Reviews of "How with this Rage ..."

April 26th – May 27th, 2018: Kehler Liddell Gallery presented its 2nd annual juried show, this year taking inspiration from a quote from Shakespeare: "How with this Rage shall Beauty hold a Plea?". Check out these great reviews of the show:

• The Daily Nutmeg (http://dailynutmeg.com/2018/05/10/rage-beauty-juried-exhibition-kehler-liddell-gallery-pretty-pleas/) 
• The New Haven Independent  (http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/rage_art/)

More About the Show...

“What is the point of making beautiful things, or of cherishing the beauty of the past, when ugliness runs rampant?” asks Alex Ross in the 2017 New Yorker magazine article “Making Art in a Time of Rage.” Ross later references a London gallery that, in the midst of World War II, prefaced the exhibition catalogue for Jacob Epstein’s flower paintings with a quote from Shakespeare: “How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea?”

It’s an age-old question. Are we as artists responsible for creating challenging works and addressing critical issues of our time head on? Are other expressions trite or selfish acts of escapism? Or can beauty be powerful? Can the act of creating beauty during a time of ugliness be a form of resistance in itself, offering a vision of all that humans can aspire to? Fifty-three artists offer responses to this question, ranging from abstract meditations to more realistic representations, in a wide variety of media.

Participating Artists: Alan Shulik, Amanda Walker, Alison Kudlow, Ana Henriques, Brian Flinn, Desmond Ambrose, Dionne Pia, Don Wunderlee, Douglas Deveny, Eric March, Erik Durant, Frank Bruckmann, Hank Paper, Hilary Opperman, Hong Hong, Irene Miller, Jackie Heitchue, Jacqueline Dee Parker, Jasper Farish, Jean Perkins, Jeanette Compton, Jennifer Brubacher, Joan Jacobson-Zamore, Joan Wheeler, Joe Fekieta, Joe Saccio, Julie Fraenkel, Kate Henderson, Katherine Jackson, Kim Weston, Kwadwo Adae, Laurie Grace, Leila Daw, Linda Lindroth, Liz Alpert Fay, Mark St. Mary, McKenzie Chapman, Missy Stevens, Molly Gambardella, Nina Chung, Patty Weise, Paul Berger, Penrhyn Cook, Robert Bienstock, Ricardo Dominguez, Rod Cook, Roy Money, Scott Schuldt, Sheldon Krevit, Stephanie Blumenthal, Steven Licardi, Warda Geismar, Zoe Matthiessen

A panel discussion moderated by Lucy Gellman, Editor of The Arts Paper, precluded our opening reception. The discussion focused on the central question of the exhibition. Panelists include: Kwadwo Adae, artist, muralist and founder/owner of Adae Fine Art Academy; Luciana McClure, artist and founder of Nasty Women CT; and Ted Efremoff, artist and associate professor at Central CT State University.

The discussion was presented by ArtEcon Initiative (www.arteconinitiative.org) and made possible with support from the City of New Haven Mayor's Community Arts Grants Program, The NewAlliance Foundation, and the Department of Economic and Community Development, CT Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.