Artist Elbert Hubbard once said “art is not a thing, it is a way.” For City Gallery artists Susan Newbold, Ruth Sack, and Michael Zack, art has been the way to work through 2020 — a creative process through which to interpret the layers of challenges we’ve all faced over the past year. PERSEVERANCE: THREE ARTISTS WORK THROUGH STRESSFUL TIMES will be on view from January 2 - January 31, Saturday & Sunday, 2PM - 4PM or by appointment. Artists will be in the gallery on January 2 (Michael Zack), January 3 (Ruth Sack), and January 31 (Susan Newbold).
Susan Newbold’s mixed media pieces capture the organic nature of the landscapes she loves. “I live on the coast of Maine during the summer months, and for the last 35 years have tried to capture its tumbling rock cliffs, glistening water, and distant hills,” she explains. With travel limited during the pandemic, this show offers a chance for visitors to vicariously explore some of her favorite places: Great Spruce Head Island off the coast of Deer Isle, Ocean Point in East Boothbay and Witch Island in South Bristol.
Artist Ruth Sack considers art to be “a physical manifestation of my emotions and experiences,” which you can see in the visceral forms and bright colors of her mixed media work. Her art is her communication, with shapes that “reference letterforms such as cuneiform, hieroglyphics, and calligraphies,” and “zigs and zags like x and Y-chromosomes, living organisms that together grow into a community of clustered shapes.” In a very distinct way, Sack creates a new language for us to consider in our conversations about 2020.
In Michael Zack’s figure prints, their subtle and nuanced colors highlight people moving about their daily lives in familiar conversations and communities. But shorn of distinguishing facial features and clothing detail, his figures become anyone and everyone, taken out of context and rearranged into a panorama that has a narrative all its own. A narrative that, in the socially distanced days of 2020, becomes even more poignant and full of meaning.
Not to be missed, this group show does not belabor the challenges of 2020 so much as it bears witness to how each of us processes and communicates our experiences.
PERSEVERANCE: THREE ARTISTS WORK THROUGH STRESSFUL TIMES is free and open to the public, and runs January 2 - January 31, 2021. City Gallery is located at 994 State Street, New Haven, CT 06511. Modified gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday, 2PM - 4PM or by appointment (203) 410-4790. Number of visitors limited to 6 at a time. All visitors are required to wear a mask and observe social distancing protocols. For further information please contact City Gallery, 203-782-2489, info@city-gallery.org, www.city-gallery.org.
FEATURED IMAGE:
Michael H Zack, Untitled, oil on canvas. 24"x30"