Boarders at Boundries

curated by Aimée Burg

Art blurs boundaries, but a glance at the news shows the boundary between interior and exterior remains urgent, relevant, even frightening. ECOCA’s Boarders at Boundaries interrogates the divide between inside and out, juxtaposing ten artists’ work about this split against an arresting wallpaper and light-destroying black that defies interstitial readings.

We’re bringing local and regional artists out West- stay tuned for more info and pics of the booth!

Carol Bouyoucos, Srishti Dass, Opal Ecker DeRuvo, Madison Donnelly, Julianna Foster, Tamsen Williams, Lauren Lee, Jihyun Lee, Caroline McAuliffe, Barbara Owen, Andre Rubin

Opening Reception Sunday February 4, 2024, 1-3 pm (storm date February 11, 1-3 pm)

Marlon Forrester, born in Guyana, South America, is an artist and educator raised in Boston, MA. Forrester is a graduate of School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, B.A 2008 and Yale School of Art, M.F.A. 2010. He is a resident artist at African-American Masters Artist Residency Program (AAMARP) adjunct to the Department of African-American Studies in association with Northeastern University. He has shown both internationally and nationally, concerned with the corporate use of the black body, or the body as logo, Forrester’s paintings, drawings, sculptures, and multimedia works reflect meditations on the exploitation implicit in the simultaneous apotheosis and fear of the muscular black figure in America.

Press:

CLAUDIA FIKS: ARTSCOPE
Guyana-Born, New England Strong: Forrester & Cromwell Elevate New Haven's Ely Center | March 1, 2024

BRIAN SLATTERY: NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT
Artists Let In the Light | Feb 13, 2024

Opening Reception Sunday February 4, 2024, 1-3 pm (storm date February 11, 1-3 pm)

Curated by Eric Litke & Peter Hastings Falk

Avant Colony: Unearthing the Westbrook Gallery presents the early history of an artist-run gallery and performance space on the Connecticut shoreline - the Westbrook Gallery, founded in 1956 by West Haven native Aage V. Hogfeldt (1925-2014) a Word War II veteran and 1951 graduate of the Yale School of Art. The exhibition presents original artwork which has not been seen publicly since the period by six artists who constituted the Gallery's core active group in the early years of 1956-64: the aforementioned Hogfeldt, William Kent (1919-2012), Leo V. Jensen (1926-2019), David T.S. Jones (1926-1996), William Skardon (1923-1983) and Robert Alan DeVoe (1928-1992).

Through paintings, works on paper, three-dimensional works, and artist books - as well as printed ephemera, period newspaper articles, photography, and accompanying essay - this exhibition is the first to explore this group of artists and their interest in formal innovation, collaboration, and exchange of ideas. Accompanying the exhibition will be a satellite gallery presenting 1960s paintings by a contemporary of the group, artist Ruth S. Tyler (1922-2006) including works last seen publicly at the Ely Center in 1963.

Avant Colony is being organized in conjunction with related shows at several museums across Connecticut devoted to the work of individual Westbrook Gallery artists.

Leo Jensen exhibition at the Florence Griswold Museum details HERE

Leo Jensen exhibition at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum details HERE

Dalia Ramanauskus exhibition at the Mattatuck Museum details HERE

William Kent retrospective scheduled to open at the New Haven Museum in spring 2024.

Press:

KATIE PELLICO & CATHERING SHEN: CONNECTICUT PUBLIC RADIO
'Avant Colony': Celebrating the history of avant-garde art-making in Connecticut | March 18, 2024

BRIAN SLATTERY: NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT
Ely Center Opens Window to Art Scene's Past | Feb 22, 2024