Meet the artist/ Cara Enteles

Friends and Supporters,

Please join Cara Enteles for refreshments and conversation in the gallery on Friday, June 28 and Saturday, June 29 from 4 - 8 p.m.

Her exhibition, Sheen, is up for another week and if you haven't yet had a chance to see it, this would be a great opportunity. On Saturday, June 29th, Hang (behind the Suki Zuki parking lot) will also be having an opening reception, Beyond Pigment, from 6 - 8 p.m. 

Cara Enteles aims to subtly point out situations where human activity threatens the environment while still conveying the beauty found in nature. The works are organized in thematic series based on specific environmental issues. Of particular concern to Enteles recently have been Colony Collapse Disorder, the mysterious disappearance of honey bees, and the 2010 oil spill in the gulf, as well as other threats to water pollution such as fracking and nuclear power. Though the works are meant to bring about awareness of these controversial subjects, they are neither sententious nor moralistic. In fact, the casual observer will find a collection of beautiful paintings of plants and animals, albeit with an unusual sheen in the surrounding water or an emphasis on "alternative pollinators" should the honey bees become extinct. 

 Because she works on industrial supports, aluminum sheets and layers of Plexiglas, which are often bolted to the wall, Enteles' work contains an inherent tension between the painterly, organic subject matter depicted and the materials with which she constructs them. Birds, butterflies, bees and flowers set against a backdrop of reflective Plexiglas literally hold a mirror up to nature, while gold-toned Plexiglas backings on her bee paintings evoke pollen. The transparency that Plexiglas affords provides a means for three- dimensional representation -Enteles paints on both sides of the Plexiglas- further reinforcing the realistic and imperative nature of her concerns, while also nodding to the implicit contradiction that Plexiglas itself is a petroleum product.

Enteles received her BFA from Parsons School of Design. She has had solo shows at numerous galleries throughout the US and internationally and has participated in group shows at The Islip Art Museum, The Alexandria Museum of Art, The Arsenal Gallery in Central Park, The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art and Wave Hill. Her work is held in several public collections. For more information or images please contact Sara Nightingale at sara@saranightingale.com. The show will run through July 4th.

Two Men, Opening Saturday, May 4, 6 - 8 p.m.

Sara Nightingale Gallery is pleased to present, Two Men, photographs and a book signing by John Jonas Gruen and recent paintings by Gus Yero, opening on Saturday, May 4th from 6 - 8 p.m. As part of the ongoing #blinddates/musiclab series, Erez and Jonah Kreitner, aka Fiddle N Bones, will provide musical entertainment with Dalton Portella on djembe and conga.

  One likes to hope that an art object transcends gender, or at least conceals the gender of its maker. But the photographs of John Jonas Gruen, from his new book, Two Men, do not aspire to this. Specifically about gender, they explore relationships of intimacy between men, some of whom are lovers and some who are not. "From the first, men have been assigned the role of leader, provider, decider, protector, instigator, fighter and wooer," he writes in the forward to the book. "All of us will continuously and forever be subjected to what the world...thinks a man should be." In American culture this includes eschewing same sex public displays of affection. 

  Each of the photographs in the book, thirty of which will be on display, depicts two men interacting in an intimate way. American construction workers, Italian waiters, prominent artists and fathers and sons are among the characters found in these small black and white photographs, which date from the 1960's through the present and include several images that were taken in Water Mill. The collection consists of both candid and posed shots of couples and nudges traditional portraiture toward storytelling. The images serve as narratives whose subtexts can be deciphered by the subjects' surroundings, their attire, and their expressions. Only a lit cigarette, a wedding band, or a twisted tie serve as clues as to what might have transpired before the shot was taken, what may happen next, and what nuance, erotic or otherwise, exists in the relationship between the two men pictured. 

  John Jonas Gruen, who is also a playwright, journalist and composer, will be in attendance with his editor and archivist, Sam Swasey, to sign and sell copies of the book. "This is not a gay book or a straight book but something you've got to do a little thinking about," says Gruen.

 Gus Yero is an abstract painter who pushes boundaries and experiments with formal composition. A natural colorist, he continuously plays with shape, scale, and pattern, inventing images that challenge and arouse questioning in the viewer. "When I was traveling this year in Sedona Arizona I was inspired by what I saw there," he says. "The architectural landscape of the red rocks, their layers and flat surfaces, as well as the influences of Navajo weavings and the artisans of the Hopi Indians, have all found their way into these paintings. I see everything as color and shapes. When painting I use color as my vocabulary to create and inspire stories." 

  Erez and Jonah Kreitner are a father and son musical duo from New York, NY. Jonah K "Bones" is a multi-instrumentalist who focuses on the violin. He is 10 years old and has been studying violin and improvisation with Regina Sadowski since age five. He has performed internationally in Israel and Italy and most recently at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Erez K "ZZ" is a New York City based singer songwriter and guitarist. He has performed with numerous bands over the past two decades most notably as an original member of Pleasuredog. Dalton Portella is an artist, surfer and musician from Montauk, NY.

 above image: John Jonas Gruen, Dinos and Jake Chapman, New York, NY 1997

 below image: Gus Yero, Ocean, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48", 2013

#blinddates/musiclab, 1st edition, Thursday, April 18, 6 - 8 p.m.

Sara Nightingale Gallery is pleased to announce the launch of a new music performance program, #blinddates/musiclab, that will bring together two or more musicians who have never met one another and ask them to perform together in front of an audience. The inaugural performance, on Thursday, April 18th from 6 - 8 p.m. at Sara Nightingale Gallery will feature Ryan Messina on trumpet and Dalton Portella on guitar. 

 Initially, the musicians in this ongoing program will be selected by the gallery. But as the series develops, friends and friends of friends, etc.. will be able to recommend new musicians, leading to the eventual dissipation of curatorial oversight and allowing the series to grow itself organically. Its ultimate evolution will result in a networking system for performers and listeners alike. Audience participation is encouraged in the form of dancing, filming, posting to social media, or simply spreading the word verbally about the musicians they discover at the events. The performances are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Like a blind date, each performance has the potential to go tremendously wrong. But it could also work extremely well, spark great chemistry among the participants, and initiate a musical dialogue that may or may not be continued elsewhere later. There is no particular formula for the selection of musical preferences and styles. Unlike internet dating, mismatched genres or quirky pairings may result. However, the hope is that the openness of the gallery setting will serve as an experimental laboratory where courage, skill and creativity can flourish. 

Musicians who are interested in participating in future #blinddates/musiclab performances are encouraged to contact the gallery.

Dalton Portella (right) of Montauk, NY is an artist, surfer and musician whose photographs have been exhibited at the gallery.

Ryan Messina (left) of Brooklyn, NY is a sailor, teacher and musician.

For more information contact sara@saranightingale.com.

New works by Cara Enteles, Feb. 2013

Cara Enteles, Oiled Gannet, oil on acrylic sheet 48 x36 inches

Cara Enteles, Pollinators at Work 2, Oil on acrylic sheet, 24x24 inches

Cara Enteles, Summer Rain, Oil on acrylic sheet, 24x24 inches

Cara Enteles, Starling, oil on acrylic sheet, 24x24 inches

Kia Pedersen, A Change in the Wind, Dec. 15 - Jan. 23, 2012

Sara Nightingale Gallery is pleased to present Kia Pedersen, A Change in the Wind, opening Saturday, Dec. 15, from 5 - 8 p.m.

  Trained as a printmaker, sculptor, painter and architect, Pedersen fuses these practices to achieve her goal of subverting traditional methods of printmaking. She deconstructs the standard intaglio printmaking process by rearranging and/ or eliminating certain steps. Her prints begin as thick, dense asphaltum paintings whose complex history and texture generate varied unique surfaces. Engaging an earthy and mineral-rich palette of inks, some of her best intaglio prints express a tactile grittiness and surprising depth. Often, her dramatically eroded and brittle, lace-like copper plates never make it to press, only and always to exist as striking sculptural reliefs.

  In Pedersen's current work she omits the printing process altogether. Asphaltum is applied directly to a copper plate, and organic materials, such as salt water from the bays near her Shelter Island studio, are used to corrode the remaining exposed area. Process and material determine the final outcome rather than planned compositional schemes. Recently, she has been using the wind as her source of formal composition. As a result, some of the works reveal a pattern of orderly directional marks, while others seem to have derived from eddies and swirls. Pedersen, an accomplished sailor, is sensitive to subtle changes in the wind and allows them the autonomy to determine design. Although the work is co-authored with the wind, it is unified by a set of parameters; medium, process, material and palette are the constants that give the work its voice.

  The exhibition will run through Jan. 23rd. For more information and images contact Sara Nightingale at sara@saranightingale.com

  Image: Kia Pedersen, Wind/ Tar Series #6, tar and sea salt on copper, 30" x 30"

Thanksgiving/ Gratitude party, Friday, Nov. 23, 6 - 8 p.m.

Please join us at the gallery on Friday, Nov. 23 from 6 - 8 for an evening of music with Dalton Portella and Jorge Castano. Eric Dever's exhibition, s.Ram, Red, White, and Black Paintings has been extended until Dec. 12. We are celebrating Thanksgiving and Gratitude with music, drinks and fun. See you there.

Eric Dever Open House, Sat. - Mon. November 9 - 12

Please join us in celebrating the opening of the new Parrish Art Museum this weekend. The gallery will be hosting an Open House from 11 - 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday of this weekend. Come view Eric Dever's stunning solo show and have a glass of wine with us.