"Two Artists, Two Realities"

"Two Artists, Two Realities" with Colleen Barry and Valeri Larko

This exhibit runs from October 14th to November 24th with an artist's reception on Saturday, October 18rd from 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Gallery Talk: Thursday, October 23rd at 12:40 p.m. in the Alumni Room Gallery, Tuohy Hall. Gallery Hours are Monday and Wednesday, 4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. and Saturday from 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Colleen Barry and Valeri Larko, while both realistic artists, provide the viewer with very different perspectives of the world around them. Ms. Barry's pen and ink studies reflect the traditional Tibetan villages of Northern Nepal and street scenes of Kathmandu. Her work captures what is essential and elusive in her subjects without unnecessary ornament. In contrast, Ms. Larko has an ongoing fascination with the landscape where urban culture and nature collide, most often to be found in the fringes of our cities. Reflected in her large oil paintings, it is in these often-overlooked areas that she finds both beauty & pathos, bizarre juxtapositions that reflect how we, as a society, have altered and continue to alter the environment.

A student of the National Academy of Design, the Harlem Studio of Art, the Hudson River Landscape School and the Water Street Atelier, Colleen Barry has been the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards. As a student, she exhibited her work at the National Academy of Art, The National Arts Club, and Cork Gallery in Lincoln Center.

Valeri Larko has had numerous solo and group exhibitions of her paintings throughout the New York metropolitan area. Notable solo exhibits include The New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, Safe-T-Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Bronx River Art Center, Art Guild of Rahway, NJ, Johnson and Johnson Corporate Headquarters Gallery, New Brunswick, NJ and the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, NJ. Notable group exhibits include The Jersey City Museum, The Morris Museum, The National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, Aljira, a center for contemporary Art, Newark NJ, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ, and MB Modern in New York City and the Bruton Street Gallery in London, England.
Colleen Barry, Women in Prayer, 2007
sepia ink on paper, 5”x7”
Larko, Graffiti, Zerega Ave, Bronx, 2008
oil on linen, 42”x 35”

E-mail:
stemple@sjcny.edu