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originally published: 02/15/2023

Mark Kurdziel.  Hiromi, Layla, Blu, 2022, oil and distemper on linen, 84 x60 

(JERSEY CITY, NJ) -- Art House Productions presents new work by Mark Kurdziel in the Art House Gallery, March 3- 26, 2023. Kurdziel is an artist based in Jersey City using oil paint and oil distemper. His work combines plastic pictorial ideas and personal poetic concerns by using form, color, and space through metaphor to express the poetry, mystery, and melancholy of our shared existence. The upcoming exhibition at the Art House Gallery represents Kurdziel’s newest work from the last several years.

The exhibition has a reception on Saturday, March 4 from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. A brief preview for the show will be held on March 3 for JC Fridays from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. More information at www.jcfriday.com

Curator Andrea McKenna says, “When looking at Mark’s work, the first thing I notice is his use of color. The deep saturation of hues draws you into a mythical narrative made up of everyday objects, creating a beautiful view into the artist's personal world.”

All works will be for sale in the Art House Gallery at The Hendrix at 345 Marin Boulevard in Jersey City, New Jersey. Art House Gallery exhibitions are always free and open to the public.

"Mark Kurdziel's new paintings reveal the mythological in the ordinary: a party, a fish tank, a domestic cat. His women are hieratic. The flatness of their appearance on the canvas makes them Egyptian goddesses, or Greek Kouroi, or the formal erotic shapes of the sculptures of Khajuraho. These women are his link with the past- his own painterly past and the roots of painting. But just in case you thought to get too serious, there's a touch of Fat Freddie's Cat sniffing in the old fish store: mischief amongst the mystery. The ruling goddess is desire. Like all of Mark Kurdziel's unique work, the imagist language is his own while being deeply rooted in painterly traditions from the papyri through abstract expressionism. Mark Kurdziel is an American painter true to global roots. This current show is a step into territory that combines the traditional and the contemporary in a way that acknowledges the alienation of the modern without losing touch with the richness of the past. This is powerful work."  ----Desmond Barry, author of: The Chivalry of Crime, A Bloody Good Friday, and Cressida's Bed. His shorter prose has appeared in The New Yorker and Granta.

 

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Large print for all literature regarding their exhibitions and tactile and descriptive tours are available upon request. Email Andrea McKenna for more information at gallery@arthouseproductions.org.

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Art House Productions is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to the development and presentation of the performing and visual arts in Jersey City, NJ. Art House Productions presents theater, performing and visual arts festivals, arts events, visual art exhibitions, and adult and youth art classes.

Art House Productions is generously supported by The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Public Funds from the Jersey City Arts and Culture Trust Fund, The Jersey City Arts Council, The Princeton Area Community Foundation, SILVERMAN, KRE, CoolVines, The SVOG, The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, and The Hudson County Office of Cultural Affairs. A full list of funders can be found on their website.