monday, October 1 from 12:30-2pm.