I have two available works that will be on display in The New Pre-Raphaelites: Illumination, curated by Kerry Dunn through Era Contemporary Gallery.  This is a huge group exhibition with over 40 artworks and 26 artists participating!

You can also listen to the podcast episode about the show or watch the video about it.

Era Contemporary Gallery is proud to announce a new partner in this year’s virtual exhibition of The New Pre-Raphaelites: Illumination!  The Delaware Museum of Art, which is home to one of the largest collections of original Pre-Raphaelite art in America, is now involved!

     The Delaware Museum of Art will be promoting the show as well as the director of the museum, Molly Giordano, spoke at the virtual opening where I have 2 of my artworks on display.

Now in its second year, “The New Pre-Raphaelites” is a group exhibition organized by Era Contemporary Gallery. This year, we add “Illumination” to inspire artists to interpret their contemporary vision of the original Pre-Raphaelites. This group exhibition includes the following artists:

Adina Yoon, Alayne Sahar, Aleksandra Katargina, Ariane Kamps, Ana Sanchez, Benjamin Shamback, Brenda Robson, Bryan Willette, Cecelia Cox, Colleen Smith, Cornelia Hernes, Courtney Scheingraber, Cristy Dunn, Danielle Rackowski, David Heshmatpour, Fred Wessel, Ilana Ellis, Jessica Libor, Jonathan MacGregor, Julianne Jonker, Kathleen Carr, Kerry Dunn, Leah Mitchell, Lisa Hendrickson, Lorenzo Narciso, Luis Alvarez Roure, Maria Christina Jimenez, Morgan Dummitt, Nancy Bea Miller, Sharon Pomales Tousey, Terra Chapman, Victoria Koursaros, and Zara Kand

Illumination has many meanings, but for this exhibition the artists interpret the word Illumination as it inspires their work. Illumination may refer to the awakening of one’s own personal insights, a spiritual transformation, or a historical reference to the illuminated manuscripts found in ancient holy texts during the Medieval Dark Ages, spanning 400-1400 BC. These ideas were also used as inspiration by the original pre-Raphaelites, a self-titled group of English artists during the mid 1800s to early 1900s that wanted to paint the natural world and heartfelt stories that included myth, legend, magic, and faith. This is the second iteration of The New Pre-Raphaelites exhibitions hosted by Era Contemporary Gallery.

Illumination in art history originally refers to the use of gold or silver leaf to embellish a page in a book, so that the words literally appear illuminated by changing light. The practice usually involved the painting in brilliant colors, elaborate designs and miniature illustrations. The work for this show may refer to the sudden burst of creativity and inspiration, a decision in life that leads to great insight, a transformative experience, and also the aesthetic choices that embrace gold leaf, and glowing, spiritual, or magical imagery.

About the curator:

The guest curator for this exhibition is Philadelphia artist Kerry Dunn. Kerry is part of a movement of new masters that has sought to reclaim the methodologies of the old masters, almost completely lost during the 20th century. This movement is in large part due to the atelier system, small studio schools each led by a master painter, that have been on the rise since the mid 90s around the world. Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, is one of these such schools; where Kerry studied between 2003–2008 with renowned portrait painter Nelson Shanks. Kerry now teaches at the school. Kerry’s work is firmly rooted in the academic traditions of painting from life as practiced by the old masters. Kerry feels most drawn to the art of portrait painting where characters are cast upon a stage and narrative is inevitable; and, the ever elusive challenge of creating a master work.

Artwork from left to right on banner image: Left, by Luis Alvarez Roure, center, by Danielle Rackowski, and right, by Adina Yoon. All pieces in the exhibition are for sale including these three. Please email eracontemproary@gmail.com for inquiries.

 

Take a look at the available works in the show here!

Any questions about the works, please respond to this email!
WIth light and creativity,

Jessica Libor
Visual Artist
www.jessicalibor.com