The New York Law School, 47 Worth Street,
between Church & West Broadway, NYC
December 1, 2001 - January 18, 2002
A Painter’s Legacy
An exhibition acknowledging the painter James Gahagan
Artists in Exhibition:
Lou Albert
James Gahagan
Martha Hayden
Judy Lapides
Harriet Power
Press Release
Title of Exhibit: “A Painter’s Legacy”
Statement For Exhibition:
Statement For Exhibition: This exhibit brings together five artist’s working in diverse styles and media for the purpose of acknowledging the painter James Gahagan (1927-1999), who was their teacher during pivotal points in their artist careers. Through his art and deep sense of humanity, he imparted his students with values of aesthetic, personal and social nature that have endured as a source of inspiration. His studio sessions and critiques served to inject the mind and the heart with challenge and purpose.
In viewing Gahagan’s canvases, the senses encounter the richness of color relationships and tensions of movement lighting upon the painted surface. Gahagan’s place among his contemporaries in the New York School of the 1950’s is marked by his assistantship to Hans Hoffmann in the creation of two major public murals, the founding of the James Gallery in 1954, his leadership in the Artist Tenants Association which led to zoning for artist’s lofts in 1962 and the establishment of artist housing in Westbeth and other NY buildings.
The artists represented in this show are either Pratt Institute graduates, where he was on the faculty from 1964 to 1971, and/or residents at the Vermont Studio Center, where he was a visiting artist from its inception in 1984. Columbia University Graduate School of the Arts is included in the programs he taught in, as well as Goddard College where he became Chairman of the Art Department.
Gahagan’s canvases accompany the work of five artists in a tribute to him. The paintings, drawings, works on paper and sculptural body shelter that comprise this exhibition incorporate a text wherein each artist reflects on the influence of their association with Gahagan on their life and work.
THE SPACE:
The New York Law School, 47 Worth Street, between Church & West Broadway, NYC
THE DATES:
December 1, 2001 - January 18, 2002
Artists reception, Wednesday, December 12, 2001, 6-8 PM
HOURS:Mon-Sun. 9AM to 9PM
Take any train to Canal Street or Franklin Street stations
Name/Phone #/Address of Curators:
Organization of Independent Artists, 19 Hudson Street, #402, New York, NY 10013 Phone: (212) 219-9213 Fax: (212)219-9216
OIA's programs are made possible through the generosity of the New York Mercantile Exchange Charitable Foundation, Materials for the Arts, The New York Law School and the many artists and friends of OIA.
Harriet Power, 23 Moran Rd., West Orange, N.J. 07052 (973) 736-4964, E-mail: fulpower@worldnet.att.net
Martha Hayden, P.O. Box 20647, New York, N.Y. 1009 (212) 673-3841, E-mail: martart@aol.com
Judy Lapides, 387 Morris Ave., Summit, N.J. 07901 (908) 598-9739, E-mail: lapidesj@kentplace.summit.nj.us