NAF greets second decade with a gala reception

By Christopher Sinclair

As the Norfolk Artists and Friends (NAF) Annual Exhibition enters its second decade of existence with its eleventh installment, it welcomes the diverse and dynamic talents of nine guest artists working across a broad spectrum of mediums. The Battell Stoeckel Gallery, affectionately known to locals by its more colloquial title of The Art Barn, will once again play host to the show, and will be beautifully populated by works ranging from vibrantly colored paintings to earth toned sculptures. 

Among the painters this year are two men who approach the rendering of landscapes in rather different ways. The pastoral paintings of Christian Cesari, who lives and works in Woodbury, Connecticut, depict scenes of country life that pop with bright colors that exude a certain optimism and positivity. Deeply inspired by French Modernism, Cesari’s works are simultaneously familiar and fantastic. The landscapes of Ira Barkoff, by comparison, are suggestive and evocative, using light and color to conjure an experience of a given landscape that extends beyond the marks on the canvas. Barkoff’s venture into abstraction in his practice infuses the work with an organic and spontaneous quality. 

Other painters in this year’s exhibition include Danielle Mailer and Molly Zuckerman-Hartung. Mailer’s works are both colorful and kinetic, from dancing women with arms ecstatically raised overhead, to birds and fish woven through with patterns that celebrate the movement inherent in all living things. Those with keen eyes can see her works not only in galleries, but also adorning buildings in Torrington, Conn. and elsewhere throughout the northwest corner. Zuckerman-Hartung’s painting practice approaches uncertainty head on, exploring the infinite number of permutations that can be created with various types of marks and materials coming together on the canvas and in the studio space. 

Peter Cusack, founder of Cornwall Contemporary Art, explores the technical limitations of the implements with which he draws and paints, whether they be sticks or quills or delicate rice paper. Through this exploration of limitation, Cusack has, perhaps ironically, found vast new wells from which to draw in his process and in his thinking.

Representing the sculptors in this 2019 edition are Peter Kirkiles and Douglas Holtquist. Kirkiles, who used to work as a professional metal fabricator, strikes a balance between approachability and intellectual rigor in his work, which often focuses on readily recognizable objects and materials. While the objects themselves invite viewers to approach, a meditation on Kirkiles’ process invites them to stay. Holtquist, a master in the ancient Japanese floral art of Ikebana, sculpts human forms which encapsulate and overflow with the textures and undulations of human emotion and experience. 

Rounding out the lineup are Harriet Winograd and Joseph Stannard. Winograd, an art educator and art therapist, designs and makes dresses in addition to painting. Her desire to use art as a vehicle for personal growth inspires her work as an art therapist here in Connecticut. Stannard, whose shop has been a fixture in the Royal Arcanum building for many years, uses his exceptional eye and decades of experience in the world of fine antiques to inform his own design pursuits. Stannard marries classic and contemporary in pieces ranging from coffee tables to lighting fixtures. 

The NAF exhibit opens in the Art Barn on the Battell Stoeckel estate with a sneak preview on Thursday, August, from 5 to 7 p.m., followed by the traditional opening on Friday, August 2 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. The show will remain open through the weekend, noon to 5 p.m. on the 3rd and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the 4th.