Katherine Stanek, Julia Levitina, Lance Balderson at Noyes Museum of Art, Oceanville, Atlantic County, NJ

Katherine Stanek and Julia Levitina:  Of Myths, Metal and Mortar, through April 22 – Lance Balderson: Abstractions, through May 13, 2012 - Noyes Museum of Art, Oceanville, Atlantic County, NJ

Katherine Stanek and Julia Levitina present representational works with a unique freshness. Levitina sculpts figures and animals in terracotta and bronze, with fine craftsmanship and sensitivity. Stanek’s work utilizes an innovative use of materials, a combination of cements, aggregates and pigments. In her unique process she uses destruction as a vehicle for creation. Both artists establish a deep connection to their work as it goes through all the foundry processes. Stanek and Levitina each sculpt, cast and finish their own work, ensuring a very personal quality to each sculpture. Together they have exhibited across the globe from Turkey to the Ukraine, and Paris.

KATHERINE STANEK
After graduating from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Katherine Stanek exhibited several bronze works with integrated concrete bases. It was then that she began to truly look at concrete as medium for her sculptures, spending years developing techniques to manipulate her medium. This innovative approach allowed for her to create pieces which represented her view of what is beautiful and destructive. Stanek has exhibited in galleries and sculpture gardens throughout the northeastern United States and has been recognized in “Sculpture Review,” the magazine of The National Sculpture Society. She was also the recipient of the 2010 George and Helen Segal Foundation Grant, and recently traveled to Turkey to share her work and technique. Now a sought after cement casting instructor, she resides in New Jersey and is represented by the Rosenfeld Gallery in Philadelphia.

JULIA LEVITINA
Born in Odessa, Ukraine, Levitina currently lives and works in Philadelphia, where she creates representational sculptural works.  An exquisite sculptor, Julia Levitina works quickly to capture her impression in clay and later casting in terra cotta and bronze.  Her development of every piece makes them appear alive regardless of the medium in which they have been cast, making it immediately evident why they have been praised as, “uplifting the human spirit.” She has exhibited internationally in numerous galleries such as the Eugeen Van Mieghem Museum in Antwerp, Belgium, the City Hall of Odessa in Ukraine, and the Atelier Poussin in Paris as well as the University of the Arts located in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Levitina has also been recognized with several awards for her work, including the Leona Karp Braverman Award, and the Gloria Medal for meritorious body of work from the National Sculpture Society. 

LANCE BALDERSON
Painter and teacher Lance Balderson is  graduate of Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), School of Architecture. The artist presents moods of nature interpreted through abstraction. Strong geometric and rhythmic compositions are infused in  Balderson’s  layered paintings. His work is represented in many galleries in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. One of his artwork is part of the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

 LANCE BALDERSON painting’s detail © Lance Balderson

 

Noyes Museum of Art of Stockton College
Oceanville, Atlantic County, New Jersey 08231 - USA
Museum's website:  www.noyesmuseum.org

Cuban Art Exhibition: Ajiaco at the Newark Museum, New Jersey

Ajiaco: Stirrings of the Cuban Soul 
Newark Museum, NJ 
June 8 - August 14, 2011 

In 1939, anthropologist Fernando Ortiz characterized Cuban culture as ajiaco, a rich stew consisting of a large variety of ingredients. The ingredients of the “stew” include Catholicism brought in by the Spaniards; the spirituality of the Yoruba slaves and their cultural traditions from Africa; and the Chinese indentured servants who brought Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. The base of the stew is the indigenous people, such as Tainos, who were almost wiped out by the Spaniards. 

AJIACO: STIRRINGS OF THE CUBAN SOUL is a survey of modern and contemporary Cuban artists that explores these rich cultural roots of Cuban art. In contemporary society, the “stew” has become thicker and richer as the influences become more complex and intermixed: the artist now borrows not only from the traditional cultures that populated the island, but also appropriates from contemporary everyday life. The exhibition includes works by leading artists in a variety of media, from paintings, works on paper and photography to mixed-media sculpture and installations.

Curators: Gail Gelburd, Ph. D. Guest Curator, Zette Emmons, Project Director
Location: Brady and Eweson Galleries

NEWARK MUSEUM
49 Washington Street
in the Downtown / Arts District of Newark
Newark, New Jersey

www.newarkmuseum.org