"Mel Leipzig: Families and Friends" & "Botanicals: The Art of Carrie Di Costanzo" at The Ce

BEDMINSTER, N.J. - Sept. 2, 2016 - PRLog -- The Center for Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the opening of two new exhibitions: "Mel Leipzig: Friends and Families," curated by Donna Gustafson, Andrew W. Mellon Liaison for Academic Programs and Curator, Zimmerli Art Museum Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and "Botanicals: The Art of Carrie Di Costanzo." Both exhibitions will open on Friday, September 16th and will remain on view through October 29, 2016. The opening reception and artist talk by Mel Leipzig will take place on Friday, September 16^th from 6-8 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1935, Mel Leipzig studied at Pratt Institute, the Cooper Union and Yale University.  A realist painter who has focused on portraiture for over 40 years, he is among New Jersey's best known and most visible artists.  Recent exhibitions of his work have been seen in New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Princeton, and Trenton. This exhibition includes a selection of portraits staged out of doors and in domestic and office settings. Ranging in date from 2000 to 2016, they include portraits of friends and colleagues, the artist's family and the families of friends.

Titled "Mel Leipzig: Friends and Families," the exhibition is divided into two sections.  While Leipzig is best known for the environmental portraits set within cluttered rooms with dramatically rendered perspectives, there are also a significant number of paintings in the artist's oeuvre that might be described as landscapes. Bringing these portrait/landscapes together for the first time, these portraits of individuals and couples in nature are installed on the main floor. Among these are portraits of ceramicist Toshiko Takaezu, painter Carmen Cicero, Director of the New Jersey State Museum Margaret O'Reilly, and graffiti artists from Leipzig's hometown of Trenton. On the second floor, a selection of paintings explores the connections between and among family members and friends. Representing a long-standing and on-going interest in the social networks that both limit and encourage our extensions of self, these include portraits of the artist's family, and families of friends as well as a group portrait of the cast of Hedda Gabler in the theater at Mercer Community College.  In addition to the exhibition of his paintings, the artist will demonstrate his painting technique in scheduled appearances on site and give two lectures at The Center. Registration is available online at www.ccabedminster.org or by calling (908) 234-2345.

Tuesday, September 27^th 7-8 p.m.
Analyzing Paintings in Terms of Tone, Color, Space and Composition: Manet in Relation to Brueghel, Degas, Della Francesca, Eakins and Velazquez

Wednesday, October 5^th 7-8 p.m.
Analyzing Paintings in Terms of Tone, Color, Space and Composition: Matisse and Picasso

Also on view, "Botanicals: The Art of Carrie Di Costanzo" is part of The Center's faculty exhibition series. Carrie Di Costanzo teaches botanical painting in watercolor and gouache at The Center for Contemporary Art and is represented by the OA Gallery in Kirkwood, MO. Her work is in The Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Garden, San Marino, CA. and The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, PA. and many private collections. In her artist statement she explains, "Discovering botanical art in 2008 opened the door to a new way of working with paint and paper. I focus on highly detailed representations of plant life, clearly defining the correct structure of the plant, while also conveying a strong sense of beauty and three-dimensional form."

Jpeg images are available upon request.