ANNE KULLAF SHOW TO OPEN @ VISUAL ARTS CENTER OF NJ

LOOSELY STRUCTURED
Works By Anne Kullaf
WHEN: June 17–July 15, Opening Reception June 17, 6:00-8:00 pm
WHERE: Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, 86 Elm Street, Summit
www.artcenternj.org

Anne Kullaf’s Loosely Structured, an exhibition exploring the underlying structure and overlay of color and texture in the artist’s recent pastel, acrylic and oil works to reveal their expressive qualities, will open at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey in Summit.

Kullaf creates a sense of motion, energy and spontaneity by first carving up the space—darks and lights, shapes and colors—to define her compositions. Perspective, proportion, form and value provide the structure for all her paintings. (left: Anne Kullaf, Hudson & Harrison Streets, 2010, oil on canvas, 30 in. x 40 in.)
“I am always telling my students that there is a big difference between loose and sloppy. You have to get a solid underpainting with correct values, perspective and proportion before you can move into color. Once you have that, you are free to be as expressive and loose as you want with color and brushwork but should not touch the canvas unless the mark you are making has something to say,” notes the artist and Lebanon, New Jersey, resident.
Painting for Kullaf is pure joy. Her aim is to create a sense of motion, energy and spontaneity that is the essence of vitality and life. Commenting on her approach to painting, Kullaf affirms that although she is “… not a realist in the classical sense, perspective, proportion, form and value provide the structure for all of my paintings. Expressive color and dynamic, efficient brush strokes are layered upon this foundation to create a version of reality that is expressive, rather than simply a recording of what is there.”  (right: Anne Kullaf, GWB in Blue 2011, acrylic on canvas, 30 in. x 30 in.)
Anne Kullaf holds a Bachelor of Science in graphic design and fine art from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. Additionally, she studied drawing and painting at The Art Students League of New York. Her work has been exhibited at the National Arts Club and was featured in two traveling museum exhibitions, The New Reality: The Frontier of Realism in the 21st Century and 400 Years of Dutch History in Manhattan. Kullaf is currently a faculty member at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, the Hunterdon Art Museum, and the Center for Contemporary Art.