An exhibition featuring the sculpture of Julia Giard Handschuh and the paintings of Anna Bayles Arthur will grace the Center's East Gallery January 6-29, 2010. The artists will host an opening reception as part of Northampton Arts Night Out on Friday, January 8, 5-7 pm. Gallery hours: 11am-4pm, Tuesday-Friday.
The delicate porcelain sculptures of Ms. Handschuh, carefully arranged and suspended throughout the gallery, illuminate the space both literally and figuratively and echo the organicism in the paintings of Ms. Arthur. The careful layering of transparent pigments and the fluid drawing in the works of Ms. Arthur reveal relationships undoubtedly linked to the natural world. This personal affinity for the organic links the imaginative works of these two artists as they coexist in a constructed world of order, balance, rhythm, and beauty.
Northampton artist Anna Bayles Arthur actively seeks a simple lifestyle that allows her the freedom to pursue a meaningful, creative existence. For Ms. Arthur, life as an artist includes not only the making of objects, but a larger, more reflective way of seeing and understanding each other and the world in which we live.
Julia likes to make objects and sounds and move her body. Sometimes she makes objects that make sounds and move (like these that buzz and whir). She first saw Anna's work on Valley Art Share and was smitten with it from the start. She is very pleased to be showing work alongside such a lovely artist and human being.