Andrea Kantrowitz: objects of contemplation
Exhibition Dates: september 29 - october 24, 2020
Reception: thursday, october 1, 5 - 8 pm
The Painting Center is pleased to present Objects of Contemplation an exhibition of new works by Andrea Kantrowitz. The artist closely examines small complex structures formed through natural processes like accretion, branching and crystallization. Like the objects depicted, the paintings themselves take shape through systematic application of materials that over time crystallize into form. She paints rocks, coral and other objects much larger than life, which gives the artist and viewer space to investigate small details that might otherwise be overlooked. The images could be seen as literal depictions of specific and recognizable organic objects. Yet their intricate play of light and space invite the viewer not just to look at but to imaginatively travel through and lose themselves in another world. They see not just rocks, coral, or fruit, but perhaps human or animal forms, mountains or oceans, as well. The paintings are meant as objects of contemplation, to inspire the imagination, inviting the viewer to draw out their own new interpretations with each new viewing.
Andrea Kantrowitz is a researcher and educator in addition to being an artist. She lectures and gives workshops internationally on art and cognition. She studies how drawing is used as a tool of thought, to observe, discover and invent and is currently working on a book entitled “Drawing Thought” for MIT Press. Currently an assistant professor of art education at SUNY New Paltz, she was a teaching artist in the New York City for many years, involved in many local and national research projects that demonstrated the impact of an interdisciplinary art curriculum for students growing up in poverty. Along with her Thinking through Drawing Project colleagues she has organized a series of international drawing and cognition research symposia, the latest of which took place at SUNY New Paltz in October 2019. She earned a BA in Art and Cognition from Harvard University, a MFA in Painting from Yale and an interdisciplinary doctorate in art and cognition from Columbia University.
For more information on the artist, please visit: andreakantrowitz.com.
