Category Archives: gallery

Perceptual Engineering

Perceptual Engineering

Paul Robeson Galleries

Express Newark

Feb 02, 2023 – Jun 30, 2023

Curated by Colleen Gutwein O’Neal

Living in the era of late-stage capitalism, consumers are aware of single use plastics overpopulating landfills, rivers, food sources, and the ecological effects of rapidly changing fashion trends. Perceptual Engineering challenges artists and viewers to envision new possibilities of everyday items once their originally intended use has ceased. Letting go of preconceived notions of what objects are, this exhibition presents an opportunity to explore the world with fresh eyes and imagine what else could be.

Regional artists and twelve students from the fall 2022 class Problems in Contemporary Art at Rutgers University – Newark were given a “perceptual engineering” prompt by Express Newark’s Artist-in-Residence Willie Cole. Inspired by Cole’s practice of upcycling objects condemned otherwise to landfills, artists were tasked to choose an everyday object and discard prior conceptions of its form and function to create works of art. Once the object was chosen, the first phase of “discovery” commenced. The object was completelv disassembled and all parts saved. As preconceived notions of the object fell by the wayside, a new space opened for reimagination, allowing the mind to wander freely among the pieces.

The second phase, “documentation,” required documentation of each individual piece from the original object as sketches, focused primarily on silhouettes and non-detailed renderings of the disassembled pieces, playing with scale and form. The final “transformation” stage, likened to a phoenix rising, an entirely new object was perceived and fabricated using pieces of the original, altering the perception of both the old and the new.

The Problems in Contemporary Art class was co-taught by Artist-in-Residence Willie Cole and American Studies PhD student, Colleen Gutwein O’Neal.

Exhibiting Artists:

  • Mahinour Abdon
  • Margaret Berrios
  • Joshua Bradley
  • Jeffrey Cobbold
  • Benjamin DeCruz
  • Giovanna Eley
  • Todd Frankenfield
  • Tiffany “Ani” Habersham
  • pofa.ink/Ashanti Haley
  • Faith E. Layer
  • Cassandra Monelus
  • Ana Monteiro
  • Karina Nunez
  • Mabel Graciela Rodriguez-Veloz
  • Heidi A. SanFilippo
  • Ebram Samir
  • Samantha Treadwell

Mapping Apparitions: An Amorphous Art History Pilot

Curated by Colleen Gutwein O’Neal 

November 20, 2021 – January 15, 2022 (extended through March, 2022)

Opening Reception Saturday, November 20, 2021 7 – 11pm

MAPPING APPARITIONS HAS BEEN EXTENDED THROUGH THE END OF MARCH. GALLERY HOURS BY APPOINTMENT. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WILL BE AVAILABLE AT INDEXARTCENTER.ORG RE: SPECIAL PROGRAMMING

*Please bring your personal images, memories, and ephemera to be included in the exhibition. 

Mapping Apparitions is an experimental pilot exhibition at the intersection of art, collective memory, and public history. Merging digital humanities with collective history and storytelling, vaguely similar to a wikipedia-type system, this interactive exhibition and memory collection dances around shared experiences centered on Newark arts and artists without demanding a singular narrative, rather inviting a chorus of narratives in flux. 

It is of great importance to document and create access to art and artists in the Newark community, it is equally important to document and make accessible the culture in which art was created and artists have been nurtured. To build upon and make accessible a rich variety of perspectives and experiences is essential to understanding the culture. Reggae historian Lloyd Bradley summarizes this historical perspective in a recent interview on Nzinga Sounds while referring to a Bruce Lee film, Enter the Dragon. “Bruce Lee and some little kid were looking at something and he (Lee) was pointing at the moon and he said, ‘concentrate on the finger and you’ll miss the glory of the moon,’ and this, it sums so much up right. If you concentrate on the records on your shelf, you’ll miss the glory of the reggae culture that created it.”

Mapping Apparitions pulls inspiration from the oral history and exhibition project Kea’s Ark of Newark at Gallery Aferro, the interactive, unrehearsed, and creatively driven Lime Sessions at Index Art Center, Post Pocket Utopia’s 2015 collaborative exhibition #SEEINGNEWARK at a pop-up gallery in The Gateway Project studios, and the community-based methodology and diverse archives of the Queer Newark Oral History Project supported by Rutgers, Newark.

This pilot exhibition is focused on providing information and visual cues to visitors to inspire recollection. Lowell Craig’s seminal documentary 31 Central, a 2017 film chronicling artists working in studios at 31 Central amid the looming threat of eviction will be screened continuously throughout the exhibition. Additional cues including reimagined archive images and resource materials will be made available intended to conjure memories of five Newark arts spaces no longer physically accessible. Visitors are encouraged to share ephemera, photographs, and memories from 31 Central, City Without Walls (at both their 41 Shipman Street and 6 Crawford Street, possibly additional locations), Red Saw, Le Joc, and Unicorn Gallery.

The collective history emerging from the pilot exhibition will be used to inform and build the base of knowledge for a future “ghost map” of Newark arts spaces, happenings, and public works no longer physically accessible, in some cases gone completely. Target completion date of the ghost map is spring, 2025. Information collected through the pilot exhibition Mapping Apparitions will be made public on the OMEKA open-sourced content management platform and credited to each individual author. 

https://newarkghostmappublicarchive.omeka.net/

Special thanks to Index Art Center, without which experimental pilot exhibitions like this would not be possible. Index is a volunteer driven 501(c)3 non-profit gallery that has been serving its community for over a decade. Please consider making a donation HERE if you can.

INDEX ART CENTER WILL CLOSE THEIR DOORS AT THE 237 WASHINGTON STREET LOCATION BY THE END OF MARCH, 2022.

REFERENCES:

Michael A. Gonzales, “Legacy – City Without Walls,” Non-profit arts, Newark Arts, October 4, 2018, https://www.newarkartsjournal.org/editorials-1/legacyofcwow

The Gateway Project, “TONIGHT (Em)Power Dynamics Exhibition and More!,” Campaign archive, RSS feed, 2015, https://us8.campaign-archive.com/?u=a08cd6b4777c31b8d8ac86f35&id=61f76fd044&e=9517662c25-

Gallery Aferro, “Kea Tawana,” Non-profit arts organization, Aferro, June 6, 2020, https://aferro.org/kea-tawana/

Index Art Center/Dominique Duroseau, “The Lime Sessions: 1/16 to 2/6,” social media, Facebook Events, January 16, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/events/index-art-center/the-lime-sessions-116-to-26/1671800519765913/

“Queer Newark | Oral History Project,” archive / repository, Queer Newark Oral History Project, accessed October 16, 2021, https://queer.newark.rutgers.edu/

N. T. S. Radio, “NZINGA SOUNDZ – BUNNY WAILER & U ROY TRIBUTE W/ LLOYD BRADLEY,” NTS Radio, March 18, 2021, https://www.nts.live/shows/nzinga-soundz/episodes/bunny-wailer-u-roy-tribute-18th-march-2021.

Opening Reception 2.7.20 at George Segal Gallery, Montclair State University

Exhibition runs Tuesday, February 4 – Saturday, April 4, 2020

View From E. Kinney, Newark Artists Photo Documentary Project.

The George Segal Gallery announces Fifty Years of Inspiration and Impact: The Photographic Legacy of Klaus Schnitzer and His Students. The exhibition is a celebration of the career of Klaus Schnitzer, long-time professor of photography at Montclair State University, who will be retiring at the end of the academic year. As with any committed teacher, his legacy lives on through the work of his students, 54 of whom are included in this exhibit. The exhibition opens on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 and runs through Saturday, April 4, 2020.

A public reception will be held on Friday, February 7 from 5.30 – 8.30pm. The exhibit features the work of Professor Schnitzer alongside the work of his former students, many of whom are now engaged in their own professional activities in fine arts, commercial arts, art education, and other art-related endeavors. The exhibiting artists also currently represent a far greater geography than the small slice of North Jersey where they all once studied, including residents of California, Florida, Georgia, and Virginia. Work from numerous series will represent the different phases, collaborations, and projects Professor Schnitzer has undertaken over the past several decades.

Exhibiting together with Professor Schnitzer are:

Haylee Anne, Aaron Atkinson, Christine Back, Maria Baez, Nathan Bajar, Barbara Bell, Teresa Braun, Doug Cannon, Anne-Marie Caruso, Bryan Coppede, Antonio De Benedetto, Wendy Erickson, Robert Eustace, Brian Feeney, John Z. Fei, Ruth Frazier, Taylor Galloway, Jim Golden, Colleen Gutwein, Chris Heintze, Anna Calluori Holcombe, Eric Hummel, Lin Pernille Kristensen, Daryl Lancaster, Erik Landsberg, Jennifer Larsen, Bridget Laudien, Todd I. Lauther, Meg Lyding, Greg Maka, Leonor Marion-Landais, Gerard Marrazzo, Kelli McGuire, Diane Meyer, Chad Mooney, Christopher Pace, Heather Palecek, Greg Pallante, Craig Peters, Reneé C. Powell, Jim Rimi, Anthony Louis Rodriguez, Iggy Ruggieri, Anna Ryabtsov, Joseph Gerard Sabatino, Richard Schleuning, Toni Ann Serratelli, Sara R. Stadtmiller, Nicole Strafaci, Rex Thomas, John Vigg, Taylor Zartman, Mike Zawadski, and Pamela Vander Zwan.

For information and directions to George Segal Gallery at Montclair State University:

https://www.montclair.edu/galleries/exhibitions/fifty-years-of-inspiration-and-impact/

Bringing It All Back Home

INDEX ART CENTER 9.14 – 11.8. 2019
Lance Rautzhan, Patricia Dahlman, Dong Kyu Kim, Matthew DiLeo, Juno Zago, Devyn Nuñez.

Index Art Center presents Bringing It All Back Home, a group exhibition of six artists exploringthe concepts of home, and what it means to come back to a place. Each artist brings a distinct visual language to the exhibition as they explore personal and social narratives within their work.

The title, Bringing It All Back Home, hails from the avant-garde folk rocker Bob Dylan’s 1965 album release by the same name. Dylans album skins emotional nerves raw. It was created ata time not so dissimilar from today, bluntly facing racial injustice, international war and suffering, and rebellion in search of freedom. This exhibition seeks the meaning of home, a concept in constant flux, through the brutal honesty of the artists vision.

Curated by Colleen Gutwein O’Neal

SIDE GALLERY:Fern & Fossil X The Nork Project Fall Pop Up Shop

FIRST FLOOR: Art & Artifacts of NewarkArt & Artifacts of Newark is a part of IAC’s curatorial residency program featuring works and art exhibitions curated by Matthew Gosser.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Gallery hours and viewings are by appointment.

#miniretro 5.18.19 – 7.12.19

#miniretro

5.18.19 – 7.12.19

20 years (1999 – 2019) of photographic works by Colleen Gutwein. At the age of 5, Colleen developed her first image in a basement darkroom at her Grandparents house in Metuchen NJ. Years later she earned a degree in photography at Montclair State University with her Grandfather’s old Canon FT-b camera. This #miniretro shows Gutwein’s early use of 4×5 film (polaroid type-55) from her first solo exhibition, and the evolution of her work through both digital and traditional photographic formats and printing techniques, up through 2019 with a digital portrait of the medium format Jem. Jr. film camera used for The Newark Artists Photo Documentary Project.

Art & Artifacts of Newark: 233 Washington St Newark, NJ

Opening Reception: Saturday May 18, 2019 6-9pm Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/511032232761568/

Art & Artifacts of Newark is a pop-up space created by M. Gosser as part of a curatorial residency at Index Art Center

Regular Gallery Hours: Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 1 – 6pm (and by appointment)

Also opening at Index Art Center on Saturday May 18 7-10pm: Making Time curated by Wavelength Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1132604890278449/

These events at Index Art Center are free and open to the public.

Index at Index

INDEX is a group exhibition of works in all mediums by artists currently participating as both mentors and mentees in the New York Foundation of the Arts 2019 Immigrant Artist Mentor Program, Newark.

design by: Gisel Endara

5.4.19 – 5.9.19
Opening Reception: Saturday May 4th, 6-9pm

Exhibiting Artists:
Ole Lie Vandal
Ananda Lima
Anne Trauben
Jin Jung
Ceaphas Stubbs
Kimmah Dennis
Colleen Gutwein
Daniela Puliti
Agnieszka Wszolkowska
fayemi shakur
Olufunke Ogundimu
Jen Mazza
Mariejon de Jong-Buijs
Jo-El Lopez
Francisco Pena
Kati Vilim
Eka Pramuditha
Katrina Bello
Mic Boekelmann
Malik Whitaker
Kanako Tsutsumi
Matthew Gosser
Diana Candelejo
paulA neves
Gisel Endara
Sally Helmi
Sarah Walko
Adishetu Oyibo
Yvette Molina
Shiza Chaudhary

Index Art Center
1st Floor Gallery
233 Washington St
Newark, NJ 07102

* Index is free and open to the public.

Gallery Hours: Saturday 1 – 6pm
Sunday, Tuesday – Friday: by appointment
www.indexartcenter.org

A big thanks to: Index Art Center, NYFA, Ford Foundation, Project for Empty Space, Paul Robeson Galleries, New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Newark Arts.

Announcing my new position as Gallery Director at Brick + Mortar Gallery

https://www.brickandmortargallery.com/news-events

Effective immediately:

Brick + Mortar is pleased to announce, Colleen Gutwein O’Neal as it’s new Gallery Director.

Colleen comes to Brick + Mortar with more than 10 years of experience as an independent curator in the Northeast Metropolitan region. Working predominantly with emerging and mid career artists on exhibitions ranging from non-objective paintings to socio-conceptual projects.

O’Neal, brings a wealth of knowledge as an artist and educator. She recently completed a 5 year photo-documentary, The Newark Artists Photo Documentary Project, through a long-term residency at Index Art Center, is an adjunct professor of photography at Rutgers University Newark, and serves as a Community Partner at Large for Shine Portrait Studio in Express Newark. Colleen is in a unique position to propel  Brick + Mortar gallery into the contemporary conversation on an international stage while at the same time implementing a structure that will embrace and strengthen the local arts community.

“I’m very excited to bring Colleen onboard as Director of Brick + Mortar Gallery as we enter into our fourth year of operations” says Brick + Mortar Gallery and Design Studio owner, Chaz Hampton.  “Colleen brings a wealth of experience, a broad network of artists and collaborators, a fresh vision, and a shared ambition to take Brick + Mortar Gallery to the next level.”

Colleen and her husband Joseph O’Neal, himself an artist with an extensive domestic and international exhibition history, purchased a home in Easton’s West Ward in 2016.  The couple discovered the City of Easton through their close friend and colleague Joe Strasser, while visiting his solo exhibition 50 Years of Bad Behavior at Brick + Mortar’s previous location on Centre Square.  

Brick + Mortar Gallery is free and open to the public.  

Friday + Saturday 12 – 6, Sunday 12-4, and by appointment

www.brickandmortargallery.com

Facebook and Instagram

We Are The Ghosts of Our Future: on view through dec. 22

Index Art Center
2nd floor main gallery
237 Washington St.
Newark, NJ, 07102

‘We Are the Ghosts of Our Future’ encapsulates the analog portion of The Newark Artists Photo Documentary Project. Utilizing vintage Jem Jr. box cameras manufactured in Newark in the 1940s, Colleen Gutwein O’Neal forgoes the slow and methodical techniques of portraiture in favor of a more urgent and instinctive approach. A process that archives artists’ personalities in fuzzy, mysterious images emerging against a backdrop of vanishing architecture, forgotten places and artists’ workspaces. Putting forth a diverse cross-section of participants, the ghostly prints provide a subtle yet provocative commentary on the place of the artist in today’s society and the importance of honoring and documenting their contributions.

“ The camera was manufactured in Newark on Jelliff Ave in the 1940’s by the J.E. Mergott Company, and helps me to stray from the perfection of a digital image, and document these artists through my own artistic process. The gritty, fuzzy Jem Jr. images allow for disruption, ambiguity, and self-reflection by viewers, and create a truly unique perspective on archiving working artists. “ -Colleen Gutwein O’Neal

The Jem Jr. images are created in conjunction with modern, digital portraits depicting the artists in their studios or homes. The growing digital archive, the first such directory of significant visual artists in Newark, provides a useful tool and networking resource for the community at large and beyond. This portion of the project can be viewed at: https://www.newarkartsphotodoc.com/

INTERSECTION 2017 opening Friday, October 13th

‘Intersection’ features works by artists that have studios located at 31 Central Ave. and at 237 Washington St. in Newark, NJ.

Opening Reception will be on Friday, October 13, 6 – 11 pm

231 Central Artists: Jerry Gant, Katrina Bello, Akintola Hanif, Stephen Mckenzie, Kevin Merkel, William Oliwa, German Pitre, Kati Vilim, and Robert Shoup
237 Artists: Diana Palermo, Colin Sheilds, Patricia Dahlman, Kevin Durkin, Jeff Koroski, Colleen Gutwein, Lowell Craig, Jillian Keats, Peter Dougherty, Heidi Lorenz Wettach, Sohoah Lee, and Joseph O’Neal

Index Art Center exhibitions opening on Friday:
(follow links below for additional information, to rsvp, and to share) 

First Floor:
Art & Architecture of Newark presents Lisa Conrad: Urban Works
Main Space: Under The Same Sun: Democratic Spaces
works by Agnes Deja and Katherine Jackson.

Second Floor:
Main Space: Intersection 2017
IAC Side Gallery: Fern & Fossil 2017 Fall Pop-Up Shop

ArtReach XXV at City Without Walls

City Without Walls is pleased to present ArtReach XXV and a Newark New Media exhibition this summer. An opening reception will be held on Friday, June 16, 2017, 5-8pm.

ArtReach XXV will be on view at City Without Walls June 16 – August 26, 2017.

cWOW’s ArtReach program exposes local high school art students to the real lives of working artists. ArtReach offers encouragement, practical advice and guidance, and includes a high profile cWOW exhibition featuring collaborative work by the mentors and their students. The program, celebrating its 25th year, nurtures the next generation of artists and arts leaders with professional artists for a semester, engaging in dialogue through art talks, and visits to local art spaces. Students in this year’s program were sponsored in part by The Newark Print Shop, a community fine art printmaking workshop that provides affordable and accessible workspace.

This group exhibition features painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, installations and video by the following students and their mentors: Chevelle Ogbonna and James Blake, Marcus Everson and Layqa Nuna Yawar, Adelin Figueroa and Patricia Arias-Reynolds, Olga Melissa Tapia and Robert Richardson, Alonzo Lockhart and Matt Gosser, Gabrielle Johnson and Toni Thomas, Kayla Muldrow and Danielle Scott, Orchid Sylvester and Angela Pilgrim, Manuel Mejiá and Alverson Layne, Angela Johnson and Kristian Battell, Dylan Sánchez Quinteros and Colleen Gutwein, Taphara Lundy and Adrienne Wheeler, Chiara Quezada Hernández and James Wilson; and Jackson Bazile and Khari Johnson-Ricks.

City Without Walls is New Jersey’s oldest alternative art space. Our mission is to advance the careers of artists, expand the audience for contemporary art and provide opportunities for arts education and community engagement.

City Without Walls is the grateful recipient of donations and grant support from The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the City of Newark, Tarin M. Fuller, and individual contributors.

SaveSave