WHEN: April 22 – June 11; The public is invited to meet the artists at an opening reception on Friday, April 29th from 6-8 p.m.
WHERE: The Center for Contemporary Art, 2020 Burnt Mills Road, Bedminster, NJ 07921
Two exhibitions will present the work of artists Naomi Campbell and James Perry, who were selected from the 2015 Juried Exhibition for The Center’s special Exhibitions Committee Solo Exhibit Award. A third will display artwork from the Princeton artist collective called MOVIS.
Bread and Circuses by Naomi Campbell will be on display in the second floor gallery. The title, taken from Roman satirical poet Juvenal (circa A.D. 100), suggests a translation into a modern day political game of food production. In this new series Campbell explores the collusion between nature and science where the desire for perfection has embedded its way into the new world of hybridizations. Based on nature’s sculptured forms Campbell induces new definitions through fragmented objects, bending forms, concepts and connotations of the everyday natural system. The work raises questions about engineered staples and their implications as part of Campbell’s longstanding investigation into areas of environmental science through installations, photography and sculpture. Campbell was born in Montreal, Canada and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Campbell studied at the Collége de Champlain, Quebec, the University of Guelph, Ontario and the School of Visual Arts, New York. She also studied painting and printmaking at The Art Students League of New York. Her art is displayed in numerous permanent public collections, some of which include the City of New York; the City of Irving, Texas; the City of Geochang, South Korea; the New York Public Library; the New York State Museum, New York and the Trenton City Museum, New Jersey. Curated by Susanne Karbin and Mazdak Shadkam.
Five “Totems” and “Circle Game No. 2” by Pennsylvania artist James Perry will be on view in The Center’s lobby. James Perry received his BA in sculpture from Bard College and studied with sculptor Jake Grossberg and painters Murray Reich and Jim Sullivan. During the 1970’s, Perry was motivated by minimalist Donald Judd and began experimenting with geometric and minimal forms. In 1974, Perry had artwork accepted into the Whitney Biennial. Although sculpture is Perry’s passion, for thirty years he stopped making art to become a graphic editor. He worked for Dow Jones, Merrill Lynch, the Wall Street Journal, and, the New York Times for twenty-eight years, creating bar charts and other visual representations. In 2008 when he turned sixty years old, he resumed sculpting. Perry’s artwork has been exhibited at the Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, NJ; Gremillion & Company Fine Art, Houston, TX (2011, 2013); Morpeth Contemporary, Hopewell, NJ (2010.). He is represented by Gremillion & Company Fine Art, Houston, TX, and Isabella Garrucho Fine Art, Westport, CT. It has been stated by Curator Kate Somers that “Perry’s sculpture is animated by its contradictions," in recognition of “a sense of stability and movement within the same work.”
“MOVIS: By Line,” a site specific installation, will be presented in the first floor gallery. MOVIS is a local artist collective from Princeton, New Jersey that formed in 2006. Its current members are Rita Z. Asch, Berendina Buist, John Goodyear, Susan Hockaday, Eve Ingalls, Margaret Kennard Johnson, Marsha Levin-Rojer and Frank Magalhães. Its members stated, “From the conception of By Line, MOVIS’s idea has been to use line as a way to unify a complex exhibition space. Most of us physically use line in our work, but it has many implications beyond that basic definition: a line of music, a line of thought, lines through space, etc. For the presentation of the project we decided that each artist would select a section of the gallery for his/her own work, while thinking also of ways to connect all the artworks and unify the space. Thus, in effect all the art in the gallery becomes one artwork.” MOVIS has exhibited at the New Jersey State Museum, Hunterdon Art Museum, Noyes Museum of Art, Atrium Gallery among numerous others.
About The Center for Contemporary Art
Founded in 1970, The Center for Contemporary Art is a vital regional art center with a vibrant studio art school, extensive exhibition program and important community outreach component. The Center for Contemporary Art is committed to enabling all visitors to experience its classes and workshops, exhibitions and public programs. Visitors requiring an accommodation or service should contact The Center at least two weeks prior to the scheduled visit. The Center is located at 2020 Burnt Mills Road in Bedminster, NJ. For further information, please call (908) 234-2345 or visit The Center for Contemporary Art online at http://ccabedminster.org/
Gallery Hours
- Monday – Thursday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Friday & Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
- Closed Sundays and major holidays.
- The gallery is also open during the evening when classes are in session.
