SHU Gallery Will Host ‘A Fruitful Conversation’

FAIRFIELD — “A Fruitful Conversation,” an exhibit of works by Barbara Rothenberg and David Boyajian, will open at Sacred Heart University’s Gallery of Contemporary Art on Sunday, February 6. The public is invited to attend an opening reception from 1 to 3:30 pm that afternoon.

Although both Connecticut artists work in many media simultaneously — Ms Rothenberg in printmaking, drawing and oil paintings, and Mr Boyajian in wood, marble, stone, bronze and steel — the exhibit will concentrate on Ms Rothenberg’s oil paintings on paper or board and Mr Boyajian’s steel sculptures.

Ms Rothenberg and Mr Boyajian share an interest in exploring generative plant forms: seeds, pods, leaves and stems. Many artists, in fact, view the growth of a plant as a metaphor for the cycles that all forms of life share.

In depicting these elements, both artists elicit vague sexual connotations: primary, subtle, yet inexplicably pure. To take a natural form, explore its properties and place it in space is what is most important in the artists’ paintings and sculptures.

In conjunction with their exhibit running through Thursday, March 2, Ms Rothenberg and Mr Boyajian will hold an artist’s talk on Wednesday, February 16, at 7 pm. For more information, contact gallery director Sophia Gevas at 203/365-7650.

Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, noon to 7:30 pm; and Sunday, noon to 4 pm.

The Gallery of Contemporary Art is on the campus of Sacred Heart University, at 5151 Park Avenue.