PAINTINGS BY SHELLEY HIMMELSTEIN ON EXHIBIT IN BEN SHAHN GALLERIES AT WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY

An exhibit of recent paintings by Shelley Himmelstein, whose works explore the process of painting in its purest aspects, are on view from February 3 through March 7 at the East Gallery in the Ben Shahn Galleries at William Paterson University in Wayne. 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 Thursday, February 6 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Himmelstein’s works refer to particular places that are meaningful to her for the feelings they evoked when she encountered them. The canvasses register chosen locales in New York City, where she lives, and take us along on her travels in the two countries that she loves, the United States and Italy. "Paintings allow me to focus on what I discover to be an underlying essence of places and moments and to preserve that for contemplation," she explains.

The artist paints from nature, but simplifies its forms to abstraction. She continually reconfigures shapes and refines the surface, seeking a perfect balance and rhythm for the interior. "Their content, structure and light are explored, fiddled with, and repeatedly considered in a way peculiar to oil painting, a process that owes much to its pigment-laden physicality and workability over time," Himmelstein says.

Many of her paintings are very small in scale; her works "No. 6" and "Quandrants" measure only six inches square. "Shelley’s concentration on surface and subject, and her constant condensing of her images and forms, lend themselves to this smaller scale," says Nancy Einreinhofer, director of the Ben Shahn Galleries.

Himmelstein’s works have been featured in one-person shows at 76 Varick and Synchronicity Space in New York and at Casina Pompeiana in Italy, as well as numerous group exhibitions in New York, Italy, Greece, and the Netherlands. She has won grants from the Hedda Sterne Foundation, Artist Space in New York and Commune di Napoli in Italy.

A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Himmelstein received a master of fine arts degree from Hunter College. She also studied at the Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy.

Himmelstein’s exhibit is one of three shows on view concurrently in the Ben Shahn Galleries. On view in the South Gallery are paintings and works on paper by Jung Hyang Kim. The Court Gallery exhibit, "Life with Pocket Change and Other Pleasures: An Exhibition of Artists’ Books," presents recent demonstrations of books created as works of art. All exhibits are free and open to the public and are wheelchair accessible.

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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2/3/03
For Further Information, contact:

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