(Guttenberg NJ) Guttenberg Arts Gallery is pleased to present MADE HERE: Winter 2020 a group exhibition of our Winter Artists in Residence; Lucas Almeida, Jason Robert Bauer, Vassilina Dikidjieva, Charlotte Massip and Adams Puryear. On view March 31st - April 26th. The works included in MADE HERE: Winter 2020 were created during the artist’s 3 month Space & Time Artist Residency at Guttenberg Arts. Guttenberg Arts will host an opening reception for MADE HERE: Winter 2020 on Tuesday March 31st from 7pm - 9pm.

During his time at Guttenberg Arts, Lucas Almeida’s delved deeper into his creative process by exploring a range of mediums including drawing, etching and writing poetry. Almeida’s daily practice of drawing acts as a foundation for his other processes. Finding shapes with meaningful content and a balance between light and dark result in a series of sequential drawings that express movement and transformation which often feature themes that arise at the spur of a moment. In short, Almeida believes that art should help people feel more alive and compares reality to a really big cake. Almeida explains, “Everyone has a slice of cake, the same way each one experiences reality in a unique way. That ‘slice’ that keeps on growing accordingly with what each one does in life. No one knows for sure what that cake tastes like, some people say that is an orange cake, other’s say it’s carrot, and there’s a bunch that wishes that would be a chocolate cake, but no one truly knows, all we have is some hints, some close clues to whatever it might be.”

Jason Robert Bauer works in pursuit of equanimity creating mental, physical and spiritual spaces through sculpture, video, installation, sound and light. His work explores concepts of perception and interconnectivity with an emphasis on minutiae and vernacular construction using heirloom and repurposed objects. Bauer has been working primarily with glass for over 13 years and while at Guttenberg Arts acted as a consultant and the pilot artist in resident for the newly established glassblowing facilities.

Vassilina Dikidjieva’s artworks are linked of her architectural fascination with cultural heritage and contemporary art. Discovering ancient places in Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Greece, Egypt and Italy felt like time traveling for the artist. During her travels, Dikidjieva finds themes from history and mythology which she strives to rethink in her paintings, prints and drawings. Dikidjieva states, “Juxtapositions of opposites have been an important approach in my architectural and artistic projects and I recently embraced printmaking to revisit with increased clarity and intensity ancient symbols, elements, iconic images in the context of current hot topics and events.” While in residence at Guttenberg Arts, Dikidjieva expanded her practice to include screen printing and one of her main explorations was a tribute to Leonardo in which she reflects the phenomenon that five hundred years after Leonardo’s death, Mona Lisa is more popular than ever, outshining all other art icons and becoming a symbol of the Louvre Museum.

Charlotte Massip invites us to a permanent questioning on the visible reality and the gap between it and its representation. For her, the body is as much a material as a reflection, an object of study as a subject of thought and in her work the two remain constantly overlapping. Her incisive eye finds in the technique of engraving, both sharp and intimate, the most appropriate tool.

Adams Puryear utilizes the ceramic vessel among other components to reflect his life experiences steeped in culture and technology. Despite each large sculpture having many pieces and materials involved, the utilitarian functional ceramic vessel remains at his work’s center of thought. In general Puryear’s ceramic objects are bluntly shaped, unrefined and appear primitive, with marks from my hand and fingerprints left exposed. Puryear has made this uncomplicated style of clay work for several years and feels the need to cultivate new complex forms and surfaces to incorporate into these components. Puryear believes that this overhaul will be key to develop a more articulated engaging artwork.

Exhibition: March 31, 2020 - April 26, 2020; Opening Reception on Tuesday March 31st, 6-9pm. For more information please contact matt@guttenbergarts.org or 201-868-8585. Guttenberg Art Gallery is free and open to the public by appointment. www.guttenbergarts.org Guttenberg Arts programming is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a division of the Department of State, and administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. Degise, Hudson County Executive & the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders.