‘Young Talent 2001’ At WAA

WASHINGTON DEPOT — Washington Art Association’s “2001 Young Talent Exhibition” opens Saturday, January 6, and will be on view through January 28. The public is invited to attend the opening reception on Saturday, January 6, from 3 to 5 pm.

The annual exhibition, which over the years has become a highly regarded and much anticipated event, provides a showcase for emerging working artists under the age of thirty. This year the show presents the work of seven young artists: Lee Arnold, J. Allen Bentley II, Brian Dupont, Mike Hill, Chris Lyon, Marlene Rye and Scott White.

Abstract painter Lee Arnold graduated magna cum laude from Hamilton College. Having studied abroad at Tyler School of Art in Rome, he is presently in the master of fine arts program at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1999, Mr Arnold received the Robert Engman Prize in Painting. He has exhibited throughout Philadelphia, New York and New England.

J. Allen Bentley II received his MFA from the University of Pennsylvania last May. His evocative paintings capture the fluid and exuberant movements of dance. Using dance as a metaphor to explore the dual nature of relationships, the artist states his “driving themes are relationships between people, specifically couples, and the challenge of animating figures in motion.”

Brian Dupont’s vividly constructed paintings are in numerous private collections from Houston, New York and Minneapolis to Paris, France. He also has work in the H&R Block corporate collection in Kansas City. In May of 2000, he received his MFA from Cornell University. With paintings exploring the structures of visual communication, the artist probes an area “where meaning is compromised by its method of transmission.”

Mike Hill, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts with an MFA in painting, recently participated in the National Spring Open Juried Exhibition at Wayne Art Center in Pennsylvania. Mr Hill’s vibrant interaction of color and movement has been shown at Esther Klein Gallery in Philadelphia, Union Gallery in Kansas City and West End Gallery in Houston; the latter currently represents the artist.

Imagery as the essence of self is a defining element in the work of Chris Lyon. The artist says his work is “an abstract way of describing my perceptions of the way the world is and the way I would like it to be.” After studying abroad in Cortona, Italy, Mr Lyon received his MFA in painting from the University of Pennsylvania. A solo exhibition at Gallery M in Tokyo highlights an extensive slate of recent shows.

After receiving a BA in studio art from Smith College in Northhampton, Mass., the painter Marlene Rye obtained her MFA from the University of Pennsylvania last year. Ms Rye has exhibited widely and her work appears in the collections of Broadway Arts Center and Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C., as well as Green River Preserve in Cedar Mountain, N.C. The artist has had extensive solo and group exhibitions.

Sculptor Scott White’s two-piece “motto perpetuo” stands approximately five feet and features pendulums, which act as energy sources that create sounds similar to a violin. Mr White holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in studio art from Skidmore College and an MFA with concentration in sculpture from University of Pennsylvania.

Washington Art Association’s Gallery is in Bryan Memorial Plaza, on Route 47 in Washington Depot. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday, 2 to 5 pm. For additional information, call 860/868-2878.