Parlor Gallery and Gallery Orange share a common vision and are both women-owned and directed galleries. Upon realizing they also shared a “slow season” due to their geographical locations, the concept of a seasonal art swap was born. Tracy Gielbert, the owner and curator of Gallery Orange, chose some of her most collected artists to make their debut in the Northeast with complementary artists selected by Parlor Gallery to present a stunning exhibition that is sure to be innovative and exciting. They are coming together for their first foray into what they hope will be many more collaborations in the future….

Gerry Chapleski, making his debut with Parlor Gallery, creates custom painting tools out of things like plastic, mylar, acetate, rubber and old credit cards, in order to find new ways of mark making and to “scrape, smudge and smear the paint in varying degrees.” He describes his work as “Realism, bordering on Abstraction” and focuses on numerous things:“ color – the blending, blurring and mixing of it; beauty – real, purported and imagined; the silliness of American pop culture; and the beauty of the female figure.” Chapelski strives to pay a tribute to the history of painting and all of the amazing craftspersons and thinkers who came before him.

British Artist Harriet White is known for her stunning and strange portraits. “My work involves large scale paintings reflecting conflicting senses of intimacy and glamour.” The artist’s staged set-up and synthetic color serve to emphasize the  artifice, detaching the paintings from reality and suggesting a parallel world of Hollywood cinema and high-gloss fashion photography. Her use of luscious, textured makeup is intended to evoke an immediate sense of dazzle and seduction, whereas the scale and cropping implies a certain exposed vulnerability.

Kurt Pio, an Interior Designer and now a successful artist from South Africa, features heavily in the rotation of Gallery Orange. He is known for his fascinating paintings of Gemstones. “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend” rings especially true for those of us who are enamored with these beguiling gems. The shapes and colors they refract are endlessly interesting, and Kurt’s artwork is eclectic, bohemian, and thought provoking.”

Also from Gallery Orange’s stable is, Gretchen Weller Howard, who is native to our sister city of New Orleans. Howard is a “self described colorist” and employs both symbols and color to communicate the deeply personal meaning of each work. Over the years, she has developed a distinct vocabulary of images, such as the bird and boats or “vessels” to describe the emotional threads that tie her work together. Each piece is a layered labor of love in a muted palette, containing remnants of pieces of other paintings.

Rounding out the exhibit will be: George Thompson, Emily Thompson, Indie 184, Stephen Wilson, Kerry Smith, Patrick Winfield, David Bray, Mike Egan, Mike Longo, Gavin Benjamin, Dan Tague, Anna Kincade, Robert Mars and Lyle Carbajal