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October Issue
2010
Artspace in
Raleigh, NC, Features Works by Max Halperen and Alice Levinson
Artspace in Raleigh, NC, will present several new exhibits including: Mountain Descents, featuring works by Max Halperen, on view in the Lobby from Oct. 1 - 30, 2010, and First Steps...Beginning Again, featuring works by Alice Engel Levinson, on view in the Upfront Gallery from Oct. 1 - 30, 2010.
Max Halperen
Mountains have been seen as gods or the home of gods. Last fall, surrounded by the snows and ice-fields of the Canadian Rockies, Halperen notes that with a sudden surges of energy he began to both understand and feel why some cultures have viewed mountains in this way. While traveling, Halperen dreamt of strange creatures descending from the mountains. After returning from his trip, the artist tried to capture his experience in abstract, semi-abstract, and figurative works, in most cases employing luminous oil pastels.
Born and raised in New York City, Halperen is a professor emeritus at North Carolina State University, where he taught modern literature and modern art history. He has lectured widely, been on the board of several art associations, juried and curated exhibitions, written monographs and catalogues, reviewed art for local, state and national publications, and has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants. Halperen currently maintains a studio at Artspace.
Alice Engel Levinson
In the exhibition, First Steps...Beginning Again, Alice Engel Levinson offers her first work since a two-year hiatus, following the loss by fire of her home and studio. In this new work Levinson affirms her commitment to textile as a medium, and stitch construction as the process, while demonstrating her movement further 'off the wall' toward the structural and sculptural. The movement and curvilinear motifs characteristic of her work have been freed as Levinson uses negative space as a primary compositional imperative. As in her prior work, process and content are linked. These works are studies in the implications of loss and losing, and of honoring what was, in order to move forward.
Levinson is primarly a self-taught artist. In 2000, she left her career of twenty-five years as a clinical psychologist to pursue work with textiles. In creating nontraditional cloth constructions, Levinson employs a broad range of surface design processes, emphasizing layering of color and texture, movement, and intuitive process. Her work has been included in numerous juried exhibits throughout the Eastern US, California, and Oregon, as well as in Israel. Her work is in numerous private and institutional collections, including The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Hillel Foundation. In addition to her personal creative work, Levinson is active as an arts advocate, supporting the work of artists and arts institutions in Orange County. She is particularly active in efforts to increase opportunities and funding for arts in the schools and for public art.
Artspace, a thriving
visual art center located in downtown Raleigh, brings the creative
process to life through inspiring and engaging education and community
outreach programming, a dynamic environment of over 30 professional
artists studios, and nationally acclaimed exhibitions. Approximately
95 artists hold professional memberships in the Artspace Artists
Association. Thirty-five of these artists have studios located
at Artspace.
Artspace is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, the
United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County, the Raleigh Arts
Commission, individuals, corporations, and private foundations.
For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery
listings, call the center at 919/821-2787 or visit (www.artspacenc.org).
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