FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Spring 2008
Contact: Dyan Rosenberg 914-277-8583
roseclyff@verizon.net
Announcing a solo exhibition of artwork by North Salem resident Dyan Rosenberg at the WPA Gallery at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. The work will be on view June 19 through July 27, with an opening reception scheduled for Sunday, June 22 from 3-5pm.
In her latest series "Ancestral Miniatures," Rosenberg dives head first into experimentation with a new medium, melding photography, painting, and digital technology. The source of her inspiration is equally as diverse, drawing upon Indian Miniatures and Vintage Portraiture as well as patterns and photographs from present day. The result is a startling, albeit alluring juxtaposition of past and present, classic and modern, the exotic and the familiar.
Rosenberg culls her subjects from contemporary and period photographs of her family and friends. Through digital manipulation, she infuses complex patterning and vibrant color into the photograph and then frames the resulting composition. Delicate brushstrokes are then applied, lavishing the work with an exquisite attention to detail and rich coloring that reveal the artist's fascination with Indian Miniatures (which can be traced back to a trip to Rajasthan in the early 1990s).
However unlike the static, two-dimensional nature of her historical inspirations, Rosenberg's work is distinctly modern. Each miniature conveys the illusion of depth and pulses with an energy emanating from layer upon layer of photograph, brushstroke and pattern. In their new "environment" the subjects take on a different persona and titles such as "El Presidente" or "The Royal Family" come to mind. In one portrait of a man with an elaborate headpiece and necklace, we are reminded of the traditional miniatures of the Mughal Kings: this could be a Maharajah celebrating his recent lion hunt.
Despite its ornate framework, "Ancestral Miniatures" remains a portrait of humanity that is accessible to all viewers. Real or imagined, there is something about the intimacy of the dancing girl or bride and groom gazing from the picture that strikes a chord. Presenting a new paradigm for portraiture, each work is one of a kind, to be treasured by the observer and owner alike.
Exhibition Information:
WPA Gallery at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation
Rte 121 & South Rte 35
Cross River, NY 10518
914-864-7317 www.westchestergov.com/parks
Sample of Works in Show