September 5 – October 2, 2024
Shade and Shape: Pat Brentano, Christopher Skura and John Wittenberg
WayWeSeeIt: Karin Bruckner and Carol Massa
Blue Journey: Ellen Wallenstein
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 5, 6 - 8pm
Carter Burden Gallery presents three exhibitions: Shade and Shape featuring monochromatic works inspired by natural forms by Pat Brentano, Christopher Skura, and John Wittenberg; WayWeSeeIt featuring an array of mixed media works by Karin Bruckner and Carol Massa; and Blue Journey an inspiring installation of cyanotype quilts and prayer flags by Ellen Wallenstein. The reception will be on Thursday, September 5 from 6pm to 8pm. The exhibitions run from September 5 - October 2, 2024, at 548 West 28th Street in New York City. The gallery hours are Tuesday - Friday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Exhibition List
Shade and Shape
In Shade and Shape, Pat Brentano presents a collection of monochromatic works that explore the relationship between nature and abstraction. Using charcoal, watercolor, ink, graphite, and collage, Brentano creates unbridled forest scenes that invite viewers to see beyond the surface, revealing the chaotic, mysterious, and layered gestures of our natural environment. Her work challenges the traditional suburban landscape of clear-cutting and manicured spaces, offering instead a contemplative view of nature's inherent beauty and balance. Brentano states, “Nature is not neat. It is an ever-changing and sometimes tangled, dense presence.” In this uncertain era of climate change, Brentano's art serves as a powerful visual voice for the preservation and appreciation of the natural world.
Pat Brentano earned a BFA from Washington University and an MFA from Tyler School of Art. She is a two-time NJ State Council on the Arts Individual Fellow, a Puffin Grant recipient and a Weir Farm Artist in Residence. Her work on endangered birds received the Curators award at the Chesterwood Museum in MA, an I -Park Residency, a solo show and commission at the Efroymson Conservation Center in Indianapolis and a solo exhibition and residency at the Evansville Museum in Indiana. Most recently she had a solo exhibition entitled, Consider the Trees, at the Monmouth Museum in New Jersey. In 2012, PBS aired the NJN State of the Arts documentary about Brentano as an artist and environmentalist. The institute for Women’s Leadership at Rutgers also produced a documentary about her work as part of their Transforming Lives Project. Pat Brentano is represented by Beauregard Gallery and Windsor Gallery in NJ and Carter Burden Gallery in NYC.
Christopher Skura's ceramic sculptures in Shade and Shape include organic, plant-like forms as well as elements reminiscent of man-made machinery. His work explores the intersection of psychology, structural systems, and emergence theory, drawing parallels between the architecture of the human body and the effects of time on both the human form and the natural world. Skura’s daily practice of rapid sketching and intuitive drawing serve as catalysts for these sculptural forms. He elaborates, “The goal is to work with a “beginner’s mind” and utilize the flow-state to achieve a direct expression…. Improvisation is emphasized for phenomenological effect, and I try to capture the speed of living in Lower Manhattan.”
Christopher Skura is a visual artist and fine art conservator living in Manhattan for 30 years. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and a professional certificate in sculpture from the Ringling College of Art and Design and an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts from New York University. His work has been included in many exhibitions throughout the United States, including the K.S. Art, 440 Gallery, Jeff Bailey Gallery, Thread Waxing Space, Cynthia Broan Gallery, The Alternative Museum, and New York University Gallery in New York City and The Dunedin Fine Art Center, Dorsch Gallery, Art Lab 33, Rocket Projects and The Pulse Fair in Miami. Also, at The Ringling Museum of Art, The St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts, The Hunterdon Museum of Art, Alexandria Museum of Art, The Daytona Museum of Arts and Sciences, The Vero Beach Museum of Art, Dunedin Fine Arts Center, Art Center Sarasota, The Box Art Museum in Sweden, Florida State University Art Museum and The Payne Gallery at Moravian University and The Woodstock Artists Association and Museum among others.
Shade and Shape, John Wittenberg's first exhibition with Carter Burden Gallery, presents his handmade paper works, which rippled and furrowed surfaces are delicately embedded with found stones. Complementing these are three abstract monotype prints in black and white, evocative of natural forms like sticks and rocks. Wittenberg's work is deeply rooted in his observation of the physical world. His eye is drawn to the interaction of light and shadow and the natural cycle of growth, decay, and renewal. He is inspired by the transformations of objects in varying light and at the meeting points of different surfaces—a theme that has influenced his entire career. Wittenberg's sculptures vary in scale, from intimate pieces to large works that interact with their environment. He prefers working with materials such as steel, stone, wood, and paper, allowing his ideas to evolve organically through the creative process. His hope is that viewers will come to appreciate the forms and abstractions of nature, its weight, and the play of light, ultimately seeing the world through a new perspective.
John Wittenberg received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Vermont in Burlington, has studied at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, apprenticed to sculptor, Paul Aschenbach, in Hinesburg, Vermont, and studied at the Dieu Donne, a community studio, in Brooklyn, New York. His public art commissions include: South Burlington Middle School, South Burlington, Vermont, Battery Park Urban Renewal, Burlington, Vermont, and Otter Creek Park, Vergennes, Vermont. Wittenberg was awarded a grant through the Percent for the Arts Program to create a public sculpture for the Brooklyn Public Library, Cortelyou Branch. His recent group exhibitions include: VSOP Gallery in Greenport, New York; East End Arts in Riverhead, New York; Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York; Dieu Donne in Brooklyn New York; and North American Hand Papermakers in New York, New York.
WayWeSeeIt
In WayWeSeeIt, Karin Bruckner presents work that push the medium of printmaking to its limits, straddling the lines between printmaking, drawing, painting, collage, and assemblage. Printmaking became a focus in Bruckner’s work after a career in architecture; Its unique combination of creative flow and process requires a structured, sequenced way of thinking in layers, shapes and colors not unlike architectural plans. Over the years, constant experimentation has propelled her monoprints from a graphic into a more painterly direction, incorporating paper lithography, etching, collagraph, chine collé and viscosity techniques to achieve thoroughly embedded and complexly layered visual landscapes of considerable depth. Now residing somewhere between that and sculpture the pieces protrude from the flat surface of the wall, casting dynamic shadow or a neon glow, and often comprising kinetic elements. Bruckner’s work is process driven, responding to the materials and method at hand, resulting in a widely varied yet distinctive portfolio.
Karin Bruckner was born in Switzerland and received her education in Switzerland, Germany and the United States. She holds a Master of Architecture degree from the Technical University in Munich and a Master of Science in Architecture and Building Design from Columbia University in New York, where she has lived since 1988. After working as an architect for Richard Meier & Partners and Philip Johnson Architects in New York she returned to her passion for art. Her work has sold worldwide and is in private collections in Europe, South America, Australia and the United States. Bruckner is a represented artist at Susan Eley Fine Art Gallery, NY and has been featured by West Elm as well as online venues such as Art Crasher, Fresh Rag, Refinery 29, the UGallery blog, the Printsy blog on Etsy, and 1stdibs through Susan Eley Fine Art.
Having created art for forty years and working in a variety of mediums, WayWeSeeIt offers the viewer Carol Massa’s recent works on paper, wood panel, canvas, and sculptural wall works. As an abstract painter, she feels the need to express an array of subjects, and not limit herself to one technique. Massa explains, “As artist do, I find myself wondering in many paths, deriving ideas, or taste from the spectrum of life”. Massa’s integration of movement and stillness, color and texture reflect her personal journey and a focus on joining opposing forces. In both her paintings and sculptures, the work draws inspiration from nature, dance and music, and a sense of place, vibrating with freedom and spontaneity at the rhythmic hand of the artist.
Carol Massa, b. 1945 in Brooklyn, studied art at Miami Dade College, receiving scholarships for drawing and printmaking, later transitioning to painting. Her integration of movement and stillness, color and texture reflect her personal journey and a focus on joining opposing forces. In both her paintings and sculptures, the work draws inspiration from nature, dance and music, vibrating with freedom and spontaneity at the rhythmic hand of the artist. Massa has exhibited widely, including at the Bergen Museum of Art and Science in New Jersey, and the Metropolitan Art Center in Florida. Her work is held in numerous public collections in New York and California been the recipient of awards and fellowships, including one from the Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation. Massa currently lives in New York City where she continues to create work.
Blue Journey: Ellen Wallenstein
"Illness consumes; art transcends. Art heals."
In late 2021, artist and photography professor Ellen Wallenstein received a life-altering diagnosis: stage three endometrial cancer. Despite the daunting prognosis, Wallenstein found solace and strength in her art, continuing to create cyanotypes—ethereal blue shadow-grams on cloth—each sunny day. These daily practices became a profound medium for Wallenstein to channel her emotions, fears, and unwavering determination to thrive.
Blue Journey is a testament to Wallenstein's resilience and creativity during her arduous medical journey. The installation features nine sets of prayer flags, titled "In Treatment," meticulously crafted during the early stages of her diagnosis in 2021 and 2022. Each flag, imbued with Wallenstein's spirit, reflects the raw and unfiltered experiences of undergoing treatment.
Complementing the prayer flags are five quilts, collectively known as "The Healing Process." These quilts, created between 2020 and 2024, narrate the phases of prognosis, treatment, healing, and eventual remission. They are the result of a collaborative effort between Wallenstein and Kathe Williams, a master quilter and Wallenstein's longtime friend from Texas. Together, they transformed Wallenstein's journey into tactile expressions of hope and recovery, blending artistic visions with intimate personal experiences.
Blue Journey invites viewers to witness the transformative power of art in the face of adversity, celebrating the profound connection between creativity and healing.
Ellen Wallenstein, a photographer, book artist, and professor of art, works across multiple mediums, including photography, drawing, and collage. Raised in New York City, she holds a BA in Art History from SUNY Stony Brook and an MFA in Photography from Pratt Institute. Her extensive teaching career spanned institutions such as the University of Texas at Austin, the School of Visual Arts, and Pratt Institute, from which she retired in 2022. A New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Photography, Wallenstein's work has garnered nominations for the Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Magazine Photography and the Santa Fe Prize. Her photographs, books, and ‘zines are held in various public and private collections and have been exhibited internationally. Wallenstein's diverse artistic and professional experiences also include roles as an Artist-in-Residence, Curator, Photo Archivist, Writer, and Tarot Card Reader.
Kathe Williams, a retired clinical social worker, uses sewing as a form of meditation, employing her intuitive sense developed over her career she uncovers the deeper stories behind images. Her work allows viewers to experience their own visceral responses to the evocative fabric images she creates.. Williams received her BA in American Studies from Hamilton College (formerly Kirkland College) and her MSSW from UT Austin. She has participated in several quilt shows, winning a Judge’s Choice Award and multiple Honorable Mentions.
Blue Journey is on view from August 1 – November 6, 2024..
Installation Views
