Exhibition Page

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 26, 2015
Additional images available

CONTACT:
Greg Svitil | T: 202.370.0147
[email protected] | AMAmuseum.org

Primal Connections: Paintings by Deanna Schwartzberg

On view January 28 - March 6, 2015
By appointment only, Mon-Fri from 9am to 5pm
Please call 202-370-0151

Opening Reception: Wednesday, January 28, 2015 at 6pm
(no appointment necessary)

OAS AMA | F STREET GALLERY
Organization of American States
1889 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006

The Organization of American States’ AMA | Art Museum of the Americas and the OAS Department of Sustainable Development (DSD) present Primal Connections: Paintings by Deanna Schwartzberg, an exhibition of work that speaks to the artist’s environmental concerns as well as her passion for living in touch with her surroundings. This notion not only reflects AMA’s mission of promoting social well-being through the arts, but the Department of Sustainable Development’s aim of reducing humankind’s footprint on our world.

In Schwartzberg’s paintings, we enter a world of color and light, a shared presence of humanity and the natural world.  A figure, often of life size proportions, merges with elements of nature. The painting “Splush” conveys the wetness of a garden, the darkened silhouettes of abstracted flowers, and a female form; her face in shadow and locked in its own repose. On further examination the figure does not completely separate from the landscape.  Throughout her work, elements of nature combine with body to reaffirm her belief that humankind and the environment are inseparable, asking us to reconsider our relationship with our world.

Included in this exhibition, curated by Ana María Ascano, is Schwartzberg’s poem Primal Connections. In it she expresses our connection to the natural world. The paintings don’t illustrate the poem as much as find their own rhythm to further illuminate the flux and flow of humanity and the natural world. Included in the exhibition is an installation of 28 small paintings of faces, inspired the poem.  

Schwartzberg’s concern for the environment and keen awareness of the destructive forces that threaten our ability to live in harmony with nature has been the impetus of her work for many years.  Rather than focusing on these destructive forces, her art expresses a binding relationship with the earth that reinforces our best judgments.

Schwartzberg 's interest in abstract painting began as an undergraduate at New York University. Later her years spent at The Art Students League Of New York with Vaclav Vytlacil, who painted with Hans Hofmann, laid the groundwork for her life's work as an artist. She maintains a studio in Bethesda, Maryland and has exhibited widely.  She has taught abstract painting at the Art League School in the Torpedo Factory, Alexandria for many years.

This exhibition is presented in conjunction with the Department of Sustainable Development (DSD), the OAS unit responsible for supporting OAS member States in addressing environmental concerns to achieve inclusive sustainable development.