(SUMMIT, NJ) -- The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey (VACNJ) will open the Winter/Spring exhibition season with three new shows on Friday, February 4. The exhibitions will be on view through May 22.
The Main Gallery show, Claiming the Narrative, is a group exhibition that raises the questions, “Whose story gets told on museum walls?” and “Who tells the story?” Centering subjects who have been marginalized, ignored, exoticized, or even erased from Western Art History, the eleven artists in this show challenge assumptions about historical narratives, “classical” portraiture, and the power of the gaze. Collectively, they seek a more authentic representation of contemporary life by broadening and diversifying the possibilities of figurative art. Artists featured include: Tyler Ballon, Santiago Galeas, Alex Gardner, Todd Gray, Layqa Nuna Yawar, Shona McAndrew, Arcmanoro Niles, Ron Norsworthy, Ransome, Mickalene Thomas, and Philemona Williamson.
(LEFT) Layqa Nuna Yawar, WNY, 2020, oil on canvas, 60 x 36 inches. Courtesy of the artist (RIGHT) Jess T. Dugan, Collin (red room), 2020, pigmented inkjet print, 40 x 30 inches. Courtesy of the artist
Concurrently, Jess T. Dugan: Seen will be on display in the Art Center’s Mitzi and Warren Eisenberg Gallery. Dugan is an artist whose work centers around an exploration of identity—particularly gender and sexuality. Drawing from their own experience as a queer, non-binary person, Dugan employs traditional photographic techniques to create color portraits that reflect the complex beauty and humanity of their subjects. This focused exhibition highlights color portraits from their recent and ongoing projects To Survive on This Shore and Every Breath We Drew, and includes a reading area where Dugan’s three fine art photography books will provide a more comprehensive view of their work. Conveying a sense of both directness and intimacy, Dugan’s portraits and self-portraits encourage empathy and understanding and underscore the importance not only of seeing but of being seen.
The work of Parvathi Kumar, collectively titled Everyday Blackness, will be on display in the Marité and Joe Robinson Strolling Gallery I. Beginning in June 2020, Kumar photographed and interviewed 25 Black women in the New Jersey area to showcase their collective courage, tenacity, and resilience. Responding to the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests as well as the global COVID-19 pandemic, the New Jersey-based photographer wanted to document and share the vast goodness she observed in this group of women—a goodness that prevailed over the pain people were feeling.
Kumar's efforts resulted in the book, Everyday Blackness: Celebrating Exceptional Women, published in 2021. Ranging in age from 19 to 86, the women featured represent a broad array of professions and experiences. This exhibition includes portraits of all 25 women and features quotations and brief bios from each subject.
PHOTO: Parvathi Kumar, Portrait of Whitney Smith, 2020
For over 85 years, the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey has been exclusively dedicated to viewing, making, and learning about contemporary art. Recognized as a leading non-profit arts organization, the Art Center’s renowned Studio School, acclaimed exhibitions, and educational outreach initiatives serve thousands of youth, families, seniors, and people with special needs every year.
The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey is located at 68 Elm Street in Summit, NJ. Gallery hours: Monday– Thursday, 10:00am–8:00pm; Friday, 10:00am–5:00pm; and Saturday & Sunday, 11:00am–4:00pm. Admission must be reserved in advance. Please call 908.273.9121 to confirm holiday hours.
Significant support for the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey is provided by the Wilf Family Foundation; Peter R. & Cynthia K. Kellogg Foundation; New Jersey State Council on the Arts; The Estate of Pamela Hauptfleisch; and the Art Center community of supporters.
