SOLO EXHIBIT OF PAINTINGS BY ALISON WELD ON VIEW AT WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY

Recent paintings by Alison Weld, which communicate her love of abstract expressionism and its involvement with marks and materials, are on view in a one-person show in the Ben Shahn Galleries at William Paterson University in Wayne from October 27 through November 26, 2003. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. A reception for the exhibit will be held on Wednesday, October 29 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Galleries.

Weld’s larger-scale works are created from two panels. One panel is painted in a vibrant expressionistic style with a palette of saturated color and thick strokes of paint that clearly show the mark of the artist. She juxtaposes each painting with another panel created with a different material – fake fur, vinyl, artificial flowers – which references the anonymous, industrial processes of mass production.

In "Darwin’s Living Room," for example, the right handed panel is composed of masses of fake flowers, whose literal beauty compare with the organic forms painted on the opposite panel. "The primal forms on the left suggest shapes originating at the beginning of time, while the patently synthetic flowers demonstrate a much later culture that is not necessarily an advance on the organicism of the painted panel," says arts writer Jonathon Goodman in the exhibit catalog.

Weld has presented her works in numerous solo and group exhibits in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. A graduate of Alfred University in New York, she earned a master of fine arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She also holds a degree from Wolverhampton Polytechnic College of Art in England.

The exhibit is one of three shows on view concurrently in the Ben Shahn Galleries. On view in the Court Gallery is "Objects of Power," an exhibition of ritual objects selected from the University’s African collection. Works on paper by Richard Carboni are on view in the East Gallery.

This exhibit is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

For additional information, please call the Ben Shahn Galleries at William Paterson University, 973-720-2654.

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For Further Information, contact:

Mary Beth Zeman, Director, Public Relations 973-720-2966

10/23/03