"Women Painters" opens April 8th at the Madison Gallery
Karen Silve, Beijing Spring, Acrylic on Canvas, 60 x 80 in, 153 x 203 cm
My Beijing Paintings will be on view at the Madison Gallery for this exhibition. I'm proud to be among such strong woman painters. See the Press Release below.
Madison Gallery presents
JANE BOOTH, MEL DAVIS AND KAREN SILVE: WOMEN PAINTERS
Exhibition dates: April 8th – May 21st, 2017
Venue: 1055 Wall Street, La Jolla, CA 92037
Gallery Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10am – 6pm, Sunday, 10am – 4pm
Contact: 858-459-0836/info@madisongalleries.com
Madison Gallery presents Women Painters a group exhibition featuring the work of abstract artists: Jane Booth, Mel Davis and Karen Silve. Throughout art history many women artist were encouraged to divorce art practice from female experience and self-awareness in order to succeed professionally. This shifted in the twentieth century, as women became an integral part of society and female artists found their space within male-centric art movements, most importantly, Abstract Expressionism. Abstraction became the vehicle in which gender became obsolete, as it centered on movement, color and emotion. The exhibition strives to combat the oft-repeated and false compliment unthinkingly paid to women, that genius has no sex; there may be equality of power, but in its quality and application there will be and must be, difference and distinction.
Like Helen Frankenthaler, Kansas based Jane Booth began staining color directly into large pieces of canvas. She creates a formal vocabulary from this technique. Booth’s style serves as an example of intimacy between artwork and viewer, like a dance her work is free, lyrical and feminine.
Mel Davis derives her style from non-relational, colorful surfaces of post-painterly abstraction. She follows the instinctive elements of reductive abstraction in both her treatment of the canvas and in her use of color and forms.
Portland-based abstract artist Karen Silve midpoints the extraordinary dichotomy between nature and technology and brings together a harmony or colors within pure abstraction. Renowned art writer Ann Landis describes this as a movement “into the realm of pure abstraction, and at this juncture in time, the possibilities appear to be boundless.” Silve utilizes the computer as a design tool and creates vivid landscapes that resonate with memories and senses. As art critic Peter Frank says “Her paintings do not describe or even suggest her surroundings so much as taste of them.”
Founded in 2001, Madison Gallery is committed to representing emerging, mid-career and established international artists whom work in a range of media. Inspired by an earnest dedication and passion for art, the gallery consistently exhibits a high standard of contemporary art. Madison Gallery works closely in building private, corporate and public collections thus placing it amongst the leading contemporary galleries in California. Blouin Modern Painters Magazine has recognized our program for the fourth year in a row as one of the Top 500 galleries worldwide.