‘Remembering Ground Zero: 20th Anniversary Show’

TORRINGTON — Five Points Gallery, 33 Main St., Torrington, will exhibit “Remembering Ground Zero: 20th Anniversary Show,” a retrospective exhibition that remembers the Sept. 11 attacks through paintings and drawings that recall both the time before the towers’ fall and the collective shock and pain of the aftermath. The exhibition will feature works by artists Donald Bracken, Susan Crile, Charlotte Ghiorse, Pamela Lawton, Gwinn Lowman and Torild Stray, according to a statement.

The exhibition was cocurated by Bracken and Stray, both of whom were participants in World Views, a pilot artist residency program, launched by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 1999. Nineteen artists were selected by Graham Nickson, Dean of the New York Studio School, to make art in the north tower of the World Trade Center. Each artist used their medium of choice to interpret and document the view of Manhattan with its ever changing weather, light and patterns. It has been over twenty years since the World Views artists made their art from a perspective framed by windows on the world—a perspective that no longer exists, according to the statement.

Featured in this exhibition are six artists. Bracken recalls his experience as a resident artist in the towers. Embodying the nostalgic views and sprawling cityscapes of New York City, Don’s work also documents the destruction and emotional toll of the twin towers collapse. Susan Crile’s pastel and mixed media drawings on paper imbue the force and destruction of the attacks moving between poles of beauty and horror. Buildings

are depicted as broken and shattered, forcing debris and ash into the air. The works created by Charlotte Ghiorse focus on the material destruction and its aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Created primarily with gesso, ink and charcoal, they embody Ghiorse's vision of the phantasmic scene of catastrophe, according to the statement.

Pieces from this same series are part of the National 9/11 Memorial Museum. Pamela Lawton’s paintings and drawings capture the fragmented reflections of New York’s skyscrapers noting the buildings appear to move both literally and optically - These forms dematerialize, multiply, and oscillate. In this exhibition Lawton often paints the reflections of the buildings she’s in such as the WTC. Reflecting the memories of the fires. Gwinn Loman’s works push the boundaries of perceptual painting, emphasizing color and light, and emphasizing the formal aspects of her shaped panels. One of her two pieces in the show acts a precursor to the tragedy that would soon befall the nation.

The other illustrates a more grim color palette and the absence of the towers. Stray’s atmospheric paintings and drawings capture the raw emotions of that terrible day on September 11, 2001 attacks. Her large charcoal and pastel drawings foreshadow planes hovering over the city, and her bold textural paintings incite the destruction of the world trade center as they burst into flames. Their overall content evokes a somber, mysterious and ethereal vibe.

Masks are optional for vaccinated visitors; unvaccinated visitors are encouraged to wear masks.

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. & Sunday, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m., and by appointment, call 860-618-7222. There will be an in-person opening reception Aug. 20 from 5-8 p.m .

There will also be a Zoom Artist talk Sept. 10 at 6 p.m.

There is no admission charge. All artwork is for sale. Five Points exhibitions and educational events are free and open to the public.