(PRINCETON, NJ) -- The Arts Council of Princeton will exhibit Talk to Me, a collection of abstract paintings by longtime friends and collaborators Janet Filomeno and Katherine Parker. The exhibit will be on display from October 16 through November 20, 2021. The public is invited to an Opening Reception on Saturday, October 16 from 3:00pm-5:00pm.

Janet Filomeno and Katherine Parker met in Hoboken in 1991. They felt an immediate affinity as both were painters of large, expressionist works. Each were grappling with the challenges of finding new language to reinvent and personalize the ideas of abstract painting for their generation. A conversation started between the two friends that has continued over 25 plus years and both have continued to paint and show extensively in the NY/ NJ area. The visits to the studio which have unfolded over the years have been an important touchstone for each, a means of trying out and sharing new work, of examining challenges. A trusted voice is paramount as this process takes place.

“When artists are friends, they spend years, even decades, watching one another’s work change and grow”, Filomeno and Parker share. “They talk together in studios, galleries, museums and cafes, discussing the intersection of life and art. These conversations are so important to artists, as a studio practice is quiet and sometimes lonely. The shorthand developed over years of conversation can ignite a body of work, deepen a theme or reimagine an idea just beginning to take shape. It’s no surprise that such friendships have historically been so important to the development of new ideas and schools of thought.”

Katherine Parker's new works address the themes of memory, time and loss. The large, painterly pieces are conceived slowly by adding layer after layer of thin oil paint, the forms and marks appearing and receding as the finished painting emerges. Parker has shown her work at MOMA/PS1, the Newark Museum, the Jersey City Museum, Spanierman Modern, Heidi Cho Gallery, Accola Littlejohn Gallery and many other venues in NY and NJ. She is the recipient of a Yaddo Fellowship, an Edward Albee Fellowship, and NJ State Council for the Arts grant. She has lectured at many museums and universities in the area about her work. 

Janet Filomeno is best known for her large-scale gestural, abstract paintings that employ the use of a variety of materials such as ink, mica, shellac, acrylic paint, graphite, charcoal, paint markers, and at times, collage. By the use of her physical action such as pouring, flinging, and throwing colorful liquids onto the stretched canvas on the floor, she is able to reenact the movement one might sense in oceans, rivers, and other bodies of water. It is an intuitive process she follows as she uses the physicality of her body to move/shift the canvas in various directions to create a heightened sense of movement as each layer is poured. As various forms and liquids collide together on the canvas one can experience the reference to water and all its associations in both a physical and metaphorical way. Bodies of water are a continuous theme that run throughout her many different series. Filomeno seeks visual metaphors and metaphysical connections to form a collective experience of the internal and external.

Filomeno has exhibited on both a national and international level. She has been included in many museum exhibits including The Trenton City Museum, The James A. Michener Museum, The Morris Museum, The Montclair Museum, and The Hunterdon and Paterson Museums. Internationally she has exhibited in Japan, China, Korea, Austria, and Italy. 

In NYC she has exhibited in various galleries including the JCacciola and Walter Wickiser Gallery. In addition to her exhibition history she has taught and lectured at various museums and universities in the tri-state area. She has been an adjunct professor of art at Montclair State University (18 yrs), and William Paterson University. 

Born in New York, NY, Janet Filomeno lives and works in New Hope, PA. Currently her work is represented by the Walter Wickiser Gallery in NYC and Posner Fine Art in Los Angeles, CA. Her work is included in various museums, private and public collections. 

This exhibition is an opportunity to show new work side by side: paintings rich in history and shared experience, reflecting a dialogue of faith, friendship and the possibilities of abstract painting. Talk to Me is a show about long friendships and the conversations between two artists. 

Gallery hours: Monday-Thursday, 11:00am-6:00pm; Friday & Saturday, 11:00am-4:00pm. Free and open to the public. Arts Council of Princeton is located at 102 Witherspoon Street in Princeton, New Jersey.

The Arts Council of Princeton, a non-profit organization founded in 1967, fulfills its mission of building community through the arts by presenting a wide range of programs including public art projects, exhibitions, performances, free community cultural events, and studio-based classes and workshops. Arts Council of Princeton programs are designed to be high-quality, engaging, affordable and accessible for the diverse population in the greater Princeton region.  

TOP PHOTO: Works by Janet Filomeno (left) and Katherine Parker (right) side by side