Artist Roberta Friedman presents BREATHE: 2020 at City Gallery

Capitalizing on her time in self-isolation during the pandemic, artist Roberta Friedman throws caution to the wind in an exciting collection of new work appropriately titled BREATHE: 2020. The show will be on view from Saturday, November 7 through Sunday, November 29, Saturdays and Sundays from 2 - 4PM or by appointment. While there will not be a traditional opening reception, the artist will be in the gallery on November 7, November 15, and November 29 to meet with visitors.

“Mounting an art exhibition during a year of catastrophes that continue seemingly without letup is both daunting and reflective,” says Friedman. “How much does my art, or anyone’s, really matter in the face of such disasters and upheavals? Well, I choose to make art matter for my own well-being and for the nurturing of those around me.”

As inspiration, Friedman recalled Joan Miro’s words, spoken at age 85: “I painted in a frenzy so that people will know that I am alive, that I’m breathing, that I still have a few more places to go and I’m heading in new directions.”

“And so I am breathing, too,” Friedman explains, “I have used the time afforded to me during these past many months to explore color and techniques and materials.”

Her new series of work is very much about the presence of color, expressed in layers of paint on canvas, or through the application of richly pigmented waxes in the art of encaustic. The abstraction of color becomes the artist’s vision: how color separates and fragments when reduced by fire, how it emerges through layers and layers of paint, how one color dominates or recedes.

“It is those processes that reflect the wild swings from joy and satisfaction to the isolation and worry felt by us all,” explains Friedman. “It is breathing in…and breathing out.”

Friedman has been a part of the New Haven arts community since the 1970s and has participated in exhibitions at Creative Arts Workshop, Yale New Haven Hospital, City Gallery and many other venues. She has shared her knowledge of water media and collage with classes for children and adults. She is a member of the Art Students League of Denver and has exhibited her recent work in encaustics at the Niza Knoll Gallery, Denver. You can see more of her work on her website: www.robertafriedman.net.

BREATHE: 2020 is free and open to the public, and runs November 7 - November 29. City Gallery is located at 994 State Street, New Haven, CT 06511. Modified gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday, 2PM - 4pm or by appointment. Number of visitors limited to 6 at a time. Masks must be worn. For further information please contact City Gallery, 203-782-2489, info@city-gallery.org, www.city-gallery.org.