CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

March 7 through August 23, 2009

Elizabeth Enders builds microcosms of her very own making. Brilliantly fusing principles of realism with those of lyrical abstraction, the artist brings these formal opposites into a purposeful harmony. In her series of landscapes, with an emphasis on seascapes painted over past several decades, Enders displays a unique balance of the descriptive and of the imaginary. The essential parts of the particular site in nature, such as the horizon line or a color hue characteristic of a certain area of the coast, are always fully acknowledged. It is through the elimination of all nonessential details that the artist transforms these locales into universal statements about the mysterious beauty of the coastal areas.

Enders’ art is very much about communicating a message – about the spirit of the place, about the beauty of flora that is celebrated in a sublime series of botanical drawings, but also about the silence and isolation that can be a painful part of the human experience. To overcome this isolation, to establish a potential discourse with others, Enders began marking sheets of paper or canvas with mysterious marks and fictional alphabets. Our propensity, not only to view these as visual statements but often the inclination “to read” these works, depends on the experiences and temperament of each viewer.

Lyrical and meditative, the work of Elizabeth Enders heightens our curiosity to learn more about the world around us, to penetrate deeper into the often concealed magic of our everyday experience. The power of Enders’ artistic persuasion energizes our perception, enabling us to participate in the wonder of discovery.

Atlantic 1992 Oil on linen 60 x 60 inches	Fast Food/Bananas 2002 Watercolor on paper 11 ½ x 9 ¼ inches	Yellow Anemone/Purple Veronica II Series I 2003 Watercolor, pencil on paper

Through November 30, 2009

Guest Curator Zina Davis, Joseloff Gallery at the University of Hartford

Language is incorporated into works of art in ways that encourage us to consider the meaning of words and symbols in relation to the visual experience. Sometimes the viewer must look closely to find the words and symbols: in some artworks, the symbols are hidden, scattered throughout the patterns on the paper, while in others text plays a prominent role.

Words and symbols are frequently found in contemporary art; however, there is a strong precedent for works of art that integrate text with image before the 20th and 21st centuries. Language plays a dominant role, for example, in early American samplers; medieval illuminated manuscripts and Farsi marriage documents. All were intended to be read.

Other examples of the early inclusion of text and symbols are a 19th century Chinese bronze ritual vessel and an ancient Egyptian falcon mummy sarcophagus which, along with two ushabti figures, are painted with hieroglyphic inscriptions. Antique Greek red-figure pottery features abstract symbols and as well as symbolic mythological figures relating stories and relaying information that would have been easily “readable” by the people who used these objects. Language is seamlessly integrated into these art objects and the result is a unity of aesthetic and purpose.