Sweethearts: Creative Couples

How people who live, sleep, eat and work together influence each other . . . or not.

Malloy Gallery Exhibit

Exhibit Extended

Ends March 15

Opening Reception – January 24, 2015

Artists and members only 6-7 pm   –   Public reception 7-9 pm

Artists’ Talk — February 22, 2 pm

Susan Hogan, Time Traveller

Did you ever wonder how couples who live, work and play together influence each other artistically? Compare the creativity of twelve couples — it seems as if some of them have never met, others indeed affect each other. Reflect on the affinity and differences of these couples in the Trenton City Museum exhibit celebrating the creativity, similarities and diversity of Sweethearts: Creative Couples.

Many of the artists in the exhibit are from the greater Mercer County area, including sculptor Susan Hogan and her husband, painter Bill Hogan, who work in their Morrisville, PA studio and often show at Ellarslie. The work of Lambertville artists Lauren and Darren McManus is not alike in form, content or subject matter, but they share a respect for craftsmanship that manifests in attention to detail and a diligent work ethic. Princeton figurative ceramist Julia Fox works inside with models while her husband, photographer Steve Gates, gets inspiration during birding trips around the world.

Lambertville’s Harry and Wendy Gordon are both sculptors, but the materials and weight of their works are quite different. Stephanie Magdziak and Ron Berlin often work from the same model and depict the same landscape when traveling but the resulting work shows very different perspectives. Both pastel artist NJ DeVico, and sculptor Glenn Veen have been influenced more by their forays to museums—he during his travels to Greece, Cairo and London, she cutting classes—than each other.

Sandra Flood, Bill

Those from further afield include Frenchtown’s painter Sandra Flood whose playful work contrasts with photographer Michael Flood’s more methodical piece. Nancy Winternight and Robert Selkowitz, whose home life inspires their art, present works depicting their house in Ashokan, NY. Chalfont, PA painter Linda Guenste says she and sculptor Jonathan Hertzel have been working “back to back, facing each other,” for 30-plus years, endlessly motivating one another in their creative, “swash-buckling” adventure.Milford, NJ artists Joseph Ciardiello and Susan Blubaugh work in the same building on different floors and offer each other fresh eyes and feedback on projects in the works.Jeanne Petrosky and Dennis Guzenski share a studio in Pottstown, PA; he creates the hand-made paper that she designs, then paints. Tim Kennedy and Eve Mansdorf both prefer to paint from observation; he outside, she indoors and, he says, she is his muse.

For Ilene Dube’s review of this exhibit and of Black and White . . . with a touch in WHYY’s Newsworks: click here