Contact

email@example.com
917-555-5555
Instagram

Education

9/66 - 6/68 Yale University, School of Art & Architecture, New Haven, CT
M.F.A. Painting

9/65 - 6/66 Yale University, School of Art & Architecture, New Haven, CT
B.F.A. Painting

9/61 - 6/65 Queens College, CUNY, Queens, NY
B.A. Phi Beta Kappa, Cum Laude

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

1989 Three Painters’ Paths, Pratt Institute, Higgens Hall Galleries, Brooklyn, NY

1977 Susan Fortgang / Cora Cohen, SoHo Center for Visual Artists, New York, NY

Selected Group Exhibitions

2017 - Artist Run, Gallery M 55, Chelsea, NY

2014 - 21 & Counting Invitational, The Painting Center, Chelsea, NY

2010 - Small Works Invitational, The Painting Center, Chelsea, NY

1996 - The Loft Pioneers”, The Puffin Room, SoHo, NY

1995 - S.O.S. Art Exhibition, SoHo, NY,

1995 - Works in Progress, 2/20 Gallery, New York, NY

1993 - Eventa 360, Pino Molica Gallery, Rome, Italy

1992 - Eventa 360, Pino Molica Gallery, SoHo, NY

1989 - Abstract 89, Pleiades Gallery, SoHo, NY

1985 - Exceptions 3: Paper Works, Pratt Manhattan Center, SoHo, NY

1983 - December Invitational, A.I.R. Gallery, SoHo, NY

1982 - The Destroyed Print, Pratt Manhattan Center, SoHo, NY

1981 - Heresies Annual Benefit Exhibition, Grey Art Gallery, New York, NY

1981 - 24 x 24, Pelham Curtis Gallery, New Caanan, CT

1980 - The Thirteen Collection, Southby Parke-Bernat, New York, NY

1979 - Invitational Group Show, Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York, NY

1979 - 24 x 24, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY

1978 - Artists’ Mobilization for Survival, Plaza Art Gallery, New York, NY

1978 - Pattern Painting, P.S. 1, Long Island City, NY

1977 - Preparatory Notes – Thinking Drawings, New York University, NY

1977 - Preparatory Notes – Thinking Drawings, Boulder, CO

1977 - Contemporary American Painting, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA

1976 - Contemporary Reflections, Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, CT

1976 - Contemporary Painting, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ

1975 - Works on Paper, Gallery 641, Washington, D.C.

1974 - Chief With Cherries, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Teaching

1990-1992 - Adjunct Instructor, Department of Art Education
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY

1990-1992 - Director, Saturday Art School, Department of Art Education
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY

1980 -1981 - Adjunct Instructor, Department of Fine Arts
College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY

1979-1982 - Adjunct Instructor, Department of Art Education
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY

1969-1999 - Staff Developer for Art, Technology, Literacy
PS 79, District Ten, Bronx, NY

Biography

I have been painting in my studio on Greene Street in SoHo, NY since 1972. I was born and raised in New York City in a wonderful neighborhood in Queens called Sunnyside. As a resident of lower Manhattan for over forty years, my husband and I were some of the original loft pioneers in the SoHo historic district and I have been politically active in the community at various times. Throughout this entire period, I have worked both as an artist and an art educator. I have a Master of Fine Arts Degree and a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Painting from the Yale School of Art and Architecture and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Queens College, CUNY.

As a student and younger artist, I was influenced by the Abstract Expressionists, many of whom were showing in the galleries and museums in New York City. I studied with several remarkable teachers including Louis Finkelstein, Al Held, Jack Tworkov, John Ferren, and Phoebe Hellman. During the 1960’s, I became an action painter using oil paint to build up surfaces that created spaces that one might call “push-pull”. The structures of these early works were tied to themes involving figures, interiors, and landscapes.

In the early 70’s, when I moved to my loft in lower Manhattan, I gave up oil paint for acrylic paint and, as noted in my statement, that decision changed my work forever. Rejecting “performance based” art, I used systems to organize the drips and gestural activity of action painting with horizontal and vertical bands. I was influenced by other creative endeavors involving Knitting, Crocheting, and Bargello, all of which worked with systems that led to logical conclusions.

Eventually, the grid became the underlying vehicle for my work. The paintings became systemic, more minimal, reflecting my interest in pattern, color, symmetry, and repetition. In many pieces, the diamond shape is central. Using acrylic paint to build up layers, I develop a surface that appears to be carved and sculptural. This constructivist approach creates a physical presence that is characteristic of my work.

I have painted steadily throughout my life creating a large body of paintings some of which can be seen on this website. Although showing my work was not always a primary goal, I have exhibited in several group shows and solo exhibitions. Now, I am at a point in my journey where I want my paintings to be identified, acknowledged and hopefully exhibited in a broader way. I have always believed that my work is a part of the larger dialogue reflecting the possibilities in painting.

Statement

My painting has evolved from early roots in Abstract Expressionism and Action Painting to a way of painting that is systemic, grid based, and focuses on painting as a construction moving outward into the space. The way I work, the process and language that I have developed over many years, provide, for me, a stimulating and sometimes surprising outcome that contributes to the handmade quality and uniqueness of my work.

My goal in each work is to create a painting that has a strong physical presence as it projects and asserts itself off the wall. This is achieved by the physicality of the surface, the building up of layers, the opaque and metallic color, the composition, pattern, scale and optical vibration, all of which are a part of an energy that is manifest in my work.

The underlying structure of the grid has defined the parameters of my painting since the mid 1970’s. I have used acrylic paint, the properties of which allow me to work in layers. The layers pile up and, selectively, with the use of tape, I block specific elements as I build new layers. When the tape is removed, layers below are revealed. There is always an aspect that is unanticipated.

The paintings address formal issues; combinations of similar and varying elements within specific compositional structures. They are constructions, not descriptions. Predominantly, the diamond shape has become the means by which I establish the anchor of each new work. The unique surface which I achieve is rich with color and texture and often appears to be carved. Additionally, there is an optical effect--a sense of movement or vibration, which can change in different light, adding to the unique visual quality of my work.

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