The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Three new shows open June 22
TORRINGTON » Five Points Gallery will open three new shows on June 22, running through July 29 and featuring the work of four artists: Jackie Branson, Robin Tost, Adam Viens and Peter Waite.
Diversions: Abstraction / Representation featuring Adam Viens and Peter Waite will be on display in the West Gallery. Viens and Waite’s very different approaches to painting speak, not only to the underlying similarities that often inform abstraction and representation, but also to multiple levels of reality that characterize contemporary life. Adam Viens, one of Connecticut’s young emerging artists, employs the language of abstraction and non-traditional materials to “construct compositions of poignant metaphors and nostalgic polemics that are personally motivated and universal to human experiences.” His artmaking is influenced by numerous areas of interest such as philosophy, psychology, physics, but it is also informed by his experiences growing up in a small New England Mill town where changing times provoked feelings of instability and uncertainty.
Peter Waite’s realist paintings document his travels to sites of built environments that embody public sentiment or ideological concerns. Devoid of human figures, Waite’s representational images “emphasize the viewer’s participation as a witness to the moment of perceiving, then remembering these architectural spaces.” Whether depicting well known sites or more common settings like subway stations. Waite’s “goal has always been to make the known, unknown and the ordinary, extraordinary.” Peter Waite has exhibited widely throughout the united states, is the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships and is represented in scores of private and museum collections.
Jackie Branson, an artist based in Pawling, NY, will be the featured artist in the East Gallery. Branson’s exhibition, Habitual Demeanor, showcases sculptures, which are autobiographical in nature and examine notions of identity and protection through various forms of non-traditional armor. The works on exhibit will range in scale from extremely large to tabletop, and the public is invited to observe the installation through the gallery’s “windows on the street”. Jackie Branson holds a BFA from the University of New Hampshire and a MFA from the University of Pennsylvania, and she is the recipient of numerous prestigious fellowships and residency programs.
Robin Tost’s exhibition, Discomforters, in the TDP Gallery features quilts made of scrap metals, cut by hand and sewn with wire. Tost began making quilts in 2008, after bike trips through Massachusetts and Vermont. Many small towns had closed factories and a loss of local jobs and income. At the same time, many yards displayed homemade signs advertising, “Quits for Sale”. “This combination sparked the idea of combining the masculine industrial waste material I collect with the ‘feminine’ art of quilting.” Robin Tost exhibits extensively throughout New England and her work has been included in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Meeting House Gallery.
The three exhibits are sponsored by Northwest Community Bank. An opening reception will be held Friday, June 23 from 6-8:30 p.m.
An artists’ conversation will take place on Friday, July 14 at 6 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public. The gallery is open Thursdays through Mondays from 1 – 5 p.m. and by appointment. Docent tours are available to groups and organizations.
Located in a historic downtown building, Five points is a non-profit 501c(3) contemporary art gallery showcasing regional, national, and international visual artists. The gallery presents exhibitions in three beautifully renovated exhibition spaces and has earned the reputation as one of Connecticut’s outstanding contemporary arts venues. For more information about the gallery, visit www.fivepointsgallery.org or call 860-618-7222.