In personifying the river, a New Hope taps some rather raw emotions.
By Scott Edwards

Water is often used to convey any number of meanings in art. The tranquility of a still, isolated lake. The futility of a driving rain. The palpable rush of a surging wave.

They are all images that conjure instant and universal connections. But the emotions stirred can run every bit as deep and complicated as the bodies of water themselves. And, the connections are not always metaphorical. They can be rooted in the real, even tangible.

Having lived in New Hope for the last three-plus years and covered the three recent floods that devastated the riverside town and neighboring villages to the north and south over a near two-year span, I saw firsthand how wrought emotions can become in reaction to the river, a body that was not emotionless and arbitrary in its actions in the eyes of its victims but cold and calculating.

Those who were hurt most were the same ones who flocked to its banks to best appreciate its beauty. They opened their businesses there, built their homes strategically around ideal perches. There was a connection between them and the river. It was so evident in towns like New Hope that the most prominent underlying feeling in the aftermath of the floods was betrayal. How could this have happened? In most cases, it wasn’t asked with the intent of seeking actual answers.

Even before moving to New Hope, artist Janet Filomeno appreciated the symbolic strength of water. “Water has informed my work for many years,” she says in an essay she wrote about her latest exhibition, “The Sea Has Veins: The Delaware Series,” which will show at the Simon Gallery in Morristown, NJ, through May 24. The collection was inspired by Filomeno’s perception of the Delaware River, specifically around New Hope.

Much of that perception is tied to her personification of the river. Filomeno’s paintings are not the literal landscapes that traditionally emerge from the Central Bucks region. “The image I paint I extract from nature,” says Filomeno, whose art has been featured in over 80 exhibits in the last 35 years in galleries and museums from New York to Scottsdale, as well as Italy, Austria, Korea and China. “Nature is a point of departure that enables me to render visibly what is unseen. The river is a vast and infinite field on which I can project my own inner drama.”

Filomeno’s images are moody — dark, even steely gray tones at turns crash and at others meld into each other. In some, there are flashes of white and bold purple. The river is faithfully depicted on some of the canvases. Or, at least, if one knew beforehand a body of water was the inspiration, it could be made out. On others, the images are far more abstract. More accurately, “Abstract Sublime,” which is how Filomeno describes her paintings.

“They are meant to evoke feelings that are restorative, contemplative and, at times, unfold a drama,” Filomeno says. “The Delaware offers me the chance to study a variety of change and the unpredictability of movement, and can become a stage for a variety of emotions. One of my interests lies in capturing moments of time that are conveyed into passages of feeling.”

For those who share a connection like Filomeno’s to the river, “The Sea Has Veins” collection feels all too real. Taken individually or as a whole, the paintings beg the question, is the river’s surface reflective or transparent?
Simon Gallery, 48 Bank Street, Morristown, NJ; 973-538-5456; www.simongallery.com.

SIDES

As a psychologist, Paul Graubard capably counseled his patients on how to express their inner turmoil and, thus, discover new resources upon which to draw in moments of need. It was not until relatively late in his own life, however, that he would feel compelled to make such a concerted effort to do so himself. Graubard, in his sixties, turned to art as an escape from the incredible grief that consumed him with the death of his daughter. Today, showings at the Intuit Show and Chicago and the Outsider Art Fair in New York have helped turned him into a serious-minded artist. “Outside In,” featuring Paul Graubard and Andre Gomes.
Opens May 17, New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery, 2A Stockton Avenue, New Hope; 215-862-4586; www.nhsidetracks.com.

We’re all, at various points in our lives, consumed by pop culture whether we actually know it or not. The images, the trends, they seep into our consciences because they’re so prevalent, particularly so today when we take it as much for granted as a wireless connection. John Stango felt that pull more than most. Armed with degrees in the fine arts and graphic design from Temple’s Tyler School of Art, Stango started forging a path more than 20 years ago that positioned him as one of the most prominent pop artists working today. As a testament to his status, some of those who collect his highly sought after paintings — Jessica Simpson, Allen Iverson, Nicole Miller — are also potential subject matter for Stango. John Stango solo exhibition, opens May 10.
ARTisZEN Arts, 35 North Union Street, Lambertville, NJ; 609-773-0044.

1. Hi Scott,
   Thanks for the great plug! Hope to see you at the show on May 10th.
   John

   Posted by John Stango | April 21, 2008, 7:33 am