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originally published: 03/23/2023 

Blue Man Group by Joan Reutershan, 2022

(HACKENSACK, NJ) -- Riverside Gallery presents a trio exhibition of works by Sabrina Puppin, Joan Retuershan, and Joyce Pommer, titled "Abstraction, Layers, and Perception." The exhibition will open on March 31st and close on April 13th, 2023, with an opening reception on March 31st, Friday, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm. 

Are we able to trust our perception? Is our own perception purely an artificial construction of the mind or is it rooted in some kind of underlying truth or objective reality? What can abstraction tell us about reality and perception, and, in turn, our own consciousness and identity? If our perception, reality, and identity have layers, what is left when we peel away those layers? When we use painting as a tool to inquire and reflect on ourselves in order to know ourselves, what are we able to learn?

The exhibition focuses on the dialogue between our perception and painting (in terms of its visual language and methodology of layering), where abstraction plays a key role, becoming the underlying truth as reality on the surface breaks down.

Due to the problems of illusion and hallucination, perception has problems in facilitating a true understanding of reality. The play with abstraction may be a way forward from the limitations of perception in understanding truth and reality.

There can be a feedback loop between the artist's perception and abstraction. When the artist makes an abstraction based on one's perception, the result includes perceptual abstraction, which is a historical term to describe abstract art from the 1950s in reaction against Abstract Expressionism, such as Hard-Edge Painting, Minimal art, and Op art. Perceptual abstraction is defined as having an emphasis on clarity and precision based on objective perception, rather than the expressive and painterly qualities.

 

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The works featured in the exhibition tend to deviate from the understanding of objective perception as expressed by the artists behind the perceptual abstraction. Sabrina Puppin's works utilize drip painting and mainly express the distortions of reality and the subjectivity of perception and understanding of reality. Joyce Pommer uses mixed media and collage to deal with the process of painting as a way of improvising with various materials and colors and to rely on her perception and intuition for abstraction to create unified and harmonious compositions. Joan Reutershan utilizes geometric and abstract compositions that sometimes embed figurative abstract elements, akin to the 1980s computer graphics aesthetics of Laura Owens, to depict the streets of Brooklyn and New York City, where she resides.

Shorelines by Joyce Pommer; 7x5”, mixed media on linen

About the Artists:

Sabrina Puppin was born in 1961 in Aviano, Italy, and lives and works between Doha, Qatar and New York, NY. She earned her Ph.D. in African Art studies from the Union Institute and University in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2008, and M.F.A. in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in 2018.

“I use the visual language of color, shape, and form to create compositions in which the world as seen and known begins to dematerialize and the underlying spatial relationship becomes apparent. My work is characterized by intuitive and loose paint handling, spontaneous expression, and controlled process, as well as an irrepressible intervention of the medium, to create illusionist space.”

Joan Reutershan makes boldly colored collage and assemblage paintings, taking cues from the cacophonous Brooklyn streets she traverses every day. Her urban themes are the contemporary tensions between chaos and design, digitality and materiality, and sense and nonsense.  She received her BFA summa cum laude from Hunter College, City University of New York, where she was a Kossak Painting Fellow.  She earned an MA Degree in Art History, also from Hunter College.

Joyce Pommer studied at the Art Students League (NYC), Art Institute of Boston (Boston, MA), and Academy of Art (San Francisco, CA).

“My paintings evolve out of my subconscious in a free flowing intuitive process - I do not start with a preconceived idea or plan – the art is my reflection. The work I create makes people feel good & instills positive emotions and harmony, along with a curiosity. My work frees the mind and spirit; inspired by the early Abstract Expressionists I seek the emotion and spirit of the painting by way of the unconscious and spiritual…”

Study #188 by Sabrina Puppin, 12"x12"; Glazes and mixed media on wood

Riverside Gallery is located in The Shops at Riverside (Riverside Square) at One Riverside Square, Suite 201 in Hackensack, New Jersey. Riverside Gallery is a 21st century pioneer in bringing talented international artists and exhibiting diverse mediums of art. The Gallery is dedicated to opening a channel for both established and new up-and-coming artists to express their visions, and for clients to experience and appreciate art. Its prestige and reputation stems from special art collections and successful past exhibitions of works by well renowned artists. The Gallery is located at the heart of the art community, only a few minutes from New York City. Artists that have exhibited their work at Riverside Gallery take pride in the fact that their work have been exhibited in a forum that highly values uniqueness, creativity, and talent.