May 7, 2001 – A reception to showcase new artwork will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 10 at the Blue Turtle Gallery on Government Hill.
Island scenes from Aphrodite, figures by the late Katie O¹Neil, and Haitian paintings and sculpture from a prominent local collection will be among the featured work.
Aphrodite has studied with Boston Copley Master Artist Mark Hayden and
N.A. Master Artist Daniel E. Greene in New York.
Among her subjects are found still lifes, landscapes, and portraits. Two of her portraits, of sports stars Ray Bourque and Larry Bird, are on permanent display at Boston¹s Fleet Center.
Aphrodite first came to the Caribbean in 1995 and was inspired by the colorful hand-painted signs, umbrella-covered fruit stands and the expressive downtown alleys. Her paintings have the ability to capture the Caribbean at it¹s best, according to gallery owner Lucinda Schutt, who opened the Blue Turtle in December.
Katie O¹Neil (1911-2001) exhibited her work both nationally and internationally since the 1960s. She studied for 10 years under Paul Wieghardt, renowned painter and senior professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Schutt said, "she used color, confrontations, splashes and surprises and achieved life and vibrancy in her work. Katie's sense of humor and gutsy personality are a part of the expressive forms she created."
Jasmin Joseph, Frantz Zephirin, and Levoy Exil are just three of the Haitian artists on display at the Blue Turtle Gallery. Seventy-seven-year-old Joseph, converted from voodooism to Protestantism in the 1950s, and the change reflected heavily in his paintings. An internationally know artist, Zephirin at 32-years-old has two of his paintings featured in the Sacred Arts of Haitian Voodoo exhibit in New York.
Exil is one of the best know artists of the Saint Soleil Art School in Haiti. His rhythmic work has been in many exhibits at Saint Soleil as well as at theWorld Theater Festival in France, Schutt said.
Numerous Haitian sculptures are also on display. Made from salvaged metal,these sculptures express some of the rich folk lore from Haiti.
The gallery is located on the upper level of the renovated historic building that rises from GardenStreet to the western end of Kongens Gade. It's in the space occupied by Ralph Lauren-Polo in the early 1990s, and by the late Greek restaurateur Jimmy Boukas's "studio" after that. It is down the steps toward Garden Street from Marisol restaurant.
Call 774-9440 for more detailed directions or information about the opening.
The show runs through June 1.
