JUST BACK FROM OPENING, FREDIAN SLIPS WAS AWARDED BEST IN SHOW! Proud to be honored among such talented artists.

For Immediate Release January 1, 2020 First National Juried Exhibition Altered States January 23-February 15, 2020 Juried by Denise Adler, Al Benkin & Joseph O’Neill Opening Reception: Saturday, January 25, 3-6 The theme for this exhibition is “Altered States: A state of mind that deviates from what is thought to be a normal state of consciousness.” Artists were asked for work that shows how they reinterprete reality in their art, using their own visions to create new possibilities. The jurors used the theme to curate a powerful show which is at once thought provoking and inspiring. This exhibition shows the wide variety of artist’s perceptions and reactions to the world. The jurors, whose roots are in mixed media and photography backgrounds, chose a diversity of styles, mediums and approaches. The art included traverses from total abstraction to hyperrealist and everything in between, yet all of the work seems to relate across this widely interpretive theme. Al Benkin aka Mutantland is an assemblage artist, painter and stuffed animal maker. Benkins paintings & assemblages are stories laden with visual language/iconography inspired by real life & personalized myths. The content varies from political/personal satire to a sort of comedy of the absurd. Benkin has shown nationally and internationally for the past 22 years. Joseph O’Neill is an award-winning New York-based photographer Joseph O’Neill, whose work has appeared in U.S. Embassies In Muscat, Oman and Riga, Latvia. He uses abstract photographs to disprove the notion that a picture is worth a thousand words, and to prove that a conceptual image can create a powerful emotion. O’Neill encourages his viewers to create their own stories rather than having a narrative imposed upon them. Denise Adler sets out to create portraits and dreamscapes that express the mythic and legendary. These pieces, both personal and archetypical, memorialize a moment in time. Her mixed media work often takes the form of drawing, painting and collage. Magazines, photographs and found materials factor in and become the story within the story. Her work has been widely exhibited in museums and galleries both nationally and internationally. The Artists selected for the show: Joanne Agabs, Luke Baggott, Jon Barwick, Burton Blistein, Paul Brandwein, Janet Bruesselbach, Wen-Han Chang, Stephen Cimini, Ann Cofta, Daniel Efram, Shelley Feinerman, Yehudit Feinstein-Mentesh, Allen Furbeck, Matt Gabel, Joan Gantz, Jun Gao, Catharine Gellings, Richard George, Ronald Gonzalez, Kristen Haskell, Mark Hopkins, Cathy O’Keefe Jarcho, Marina Korenfeld, Beth Laxer Limmer, Tanya Levina, Frani Lugo, John Manno, Daniel McKleinfeld, Pablo Medina, Rick Midler, Kyoko Miyabe, Ol Mordue, Vernita Nemec, Robert Patrick, Russell Pensyl, Alicia Philley, Bill Pilling, Heather Piper, Russ Revock, Kenneth Ricci, Susan Richman, Russ Ritell, Che Sabalja, Noah Schmitz, Jan Schusswohl, Barbara Shelly, Scott Sherman, Morry Silbiger, Alona Smith, Isaac Stackell, D.A. Terzian, Linh Vivace, Amy Weil, Fredric Witkin, Hannah Witner, Yuliya Yasenetska, Yejin Yoo. The Opening Reception for the First Annual National Juried Exhibition will be Saturday, January 25, 3-6 pm. The work will be on view from Thursday, January 23 through February 15. Gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11-6 pm and by appointment. IG: @pleiades_gallery Cover Art by Hannah Witner - Untitled (Mineral) oil on canvas 30” x 40” 2019