Nylen Galley at Picture This is pleased to present recent works by Sholeh Janati and Jeff Becker and invites you to meet the artists at an opening reception on April 18th, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. The show will run until May 14th.
"Both Sholeh and Jeff have been experimenting with excess water in their process, albeit in very different media," says owner Wendy Nylen. "Sholeh works in acrylic on canvas and uses the fluidity of the paint to express the ephemeral effects of light and atmosphere. Jeff is a photographer and uses water to manipulate the inkjet printing process, resulting in photos that look like watercolors."
"Flow: Recent work by Sholeh Janati and Jeff Becker." Artists' reception on Friday, April18th, 2014, 5:30-7:30 pm. On view from April 2nd through May 14th, Mon.- Fri. 10:00 am–5:30 pm, Sat. 10:00 am-5pm. Nylen Gallery at Picture This, 606 Post Rd.E., Westport, 203-227-6861.
About Sholeh Janati
Sholeh Janati is an accomplished artist whose works are found in Europe, Middle East and North America. Her work is characterized by strong brush strokes, rich textures and vibrant colors and her creative, spontaneous and affectionate personality shines through her paintings, which unite past, present and future and represents a great strength of cultural identity.
Born in Tehran, she adopted the United States as her home in 1988. While her talents were originally recognized by Persian traditionalists, she has since concentrated on still life, nudes, portraits and abstract paintings, which has brought her praise from a broad spectrum of American and European enthusiasts. The vibrancy of her colors and her ability to express real life through her work is the defining characteristic of her creativity. Her recent works have focused on abstract paintings, through which she expresses her vision through a myriad of colors and shapes.
Sholeh's paintings typically evoke a unique response. Collectors of Sholeh's work have commented that her paintings provide a constant interaction with the viewer -- as if taken on a journey to a new place and time. Repeated viewings of her work reveal something that hadn't seen before ~ a constant interaction with the individual, as if the painting changes dynamically time after time. In this sense, the individual finds each of Sholeh's works as an expression of their own artistic vision.
Sholeh maintains her studio in Stamford, Connecticut. Most recently, her award-winning works have been on display at the Bowery Gallery in New York City; the Viridian Artists Gallery in New York City (award winner); Chautauqua Visual Arts Center, Chautauqua, NY (award winner); Andrews Art Museum in Andrews, NC; Ridgefield Artists Guild in Ridgefield, CT (solo show); Rowayton Art Center in Rowayton CT; Westport Arts Center and the Westport Arts Festival in Westport CT; and Art of the Northeast at Silvermine Art Center in New Caanan, CT (award winner). She was profiled in the July/August 2010 issue of VENU Magazine.
I believe the mystery of these elements is best expressed in abstraction, which captures the unique moment they come together in a spectacular harmony, never to be repeated in precisely the same way.
In the paintings in this exhibit, the sky becomes a supernatural canvas with ever-shifting colors, hues, and textures. There is no particular intention to express a precise sense of time or season -- each work is perhaps a collection of moments overlaid during a single day, a whole month, an entire year.
We are to be reminded of the life-affirming beauty of the elements of the planet, the feelings we experience when we are exposed to the infinite combinations of air, water and sun."
About Jeff Becker
Jeff is a Portrait and Fine Art photographer from Easton CT. He enjoys applying an artistic sensibility to high tech digital photography. Jeff asks, "When is a photograph a painting? Is an inkjet printer a paintbrush? As technology replaces human functions, and as I 'paint' with my inkjet printer, though I start with a photograph or a scan, is the resulting image a photo or a painting? Here photography is turned on it's head. Though the initial image creation is done with preciseness and control, I totally let go during the printing process. It all started with an error, and over a period of weeks it became apparent that it opened up an opportunity to seek those interesting interstitial spaces. Using hardware as a paintbrush, images that start out as non-manipulated photographs often end up looking more like watercolors, just by letting nature carry the process, with the occasional helping hand of man and the environment.
There is an essence to all things, captured by shooting from the heart, as unobtrusively as possible. Intimate, personal photos with soul and emotion, the true essence and spirit of a person or place; This is what I photograph. Patience and time are fundamental. Take a long look."