at the Charter Oak Cultural Center, Hartford, CT
November 12 - December 30/2015
Heartbreak Motels: Photographs by Joy Bush and Donna Masotti
Heartbreak Motels: Photographs by Joy Bush and Donna Masotti
The Berlin Turnpike is an eleven mile-long road that was once part of the main north-south route between New York and Hartford. With its abundance of motels, it signified prosperity and promise. This photographic collaboration between Joy Bush and Donna Masotti explores the disparity between that past and a present in which the motels have become a bleak destination in themselves, rather than a passage to some splendid other place. Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa |
at Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, CT
June 11 - July 24 / 2015
Remythologies: New Inventions of Old Stories
Remythologies: New Inventions of Old Stories
“We may be through with the past, but the past is not through with us.”
– Bergen Evans, The Natural History of Nonsense
– Bergen Evans, The Natural History of Nonsense
Works by Nathan Lewis, Jaclyn Conley, Willard Lustenader, Brian Huff, Jason Buening, Will Holub,
Susan Classen-Sullivan, Joseph Saccio, Kyle Staver, Mark Williams, Margaret Roleke, Kevin Harty,
Nomi Lubin, William DeLottie and Phil Lique.
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
How do we account for the survival of stories? Poets and cultures die, but their neccessary and remarkable lies still continue to be accounted for. Although the forms these works are given also have a history, it is what they contain that is the most accurate measure of our defining memories.
There is no art making that does not confront the past, but there is art which reinvents that past without abandoning it. A struggle against tradition still depends upon what it rejects. This exhibition is meant as a study of what our past still demands that we must either embrace or defy.
Nathan Lewis, Orpheus, 2011. Oil on Canvas, 62” x 32”,
Collection of the New Haven Paint and Clay Society
at A-Space Gallery, West Haven, CT
March 28 -April 25 / 2015
String Theory: Six Artists
Howard el-Yasin, Kevin Harty, Blinn Jacobs, Michael Quirk, Suzan Shutan, and Alison Walsh
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
September 6 - October 4 / 2014
Drawing Conclusions:More Works on Paper
Polly Shindler, BBQ, 2012. Graphite, charcoal on paper.
Alan Neider, Alison Walsh, Polly Shindler, William DeLottie, John Keefer,
Janet Passehl, Tom Hébert, Robert Brush, Edward Castiglione, Michael Quirk
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
Janet Passehl, Tom Hébert, Robert Brush, Edward Castiglione, Michael Quirk
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
May 12 - June 9 / 2012
Local Builders: An Anthology of Connecticut Sculptors
Lani Asuncion . Anita Balkun . Janice Barnish . Dave Bassine . Meg Bloom . Susan Bradley . Natalie Charkow . Susan Classen-Sullivan . Susan Clinard .
Paul Cofrancesco . Howard el-Yasin . Richard Falco . Tracy Walter Ferry . Silas Finch . Joe Gitterman . Kevin Harty . Shelby Head . Alexander Hunenko . Blinn Jacobs . Jilaine Jones . Robert Kirschbaum . Jacob Antone Könst . Tony Kosloski . David Livingston . Jacque Metheny . Jeff Ostergren . Dan Potter . Michael Quirk . Margaret Roleke . Joseph Saccio . Suzan Shutan . Jeff Slomba . Alison Walsh . Brian Walters . Jonathan Waters . Matthew Weber .
Mark Williams
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
Paul Cofrancesco . Howard el-Yasin . Richard Falco . Tracy Walter Ferry . Silas Finch . Joe Gitterman . Kevin Harty . Shelby Head . Alexander Hunenko . Blinn Jacobs . Jilaine Jones . Robert Kirschbaum . Jacob Antone Könst . Tony Kosloski . David Livingston . Jacque Metheny . Jeff Ostergren . Dan Potter . Michael Quirk . Margaret Roleke . Joseph Saccio . Suzan Shutan . Jeff Slomba . Alison Walsh . Brian Walters . Jonathan Waters . Matthew Weber .
Mark Williams
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
August 25 - September 17 / 2011
At The Edge of Things: Twenty Four Photographers
Linda Lindroth, Untitled (from Urban Genome Project 1990-2011), Polaroid 20x24 Polacolor ER.
James Ayers, Christopher Beauchamp, Marion Belanger, Paul Bloom, Joy Bush, Phyllis Crowley, Paul Duda, Ashley Estep, Joan Fitzsimmons, Andrew Hogan, Aniko Horvath, Keith Johnson, Clare Kobasa, Linda Lindroth, Eric Litke, Meredith Miller, Roy Money, Hank Paper, Thomas Peterson, Mark Savoia, Jess Smith, Maria Tupper, Marjorie Gillette Wolfe and Stefan Znosko.
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
June 2 - July 2 / 2011
War Making: An Exhibition of this Time
Elizabeth White, Stickershock and Awe , 2008, burrs over hollow grenade.
Chris Alexiades, John Bent, Edward Castiglione, Steven DiGiovanni, Greg Haberny, Brian Kavanagh, Martha Lewis, Nathan Lewis, Philip Lique, Fethi Meghelli, Susan Nichols, Margaret Roleke, Ronnie Rysz, Gerald Saladyga, Nomi Silverman, Joseph Smolinski, Jonathan Waters, Elizabeth White, Mark Williams, and Bradley Wollman.
from "The National Gallery in Wartime, 30 January 1991"
Inside, the lines twist toward Titian,
the flaying, the rain of fire.
Where are the wars? George Orwell had so many things right that it has become a cliché to acknowledge it, but his notion of an endless violence in which only the locales would slightly alter is clear enough at the moment.
Less accurate is his thought that communities would be roused in mass, mindless support of such madness. Instead, we have invented a conceited boredom, self-interested and uninteresting. In opposition to that, each of the works on view here is evidence of living critically in a time of war, when the policy makers are committed to disguising that reality, and the society to which they are lying is anxious to be lied to.
The first idea that I had for this exhibit was taken from Martha Rosler's "Bringing the War Home" series of photomontages that sent the gunfire roaring into suburban living rooms. My variation finds the destruction thudding inside a gallery door.
The art of war is an oxymoron; art is war's contradiction. It follows that any work by the artists in this room, and not just those chosen here, is an act of defiance on our behalf.
- Stephen Vincent Kobasa, curator
from "The National Gallery in Wartime, 30 January 1991"
Inside, the lines twist toward Titian,
the flaying, the rain of fire.
Where are the wars? George Orwell had so many things right that it has become a cliché to acknowledge it, but his notion of an endless violence in which only the locales would slightly alter is clear enough at the moment.
Less accurate is his thought that communities would be roused in mass, mindless support of such madness. Instead, we have invented a conceited boredom, self-interested and uninteresting. In opposition to that, each of the works on view here is evidence of living critically in a time of war, when the policy makers are committed to disguising that reality, and the society to which they are lying is anxious to be lied to.
The first idea that I had for this exhibit was taken from Martha Rosler's "Bringing the War Home" series of photomontages that sent the gunfire roaring into suburban living rooms. My variation finds the destruction thudding inside a gallery door.
The art of war is an oxymoron; art is war's contradiction. It follows that any work by the artists in this room, and not just those chosen here, is an act of defiance on our behalf.
- Stephen Vincent Kobasa, curator
April 3 - May 3 / 2011
Line Dancing: A Writer's Choice of Works on Paper
Jillian Vento, “Sprawl II: and I think that is what they [we] are all doing,” 2008, graphite, watercolor, acrylic on paper.
John Bent, Edward Castiglione, Susan Classen-Sullivan, Christine Darnell, Emilia Dubicki, Nancy Eisenfeld, Howard el-Yasin, Larissa Hall, Janet Lage, Nathan Lewis, Henry Loomis, Laura Marsh, Fethi Meghelli, Dorothy Powers, Michael Shevelkin, Joseph Smolinski, Thomas Stavovy, Miguel Trelles, Jillian Vento and Jonathan Waters
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
at the Institute Library Gallery, New Haven, CT
November 5, 2016 - January 15, 2017
Out of the Fog
Marion Belanger, Rift #20, 2006.
Photographs by Marion Belanger, Sean Kernan, Steven B. Smith, Marjorie Gillette Wolfe, and Stefan Znosko
“I walk north up the beach toward nothing in particular, toward a grey nothingness that is no destination at all since I cannot reach it...The sky and the sea run together.The past and the present push into each other.”
– Kyle Boelte, The Beautiful Unseen
An unremarkable fact is that when we are in the fog we pay more attention. There is fear, and not only uncertainty, in the dimly seen.
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
March 1 - May 3, 2014
Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here
Stephanie Sauer, I Dare You
On March 5th 2007, a car bomb was exploded on al-Mutanabbi Street, the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, More than 30 people were killed and over 100 were wounded. In response to this attack upon a cultural treasure of the Iraqi people, the poet and bookseller Beau Beausoleil founded the al-Mutanabbi Street Project which to date has assembled 130 broadsides by letterpress artists, 260 artist books, and a literary anthology Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here with contributions by over 125 writers from around the world.
Out of this larger collection, Stephen Vincent Kobasa curated two consecutive exhibitions of material .
Out of this larger collection, Stephen Vincent Kobasa curated two consecutive exhibitions of material .
October 5 - October 26, 2013
Crossing the Line: A Collection of Drawings
Kelly Schmidt, Bones, 2012. Silverpoint. Courtesy of Michael Shortell
What we are talking about is a recording of lines and shapes; that is everything.
– Louise Bourgeois
Works by Anna Held Audette, McCrady Axon, Joan Backes,
Dave Bassine, Riley Brewster, Pamela Cardwell, Jan Cunningham,
William DeLottie, Kate Ten Eyck, Teresa Fortsch, Laura Gardner,
David Livingston, Perry Obee, Ronnie Rysz, Kelly Schmidt,
Jean Scott, Rick Shaefer, and Anita Soos
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
– Louise Bourgeois
Works by Anna Held Audette, McCrady Axon, Joan Backes,
Dave Bassine, Riley Brewster, Pamela Cardwell, Jan Cunningham,
William DeLottie, Kate Ten Eyck, Teresa Fortsch, Laura Gardner,
David Livingston, Perry Obee, Ronnie Rysz, Kelly Schmidt,
Jean Scott, Rick Shaefer, and Anita Soos
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
March 9-23, 2013
War's Books: Collages by Qasim Sabti
Qasim Sabti, Untitled, 2003-2005. Cloth book binding and paper fragments.
The morning after that first sleepless night I went to check on a place most dear to me, the Academy of Fine Arts.
It was here that I had studied and enhanced my artistic skills. And it was here that I have taught painting to many students.
To my dismay, the Academy’s street was littered with books, and pages torn from them blew in the dry wind.
As I entered the Academy’s library, my senses were abruptly confronted by an acrid smoke that silently drifted
above irregular mounds of charred books...collectively, these books challenged me to bring them back to life from their graveyard floor.
– Qasim Sabti
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
It was here that I had studied and enhanced my artistic skills. And it was here that I have taught painting to many students.
To my dismay, the Academy’s street was littered with books, and pages torn from them blew in the dry wind.
As I entered the Academy’s library, my senses were abruptly confronted by an acrid smoke that silently drifted
above irregular mounds of charred books...collectively, these books challenged me to bring them back to life from their graveyard floor.
– Qasim Sabti
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
June 30 - July 28, 2012
Lined Up : Drawings and Texts
Larry Morelli, Tom Nevers Road, Nantucket, 1997. Marker on paper.
A critic at my house sees some paintings. Greatly perturbed, he asks for my drawings. My drawings! Never! They are my letters, my secrets.
- Paul Gauguin
- Paul Gauguin
Ethan Boisvert · Emilia Dubicki · Larissa Hall · Kevin Harty · Jilaine Jones ·
Nathan Lewis · Willard Lustenader · Larry Morelli · Tim Nikiforuk · John O'Donnell ·
Jeff Slomba · Thomas Stavovy · Jodiann Strimiska · Barry Svigals
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
Nathan Lewis · Willard Lustenader · Larry Morelli · Tim Nikiforuk · John O'Donnell ·
Jeff Slomba · Thomas Stavovy · Jodiann Strimiska · Barry Svigals
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
February 11 - March 10, 2012
Stone Work : Artists' Encounters with Hard Places
Anne Doris-Eisner, The Last Frontier, 2011. acrylic on Arches paper
I have seen sparks fly out
When two stones are rubbed,
So perhaps it is not dark inside after all;
Perhaps there is a moon shining
From somewhere, as though behind a hill-
Just enough light to make out
The strange writings, the star-charts
On the inner walls.
– Charles Simic, "Stone"
When two stones are rubbed,
So perhaps it is not dark inside after all;
Perhaps there is a moon shining
From somewhere, as though behind a hill-
Just enough light to make out
The strange writings, the star-charts
On the inner walls.
– Charles Simic, "Stone"
David Bassine · Marion Belanger · Frank Bruckmann · Daniel Buttrey ·
Anne Doris-Eisner · Emilia Dubicki · Daniel Eugene · Keith Johnson ·
Constance La Palombara · Roy Money · Kerry O'Grady · Matthew Weber
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
Anne Doris-Eisner · Emilia Dubicki · Daniel Eugene · Keith Johnson ·
Constance La Palombara · Roy Money · Kerry O'Grady · Matthew Weber
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
December 17, 2011, - January 14, 2012
Out of Nature : An Exhibition of Alternatives
Amy Jean Porter, Robot, 2005, Gouache and ink on paper
Out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing...
– W. B. Yeats, "Sailing to Byzantium"
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing...
– W. B. Yeats, "Sailing to Byzantium"
Works in various media by Amy Arledge, Mia Brownell, Paul Daukas,
Brian Huff, Barbara Marks, Laura Marsh, Kim Mikenis,
Michael Oatman, Amy Jean Porter, and Joseph Smolinski.
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
Brian Huff, Barbara Marks, Laura Marsh, Kim Mikenis,
Michael Oatman, Amy Jean Porter, and Joseph Smolinski.
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
October 15 - November 5, 2011
Identifying Marks: An Inaugural Exhibition
Roxanne Faber Savage, Red Box, #2, 2007. Paper lithograph monoprint.
The work of six local print makers – Oi Fortin, Aniko Horvath, Fethi Meghelli, Roxanne Faber Savage, Thomas Stavovy, Jonathan Waters.
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
at the Orison Project, Essex, CT
September 7 - October 20, 2012
Brief Monuments: Making and Unmaking Memory
Katia Porter, Untitled, 2009. Digital C-print
Paul Duda, Walker Evans, Lys Guillorn, Rober Lisak, Oscar Palacio,
Katia Porter, Heinz Warneke, William Earle Williams
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
The future lied to us, there long ago in the past.
– Bao Ninh, The Sorrow of War
It has become part of the unheeded architecture of the everyday. The empty tomb has become the invisible tomb.
– Geoff Dyer, The Missing of the Somme
Katia Porter, Heinz Warneke, William Earle Williams
Curated by Stephen Vincent Kobasa
The future lied to us, there long ago in the past.
– Bao Ninh, The Sorrow of War
It has become part of the unheeded architecture of the everyday. The empty tomb has become the invisible tomb.
– Geoff Dyer, The Missing of the Somme