The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Three new shows open Friday on Water Street
TORRINGTON — Five Points Gallery will open three new exhibitions April 16 at the gallery at 33 Water St.
Will Holub’s abstract assemblage paintings will be featured in the TDP Gallery; Erin Koch Smith’s exhibition, featuring narrativebased paintings, are on display in the East Gallery; and the West Gallery has a group exhibition of by John Gintoff, Eleanor Sabin, Max Seinfeld & Kevin Van Aelst, working with unique approaches of process and alternative use of media. The three exhibitions run until May 22.
Holub’s exhibition, “It’s Today”, explores issues of chance and recognition by revealing, previously unseen fragmented imagery across the tactile surface. Using torn photo paper, videotape emulsion, paint and collaged images, Holub’s art first establishes a “felt”, rather than a simply “seen” connection with viewers, according to a statement. Holub was selected the 2020 Five Points Small Works exhibition award winner by juror Power Booth.
Koch Smith's exhibition, “Two Stories”, draws from two bodies of work that utilize imaginative narratives and stories to build a language for experience that cannot be expressed in a different way, according to the gallery’s statement. One narrative features the imaginary heroics of a lamp trapped inside a psychological landscape built out of memories, which is based on Philip Guston’s 1974 painting, “Lamp”. The wildly whimsical paintings create new logics and narratives using the physicality of the paint as part of the storytelling process.
The group exhibition, “It’s All About Process,” features work by artists John Gintoff, Eleanor Sabin, Max Seinfeld and Kevin Van Aelst. Although their concepts and visions are different, each of the artists in this exhibition present a unique approach to process and alternative use of media and compositional elements, according to the statement. Photography is often a straightforward and traditional way to capture how we experience moments; however, John Gintoff challenges how the viewer perceives traditional photography by using photographic prints to create threedimensional sculptural forms. Kevin Van Aelst also plays with a reimagining of traditional photography. His layered digital process deals with the malleability of our notions of truth and memory.
Eleanor Sabin’s work explores the conflicts between the man-made and natural world. Her process of creating layered detailed pen and ink drawings of the natural world are then disrupted by saturated airbrushed color, bold geometric patterns and lines creating new tensions of space, according to the gallery. Max Seinfeld’s sculptures also play with tensions through contrasting materials, color and form. His small sculptures’ interplay of solid vs. seemingly liquid forms allows for a sensation of a lingering touch or inching grip. The interaction of natural and artificial colors in Seinfeld work are drawn from observations in contemporary media, such as the allure of a red Cadillac versus the natural colors of the raw materials.
Because of COVID-19 state protocols, there is no opening reception. Five Points will present a Virtual Zoom Artist Talk at 6 p.m. May 7.
Gallery hours are Tuesday and Thursday 1 p.m. 4 p.m. and Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m., and by appointment by calling 860-618-7222. There is no admission charge. Five Points exhibitions and educational events are free and open to the public. All visitors inside the gallery are required to wear a mask and observe social distancing protocol. For more information about Five Points Gallery, visit www.fivepointsarts.org