Torrington’s Five Points Gallery Features 3 Artists

Register Citizen, POSTED 05/16/14

TORRINGTON >> Five Points Gallery is showcasing the work of three artists for the May/June show: Claudia DeMonte, Ed McGowin and Suzan Shutan. The three shows will exhibit May 22-June 21. An artist’s panel discussion will take place on Friday, June 6 at 6 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend these events.

 
Shutan is an installation artist whose work will be featured in the East Gallery. Her exhibit, “Hoots, Wail and Buzz” is a shout out about problems of our time, a lament about endings and change, an arousing of interest in the substance of life and material nature of our world. Her sculptures straddle two and three dimensions traveling from wall to floor and use a range of materials that become contemporary artifacts. Shutan repurposes and transforms these common materials into works of art that often cast magnificent shadows drawing upon the ethereal, while critiquing the decade and century. Appearing abstract, each work is imbued with a meaningful story that demonstrates observation.

According to the artist, “Much of my work offers map-like views of systems found in the natural world. These systems contemplate daily life into meaningful patterns and structures that demonstrate transformative life processes such as decay or growth.”

Patterns range from birds in flight and the physics of blushing to the decline of cities and the flow of toxic oil spills. Shutan has exhibited both nationally and internationally. She has been awarded various grants and has been the recipient of artist residencies. Her work is in various private and public collections. Shutan has taught at various schools and currently teaches sculpture at Housatonic Community College. She is represented by Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, New York.

“McGowin/Name Change” is the featured show in the West Gallery. McGowin changed his name legally 12 times 45years ago and has created art under each of those names since 1969. This exhibit will feature the work of Thornton Dossett, one of the 12 artist names McGowin uses.

Dossett’s art draws on events from the coming together of the black and white societies in the Deep South and what that has produced in recent history. The exhibit will include paintings, sculpture, and works on paper.

McGowin has been the subject of numerous solo and group exhibits and has also been the recipient of several grants, awards and scholarships. He is represented in public collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Hirshorn Museum.

DeMonte’s exhibit, “A Woman’s Work is Never Done” will be showcased in the Torrington Downtown Partners Gallery. Working in a variety of media, DeMonte’s work is heavily influenced by her travels to over 80 countries, her interest in the roles of women in contemporary society, and Outsider Art, a collection compiled with her husband, artist Ed McGowin.

DeMonte has had over 60 solo exhibitions and hundreds of group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including exhibitions at the Corcoran Museum of Art, Ft. Worth Museum, Mississippi Museum, and the Indianapolis Museum. Her work is in numerous permanent collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Indianapolis Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Queens Museum, Boca Raton Museum, and the Corcoran Museum. DeMonte’s work is also in many corporate collections, including Prudential Life Insurance, Exxon, Hyatt Regency Hotels, Twentieth Century Fund, and Citibank. She has completed large scale public commissions for Prudential Life Insurance, the NYC School Construction Authority, and the Brooklyn Public Library System.

Five Points Gallery invites the public to visit the gallery during regular hours: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Visitors are also encouraged to attend opening receptions and artist talks.
 

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