Galleries

NJCU Galleries will be closed during the spring break (March 4 - 8)

The Universe of Ben Jones

BEN JONES ART. SHRINE FOR THE SPIRIT
Ben Jones, Untitled (detail), 1980, Photo reproduction on board, acrylic and gouache, collage, 40 x 30 inches, collection of the artist. Photo by Manuel Acevedo

January 27 – April 3, 2024
The Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery

Ben Jones in Conversation with Dr. Dennis Raverty [Part of the Black History Month Celebration]
February 6, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Gothic Lounge (H-202)
followed by a reception in the Lemmerman Gallery (H-323)
 
Over his six-decade career, artist Ben F. Jones has focused on interconnections and relationships between global issues including politics, health, the environment, racism, and capitalism, among others. “The imagery is both figurative and abstract, interacting and affecting,” he says in a statement in the exhibition catalog. “We cannot solve our ecological, political, and even spiritual problems in the world if we fail to see the relationships among these things.”

This retrospective of the extraordinary artist presents many works—bold, insightful, and in a visual language all his own—that have rarely been exhibited or are on display here for the first time. Come see how Jones’s symbology has transcended global and local issues of ecology, technology, politics, and spirituality, making him the conscience of his generation and of today.

The exhibition and its companion catalog are part of a year-long Mellon Foundation-funded collaboration between William Paterson University and New Jersey City University that is celebrating the American artist Ben Jones—a 1963 graduate of William Paterson and a NJCU professor emeritus of art.

Co-curated by Casey Mathern, director of the William Paterson Galleries, and Midori Yoshimoto, director of the NJCU Galleries, the exhibition was held in the William Paterson Galleries during the fall 2023 semester.

MELLON FOUNDATION LOGO SMALL

 

Constellations

Promotional image for Constellations exhibit
Design by Melanie Roberts

January 27 – April 3, 2024
The Visual Arts Gallery

 
Art Activism Born at NJCU
Conversations with Orlando Cuevas and Mr.Mustart
March 14, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
The Visual Arts Building Auditorium (B08)
followed by the reception in the Visual Arts Gallery
 
 
Women Artists from the Constellations
Conversations with Danielle Scott, Heejung Kim, and Lucy Rovetto
(Part of the Women's History Month Celebration)
March 26, 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Visual Arts Building Auditorium (B08)
followed by a reception in the Visual Arts Gallery
 
 
This exhibition features artworks by 20 artists who have been mentored and influenced by Ben Jones: Ray Arcadio, Josephine Barreiro, Gianluca Bianchino, Gerardo Castro, Jose Manuel Cruz, Orlando Cuevas, Gerald Glover, Troy Jones, Heejung Kim, Richard LaRovere, Mansa K. Mussa, Mustart, Oroccoro, Jose Pardo, Michele A. Pope, Lucy Rovetto, Omar Saed, Danielle Scott, Will Suarez, and Bisa Washington. Their community of practice now extends four decades and thousands of miles beyond the orbit of northern New Jersey—each with their own connection to Jones—working in parallel universes of their own creation.
 
This exhibition was co-curated by Casey Mathern, director of the William Paterson Galleries, and Midori Yoshimoto, director of the NJCU Galleries, and was held in the William Paterson Galleries during the fall 2023 semester.
 
 

REVIEW OF CURRENT EXHIBITS

Modulations 

2024 NJCU BFA Exhibition

April 20 – May 10, 2024
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 20, 2024, 3:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Lemmerman and Visual Arts Galleries

Artist Talk: April 26, May 3, May 10, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.  

Modulations is an eclectic showcase celebrating the diverse talents of 23 emerging artists from our BFA program. A collection of ceramics, illustration, graphic design, painting, and photography, this exhibition explores the dynamic interplay of form, color, and narrative. Each artist brings a unique perspective, offering a captivating journey through the realms of imagination, emotion, and technique. Beyond its title, Modulations serves as a thematic anchor for the diverse works on display, symbolizing the fluidity and adaptability inherent in artistic expression. Just as musical modulations shift tones and rhythms to evoke different moods and atmospheres, the artists in this show navigate various mediums and styles to convey their individual narratives and perspectives.

Participating artists: 
Lemmerman Gallery

  • Cardona, Angie Giselle

  • Davila, Octavia Maria

  • Dickerson, Tracel Monique

  • Jimenez, Carlos Francisco

  • Lau, Daniel Tyler

  • Morel Rodriguez Jr, Adis D

  • Pan, Weiling

  • Pangilinan, Kyle 

  • Ulloa, Deisy

  • Vasquez-Machuca, Ana Laura

Visual Arts Gallery

  • Brown, Fern (Megan) 

  • Diaz, Emily

  • Farooq, Umar

  • Felix, Breanna

  • Ferreira, Aurora

  • Gagliardi, Sophie -

  • Jones, Donte

  • Liu, Andy- 

  • Persaud, Kevin

  • Tejada, Killian (Ana Karina)

  • Timones, Tatiana

  • Roman, Mildred

  • Orellana, Walter

We are proud to be part of the first Garden State Art Weekend!

 

NJCU Visual Arts Gallery

Lower Level, Visual Arts Building
100 Culver Ave. Jersey City, NJ 07305
Tel: 201-200-2496

Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery

Hepburn Hall, Room 323
2039 Kennedy Blvd. Jersey City, NJ 07305
Tel: 201-200-3246

Past Events Fall 2022-Spring 2023

(Latin American Artists: Dreams and Possibilities)

September 13 – November 15, 2023

JCAST Special Hours: October 14
Tour with Atim Anette Oton and artist Giannina Gutierrez will start at Visual Arts Gallery 

Learn more about JCAST

Panel Discussion II: Gender, Image, and Symbolism 
November 7
Visual Arts Building Auditorium (100 Culver Avenue, B08)

LATINX FLYER CLIP FROM ARTWORK

Curated by Atim Annette Oton of Calabar Gallery, the exhibition explores wide-ranging art making processes, distinctive cultural roots, issues of language and identity in Latin American art. From installation, painting to photography, this two-gallery exhibition presents the multiplicity of artistic voices from the twenty emerging and established artists from Jersey City and New York Metropolitan area.

Artists in the exhibition are Vanezza Cruz, Kandy G. Lopez, Cesar Melgar, Giannina Gutierrez, Dayani Munoz, Ann Tirado, Ray Arcadio, Estrella Munoz, Sonia Lerebours, Maria Lupiañez, João (Juno) Zago, Natali Bravo-Barbee, Tenjin Ikeda, Katherine Miranda, Jacqueline Herranz-Brooks, Slyvia Padillia, Josué Morales Urbina, Alexandra Alvarez, Melissa Ulto and Felix Morelo.

On view in both NJCU Visual Arts and Lemmerman Galleries

This exhibition is part of the NJCU Hispanic Heritage Month and supported by the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies.

Panel Discussion: Latin American Art and Politics
September 26

ACCESS the Recording

BFA ART SHOW HEADER IMAGE

April 22 - May 15

Artist Talks on three Fridays, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m., starting at the Visual Arts Gallery (a portion of it will be broadcast via Instagram Live @njcugalleries)

4/28: Paige Bishop, Kassandra Brown, Merlee Vergara, Renee Ramos, Joseph Bachanes, Jose DeLa Rosa, Alec Kucere-Lavcivnoska, Jonah Dunstan, Jonah Buonsanto, and Tionna Watson
Guest reviewer: Prof. Melissa MacAlpin, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, Felician College/comic book author

5/5: Fransheska Larios, Madeline Herrera, Adriana Crow, Heber Diaz, Lucero Torres, Abigail Ostorva, Michael Pantaleon, Margaret Deignan, Maria Barros, and Anya Dudley
Guest reviewer: Stephanie Krompier, Creative Director/Brand Builder 

5/12: Angel Velez, Daniel Guiller, Neil Nacamuli, Abraham Vasquez, Kayla Brown, Jhyda Pura-Quilla, Crystal Serrano, and Lil Sloginski
Guest reviewer: Prof. Mauro Altamura (retired from NJCU in 2017), Photographer/Writer

CHARLES GAINES SMALL HEADSHOT

May 15, 4 - 6 p.m.: 
Closing Reception with Charles Gaines (BA, 1966), an NJCU alum and renowned artist.

Join us at 
Lemmerman Gallery (Hepburn Hall 323): 4-5 p.m. 
Visual Arts Gallery (100 Culver Avenue): 5-6 p.m. 

Photo: Fredrik Nilsen, Courtesy Charles Gaines Studio


Gradually developing over recent years, the art of our BFA graduates now culminates in a crescendo of creativity. 

Both the NJCU Visual Arts and Lemmerman Galleries will present a diverse output of artworks from clay sculpture to digital illustration. 

Participating artists are: Joseph Bachanes, Maria Barros, Paige Bishop, Kassandra Brown, Kayla Brown, Jonah Buonsanto, Adriana Crow, Jose DeLa Rosa, Heber Diaz, Margaret Deignan, Anya Dudley, Jonah Dunstan, Daniel Guiller, Madeline Herrera, Sofija (Alec) Kucere-Lavcivnoska, Fransheska Larios, Neil Nacamuli, Abigail Ostorva, Michael Pantaleon, Jhyda Pura-Quilla, Renee Ramos, Crystal Serrano, Lil Sloginski, Lucero Torres, Abraham Vasquez, Angel Velez, Merlee Vergara, and Tionna Watson

The exhibition will be complemented by the website featuring artist statements and images.

March 15 to April 12, 2023
Opening reception: March 15, 5 – 8 p.m.
Artist Talk: March 16, 1 – 2 p.m.

Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery

Two pieces of art by Cheryl Gross titled BoxingBabe and Nellie Brown

The exhibition, BoxingBabes & Cowgirls, showcases Gross’ most recent body of work which celebrates both real and fictitious cowgirls and women boxers as heroines. Having grown up with her father, she often watched Westerns and sport programs on television. It was only natural for Gross to pretend play as a cowboy armed with toy guns and lassos. The games lost their color as Gross realized that the worlds of Westerns and sports largely excluded women as the main players or cast them as damsels in distress.

By embracing freedom, breaking boundaries, and eschewing outdated forms of gender identity, Gross created these series out of her fantasy, memory, and research of historical and contemporary women in boxing, sharpshooting, and rodeo performance.

Gross’ colorful paintings honor these lesser-known trailblazers in American history with a unique style which combines kinetic splatters and illustrative figuration. Created from accidental coffee stains, the vividly colored and delineated splatters serve as halos or accents behind these dynamic subjects. Although the genre of illustration has often been separated from that of fine art, Gross boldly transgresses these boundaries to nullify the conventional notions of art altogether.

Brooklyn native Cheryl Gross is an illustrator, painter, writer and motion graphic artist living and working in the New York/New Jersey area. She is a professor at Pratt Institute. Her work has appeared in numerous films, TV shows, publications, and graces the walls of many corporate and museum collections including: Zebra Poetry Film Festival, Berlin, New York Times, Riverside Museum, Riverside, Ca., The Museum of The City of New York, Mississippi Museum of Art, Laforet Harajuku Museum, Tokyo, Japan, Artist-In-Residency, Kunstlerhaus, Saarbruken, Germany. Finalist Elizabeth Hulings Foundation, 2014, Artist-In-Residency Program, Dilsberg, Germany, 2015, four-time recipient Eileen Kaminsky Family Foundation Residency, Jersey City, 2018-2021, long time contributor: Broadsided Press, Art Fair 14c, Jersey City, NJ, 2021-22.

Images:

Cheryl Gross, Nellie Brown, 2021, mixed media: archival ballpoint, graphite, India ink, color pencil, acrylic, gouache and watercolor on paper.

Cheryl Gross, BoxingBabe 28, 2022, mixed media: archival ballpoint, graphite, India ink, color pencil, acrylic, gouache and watercolor on paper.

Reviews:

March 21 - April 4, 2023
Reception: March 23, 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Visual Arts Gallery

Exploration of the Abandoned artwork

Jonathan Cohen’s photographs of the abandoned buildings and their surroundings show urban decay, but also beg to question why. Why was this home abandoned by its inhabitants? Why was this business closed and left to rot? Without knowing for sure, the viewers can only guess the reason why the people left and never looked back. Wet and rotten wood, chipped paint from years of brutal weathering with no upkeep create a texture that is original to each own image. By using an extended exposure or a colored light sometime, Cohen’s images invoke the feelings of nostalgia, sadness, isolation, and a sense of decay.

Image: Monmouth Battlefield, inkjet print, 20 x 30 inches


 Visual Arts Gallery:

Firoz Mahmud:  Early Episodes II

February 16 - March 16, 2023
Talk/Reception: February 21, 6:30 – 8 pm (Talk 5:30 pm)
JCFridays: March 3, 4 - 7 pm

FIROZ MAHMUD ART
Firoz Mahmud, Transited Dream, 2020/19, mixed media on homemade paper, 30 x 23 inches (left), 30 x 18 inches (right), courtesy of the artist.

This solo exhibition of mixed media works on paper by Bangladesh-born, New York-based artist Firoz Mahmud, engage his cultural and political heritage, touching on themes like war and conflict, legacies of the Bengal region, and dreams of immigrant families in new lands. The ‘Drawing Reverberation’ series of mixed media drawing on homemade papers delineate how foreign rulers from Persia came to greater Bengal for trading and preaching Islam. The socio-political issues during the Mughal era and the British East India company’s strategic colonial past are the core of this series of works on paper.

Over the course of the nineteenth century, Bengal and South Asia were colonized by the British East India Company. This works on paper series also extends Bengal legacy and history as well as the British East Indian colonial era and their trade and rule all over South Asia and its epicenter in Bengal. Most of these works depict the social past, evidence of things left behind, Islamism, history, myth, and beliefs of the past. 

Born in Bangladesh, artist Firoz Mahmud was educated at the Rijksakademie Van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, and has a Ph.D, from the Tokyo University of Arts, an M.F.A from Tama Art University in Japan, and a B.F.A from Dhaka University. Mahmud’s work has been exhibited at numerous international art exhibitions such as Bangkok Art Biennale, Lahore Biennial, Dhaka Art Summit, Setouchi Triennale, Aichi Triennial, Sharjah Biennale, Congo Biennale, Ostrale Biennale (Dresden), Immigrant Artist Biennale (TIAB), Cairo Biennale, Echigo-Tsumari Triennial (Niigata, Japan), Asian Biennale, Geumgang Nature Art Biennale (South Korea). Other venues include: the Office of Contemporary Art, Norway, MAXXI Museum of 21st Century Arts Rome, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan Contemporary Art at Asia House London, Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, The Metropolitan Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Fuchu Art Museum, Mori Art Museum Tokyo; Metropolitan Mostings Hus Copenhagen, Sovereign Art Foundation HK, Children Museum, PS1, and Hammond Museum in New York, Ota Fine Arts, Exhibit320 in Delhi, Dhaka Art Center, National Museum and Bengal Gallery in Dhaka.

The earlier version of the exhibition was presented at the York College in York, Pennsylvania.

@firoz.mahmud.info

RSVP


 

 The NJCU Lemmerman Gallery:

Danielle Scott: Kinfolk

January 31 – March 3, 2023
Curated by Doris Cacoilo

KINFOLK ATHENA ART
Danielle Scott, Athena, 2022  Photo: @Mdphotoandink

This exhibition presents the artist Danielle Scott’s dedication to social commentary and ancestral storytelling. The artist spent over a year visiting plantations in the United States sourcing materials and historical documentation in order to connect to these stories and visualize them in these works. She feels a calling to tell the stories of ancestors, of warriors, of love, of sadness and of resilience. This collection integrates photographs, delicate papers, reprinted documents, fabrics and objects to create layered portraits of the lineage of black families across generations. 

Danielle Scott is a cultural explorer, activist and artist that breathes in the history and spirits of HER PEOPLE. Scott uses research to tell the unheard stories, transforming her into the storyteller, the mother, the daughter and the history of her subjects. In past work, Scott has addressed stereotypes and archetypes, systematic racism, and gun control. In her most recent collection, the BERTHher series (2019-2021), her focus was to share the stories of women through a joyful celebration of power and triumph. 

This exhibition stems from an exhibition, Ancestral Call, presented by Gallery Aferro from October 7, 2022 to January 21, 2023, and originally curated by Anthony E. Boone and Bryant Small. Special thanks to Gallery Aferro directors and the artists for their collaboration.

Review by Tris McCall on NJArts.net

The Embankment
On My Mind

November 1 - December 16
The Visual Arts Gallery and
the Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery

Loura van der Meule, A Spontaneous Garden, Acrylic on canvas 72” x 86”
Loura van der Meule, A Spontaneous Garden, Acrylic on canvas 72” x 86”

Reception: November 5, 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm (both galleries)
The parking deck on Culver Avenue will be open to the guests for free.

Panel Discussion: “The Embankment on My Mind: Bridging Science and Art,”
November 22, 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm (The Auditorium, the Visual Arts Building)
For zoom participation, register here.

JCFriday extended hours: December 2, 11 am - 7 p.m.

The link to the catalog (printed copies are available at both galleries): https://issuu.com/njcu/docs/embankmentonmymind_catalog_120722

To access the recording of the panel: https://njcu.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=46663ed0-6bbe-40aa-b86f-af56000ae64c

Please help us with the post-visit survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZN8iZ-w25tbEm3FZtO-ze8RtygbM8QCLagM82B48YdJxEgw/viewform

Closing Reception: December 16, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm (both galleries)

Press Release

Curated by Peter Delman and Midori Yoshimoto
Organized by Maureen Crowley and Katy Lyness, Embankment Preservation Coalition

The Embankment on My Mind exhibits original art inspired by a grassroots preservation initiative that holds the promise of transforming Jersey City's treatment of open space and an emerging trail system. Sixteen botanical artists depicting local flora join twenty-eight artists with wide-ranging responses to the site, a massive stone rail embankment in the Downtown.

Participating artists working in varied media: Anonda BellAnthony BooneJennifer Krause ChapeauPaul Ching-BorNancy CohenSantiago Cohen, Kim Correro, Beth DaryKate DoddEdward FaustyEileen FeraraJaz GrafEllie IronsDeirdre KennedyKay KennyZoe KerameaKerry KolenutRobert LachCandy Le SueurAnne Novado, William OrtegaAnne PercocoMayumi SaraiBarbara SeddonLinda StreicherMJ Tyson, Loura van der Meule.

Artists depicting flora and fauna along the Harsimus Branch: Nicole ChristianKari EnglehardtChristiane FashekMargaret G. GarrisonRose Marie JamesCorinne Lapin-CohenKaty LynessTammy S. McEnteeDonna MiskendDick RauhMonica RayJeanne ReinerClara L. RichardsonMeryl Sheetz, Elizabeth White-Pultz, Sarah Yu.

This exhibition is supported by public funds from the Jersey City Arts and Culture Trust Fund.

This project is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a division of the Department of State, and administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. DeGise, Hudson County Executive & the Hudson County Board of County Commissioners.

ARTISTS WAY ART IMAGE

The Artist’s Way 

Andrew Demirjian & James Proctor 
September 22 - October 20, 2022
The NJCU Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery

Artist Reception: September 29, 4:30 - 7:30 pm

October 1
Jersey City Artist Studio Tour
(Meet the Artists from 4 - 5 pm)

Artist Talk: October 11, 5:30 - 6: 30 pm (Gothic Lounge)
Access the recording

Merging portrait and landscape, The Artist’s Way is an audiovisual navigation through the language space of artist statements. The installation remixes over 400 artist statements of self-identified practitioners of digital/electronic arts sourced from a highly competitive grant application to produce a generative three-dimensional poem, creating a linguistic hopscotch across the collective mind of digital artists. The Artist's Way consists of two large-scale projected artworks that draw upon the history of poetic structures to generate rules for parsing and sequencing the 16,000 words to form a new visual poem. By re-positioning the meta-language of artists' statements as the art itself, The Artist’s Way aims to create a space to contemplate the role that systems of language play in our engagement with art. 

Andrew Demirjian builds linguistic, sonic, and visual environments that disrupt habituated ways of reading, hearing and seeing. His interdisciplinary artistic practice examines structures that shape consciousness and perception, questioning frameworks that support the status quo and limit thought. The works are often presented in non-traditional spaces and take the form of multi-channel audiovisual installations, generative artworks, video poems, augmented reality apps and live performances. Demirjian’s work has been exhibited at The Museum of the Moving Image, The New Museum, Fridman Gallery, Transformer Gallery, Eyebeam, Rush Arts, the White Box gallery, the Center for Book Arts, The Arab American National Museum, The Newark Museum and many other galleries, festivals and museums. He is an Associate Professor in the Film and Media Department and the Integrated Media Arts MFA program at Hunter College teaching theory and production courses in emerging media. 

James Proctor is a software artist and data visualization designer. He uses software as a tool to model the physical, social, and political systems that shape our world. Specifically, the ways our values as a society are encoded into the environment we build for ourselves. His work has been featured in group shows at SOMArts, NY Media Center, CICA, Harvest Works, XXXI, Plexus Projects, Gallery Aferro, and Human NYC.

Extraordinary Still Life

Collage of images showing work of artists for the Extraordinary Still life exhibit.
Images (from left to right) Laurie Riccadonna, Throw Away(detail), 2019, Oil on canvas, 21 x 29 inches, courtesy of the artist; Jeremiah Teipen, Still Life(detail), 2018, 3D animated digital projection on wood panel 3 minutes, 33 seconds, 36 x 48 inches, courtesy of the artist; Nakeya Brown, Like Natural, X-pressions: Black Beauty Still Lifes(detail), Archival inkjet print, 16 x 20 inches (framed), courtesy of the artist; Margaret Murphy, Vanitas, Women of Change(detail), 2020, Oil on wood panel, 48 x 48 inches, courtesy of the artist; Takashi Horisaki, #InstaBonsai Banpaku Remix(detail), 2021, Mixed media installation, variable dimensions, courtesy of the artist; Mia Brownell, Plate to Platelet: Sparkling(detail), 2019. Oil on canvas, 46x36 inches, courtesy of the artist; Phaan Howng, I’ll Be Back(detail), 2022, Mixed media installation, variable dimensions, courtesy of the artist; and Dinner Gallery Ashley Lyon, Wellspring(detail), 2017, Fired clay with mixed media surfacing, 7 x 8 x 19 inches, courtesy of the artist; Lisa Ficarelli-Halpern, Still Life with Flowers and Shells After Van Der Ast(detail), 2022, oil on canvas, courtesy of the artist; Lina Puerta, Naiad(detail), 2012, Mixed media, 32” x 39” x 21,” courtesy of the artist;

September 9 - October 20, 2022
The NJCU Visual Arts Gallery

Reception: September 9, 4:30 - 7:30 pm (part of JCFridays)
Jersey City Artist Studio Tour: Saturday, October 1, 12 - 6 pm
(Meet the Artists from 3 - 4 pm)

Curated by Midori Yoshimoto

The genre of “still life” was established by the time of the Northern Renaissance in the 17th century and usually refers to a painting of inanimate objects arranged on a table or any other surface. Although the still life has been generally ranked below the genres of religious and historical painting, portrait, and landscape in the artistic hierarchy, it never became obsolete and was revived by artists throughout the twentieth century. The exhibition, Extraordinary Still Life, examines the ways in which current artists challenge this familiar genre by representing contemporary subjects or/and using new techniques.

Participating artists are Nakeya Brown, Mia Brownell, Lisa Ficarelli-Halpern, Takashi Horisaki, Phaan Howng, Ashley Lyon, Margaret Murphy, Lina Puerta, Laurie Riccadonna, Jeremiah Teipen

View and Download Brochure

Brown Bag Lunch Art Talk on Still Life

October 14, 12 pm - 1:30 pm 
Visual Arts Building Auditorium (next to the gallery, B08)

Bring your lunch and listen to talks by 3 artists (Lisa Ficarelli-Halpern, Laurie Riccadonna, and Jeremiah Teipen) and art historian (Chris Atkins, Ph.D., Director, Center for Netherlandish Art Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) You can come in person without RSVP. To listen remotely, register below.

Access the recording

Both galleries are open to the public: Monday - Friday from 12:00 - 5:00 pm, and by appointment by emailing gallery@njcu.edu.

For further information, contact Midori Yoshimoto, Gallery Director at myoshimoto@njcu.edu

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BROWSE images from past NJCU exhibitions

Learn more about NJCU's Art Department and undergraduate and graduate degree programs

Past Events Fall 2023 - Spring 2024

SAINT ICHTHUS ART -SMALL
Image: Sergio Villamizar, Saint Ichthus, Digital print

Sergio Villamizar, MFA Exhibition
December 4 – 15, 2023

Opening reception: December 4, 4:00 -7:00 p.m.
The Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery

Sergio Villamizar’s Saints and Demons Series is a critical examination of political and cultural righteousness in contemporary America. The artist is concerned about social and political issues within contemporary mainstream, modern America such as unrestrained capitalism, consumerism, zealous nationalism, and xenophobia. His work is a critique of American values, class iconography, and branding. He is drawing a parallel between the Christian religious myth of the saints and our contemporary, secular, superhero mythos by borrowing from 13-16th century European image structures and motifs, as well as contemporary comic books, together with constructs that support intent toward propaganda, persuading the audience to see the immediacy or impact of the message.

DAWN POST ART
Image: Dawn Post, Any Color You Like, Oil on Yupo paper, 200 x 104 inches

Dawn Post, MFA Exhibition
December 4 – 15, 2023

Opening reception: December 4, 4:00 -7:00 p.m.
The Visual Arts Gallery

Dawn Post’s abstract paintings are influenced by music in relation to the complexities of the human psyche. The work explores elements of the intangible such as energy, emotion, time and space, and atmosphere. These paintings are heavily centered around the use of fluid oil paint and acrylic inks. They are executed within a monochromatic or limited color palette. These large-scale works are presented in a multi-tile format on Yupo paper.

Past Events Fall 2021 - Spring 2022

IN FLUX: NJCU BFA Thesis Exhibition
April 9 – May 13, 2022

2022 BFA Candidates Collage
1. Anibal Arroyo, 2. Naomi Brito, 3. Camilo Burgos, 4. Nicholas Ciborowski, 5. Dorrell Crutcher, 6. Chalena DeJesus, 7. Angelica Garcia, 8. Tien Huynh, 9. Jonathan Izyayev, 10. Emilia Lorenz, 11. Kaira Marquez, 12. Mollie Martinez, 13. Jaime Medina, 14. Sofia Nolasco, 15. Christopher Pereira, 16. Brandon Robles, 17. Nelson Solis Romero, 18. Migdalia Valdes, 19. Katherine Willmore

Learn More and Visit Exhibition Images


Everything is Okay

The Visual Arts Gallery
March 14 - 25, 2022

The artist will be present on weekday evenings, 4:30 – 6 p.m. and on the weekend.
Contact nbucev@njcu.edu or 407-272-5426 for an appointment after hours.

Artist Talk (March 17) is archived @njcugalleries on Instagram

This exhibition is about the truth and non-truth of the water we drink. Nedko Bucev is a multidisciplinary artist who works in sculpture, performance, video, and social media interventions. The artist articulates the water problem from many angles and leaves paradoxical paths for conclusions. Before this show, his concept of truth was grounded for years by different (sometimes opposite) ideologies, religions, and socio-political systems in many parts of the world.

Visit Nedko Bucev's online exhibition catalog

Julie Green, Thank God I’m Home said Marcel Brown, 2019, acrylic on Tyvek, 35.5 x 46 in.
Julie Green, Thank God I’m Home said Marcel Brown, 2019, acrylic on Tyvek, 35.5 x 46 in. Artwork © 2019 Julie Green

The Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery
February 2 - March 25, 2022

Virtual Talk by the former New York Times National Correspondent, Kirk Johnson and Sara Sommervold of Center on Wrongful Convictions: March 4.
Special Weekend Gallery Hours

For the past three years until her recent death, Julie Green (1961– 2021) had been asking wrongfully convicted persons about their “first meals” upon their release from prison, painting their responses for her series by the same name. With colorfully painted details of food, such as oranges, burgers and fries, and pizza, twelve works from the series featured in this exhibition humanize and personalize the shocking statics around wrongful convictions in the U.S. Partnering with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University and The Innocence Project, Green’s focus extends beyond the individual meals (and individuals) she depicts to the sheer number of wrongfully imprisoned in this country and the reason for their unjust incarceration. 

Julie Green, professor of art at Oregon State University, lived in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. A recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant for Painters and Sculptors and the Hallie Ford Foundation Fellowship, Green is included in A World of Art published by Prentice Hall. Green has had forty-two solo exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad at venues including The Block Museum at Northwestern University, Hunter Museum of American Art, Bellevue Arts Museum in Washington and University of Liverpool Art Museum. Collections include State Library of Oregon, Spencer Museum of Art, Fidelity Investments, Athena Art Finance, and hundreds of private collections worldwide. Green’s work has been featured in publications including The New York Times, Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, CNN, a Whole Foods mini-documentary, National Public Radio, and Ceramics Monthly. 

This exhibition is made possible through the generous support from the Ford Family Foundation and the cooperation of Elizabeth Houston Gallery in New York and Upfor Gallery in Oregon.  

This event participates in JCFridays.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AneTpN98U9I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fY9kRt8g4s

The BURN Project by Antoinette Ellis-Williams
Images (from left to right): Red Sister Reflecting; Orange Leaves Sister; Fight the Power Sister, 2020, digital collage on canvas. All artwork © 2020 Antoinette Ellis-Williams

January 31 – March 3, 2022
The Visual Arts Gallery
Artist Talk: February 9. 

The BURN Project by Antoinette Ellis-Williams is a multi-disciplinary project which rethinks and explores the many ways black women experience “Burn” (e.g. unemployment, appropriation, dismissal, isolation, gentrification, cooptation, physical and sexual abuse, exploitation, etc.) and simultaneously their unique agency to set things on “Fiya” (aka fire) and heal. During her sabbatical from NJCU in Fall 2020, she began ethnographic research by interviewing 14 women, created new visual art and literary works to develop multimedia installations. Utilizing gender theories of intersectionality, black feminism, and healing paradigms, The BURN Project unpacks and explores some of the historical, sociopolitical, economic and cultural contexts in which black women suffer(ed) “Burn” locally, nationally and globally. All viewers are invited to tap into an individual memory of pain and recovery through a personal engagement with the work. 

Dr. Ellis-Williams is a Jamaican-born, mixed media artist, poet, playwright, filmmaker, and minister. She is the author of Black Gardenias: A Collection of Poems, Stories, & Sayings. Her one woman play Scarf Diaries premiered at NJPAC in 2017. Her documentary film, Lee Hagan: Connecting Generations (2016) won best short documentary at the Newark Black Film Festival. Dr. Ellis-Williams is a highly sought after international public speaker. Her TEDx Talk, “Finding Justice in the Land of the Free” (2015) tried to unpack her immigrant status in America. As a visual artist, she recently exhibited at Akwaaba Gallery, Bridge Art Gallery, Newark Museum of Art, Prizm Art Fair in Miami with Calabar Gallery. Dr. Ellis-Williams earned her Ph.D. in Public Policy & Urban and Regional Planning at Cornell University and is Professor of Women’s & Gender Studies at New Jersey City University.

Artwork by: (left to right) Sharon Lee De La Cruz, Stephanie Tichenor and Doris Cacoilo
Artwork by: (left to right) Sharon Lee De La Cruz, Stephanie Tichenor and Doris Cacoilo

November 1 - December 10, 2021
Visual Arts Gallery

On December 3rd at 4pm please join us for a Virtual Artist Talk as part of the Wonder Women 12 exhibition. Pollie Barden, Doris Caçoilo, Christine DaCruz and Sharon Lee DeLa Cruz will share details about their work, their process and their journeys in making art about health and life during this difficult year. 

This virtual event is part of JCFridays.

Artists:
Pollie Barden, Doris Cacoilo, Christine DaCruz, Sharon Lee De La Cruz, Mary Jeys, Kristy Lopez, Melissa MacAlpin, Avani Palkhiwala, Stephanie Tichenor, Agnieszka Wszolkowska

Ten artists united in January 2021, as part of the 12th Wonder Women Artist Residency, to research and create work addressing health. The current pandemic has exposed healthcare system failures and has forced urgent conversations about our personal and collective health that would otherwise be considered private. These public conversations demanded that the artists address the bodies they live in, how they are perceived and the acknowledgment of those who are often not accounted for when we say our bodies.

The health concerns addressed in this show are pre-pandemic issues but lensed from a place of grief, frustration, fear, and a range of mountainous feelings brought on by more than a year and a half of isolation and global turmoil. The works highlight these concerns and present a collection of self-portraits at this historic moment. The exhibition considers our urgency to get “back to normal” vs. the reality of a global pandemic that is still ongoing and has fundamentally changed our health and social structures.

Robert Lach, Rabbit Hole, 2014, sculpture Nancy Buchanan, Walk On (detail), 2021, collage Robert Lach, Rabbit Hole, 2014, sculpture Nancy Buchanan, Walk On , 2021, collage
Robert Lach, Rabbit Hole, 2014, Sculpture Nancy Buchanan, Walk On , 2021, collage

NJCU Visual Arts Gallery
September 2 - October 15, 2021
Artist’s Reception, Friday September 10, 4 - 7pm (as part of JC Fridays)

Artists: Nancy Buchanan, Donna Conklin King, Maggie Ens, Vandana Jain, Robert Lach, Poramit Thantapalit, Mollie Thonneson

What is the environmental impact of a global economy built on the need to buy more stuff?  How does one individual’s personal shopping contribute to the waste produced by excess consumerism? Where do we each fit into this construct, and how can we change it? ‘Too Much!’ calls attention to the effect of overconsumption on both people and the planet. Each of the artists in this exhibit contemplate various effects of consumerism in culture and society. The show is composed of a wide range of media including sculpture, photography, fiber art, collage and site specific installations. Themes include plastic pollution, recycling, fast fashion, capitalism, advertising and desire. 

“The world has enough for everyone's need, but not enough for everyone's greed.” -Gandhi

Joan Semmel, Transitions, 2012, oil on canvas, 70 x 90 inches.
Image: Joan Semmel, Transitions, 2012, oil on canvas, 70 x 90 inches. Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York ©Joan Semmel/Artist Rights Society, New York

October 20, 2021 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. 
Virtual Event: View Video Below

What images come to mind with the words “women”, “aging”, “old”, even “elderly”? Are they stereotypes? Are there any positive associations? The thirteen contributions to this newly published anthology, Women, Aging, and Art, explore a broad range of images of old women, ranging from medieval “old wives” to contemporary re-imaginations of shamans and witches and empowering self-portraits. These studies of varied representations of “old women” offer fresh perspectives and an engaging dialogue about society's values and preconceptions regarding the wisdom of our elders and the “golden years” in different times and cultures.

To celebrate the recent publication of this anthology, its editors, NJCU professor, Midori Yoshimoto, and Pratt Institute professor, Frima Fox Hofrichter will jointly introduce the contributors who will provide a short highlight of their chapters. In the following Q & A, the audience members are welcome to ask questions or comment. Speakers will include: M.E. Warlick, Zirka Z. Filipczak, Jane Kromm, Paul Crenshaw, Diane Wolfthal, Carol Ivory, Vanessa Rocco, Ruth Epstein, Rachel Middleman, and Midori Yoshimoto.

Bloomsbury, the publisher of the book is providing 35% discount to the attendees of the talk. We will provide a link on the day of the event. For further information about the book, visit https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/women-aging-and-art-9781501349409/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6DoXyWOCuA&t=22s

Bottom Trawl in Repose, 2021
Right: Bottom Trawl in Repose, 2021 Left: detail of Bottom Trawl in Repose, 2021

by Amanda Thackray
Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery
September 3 - October 29, 2021
Artist’s Reception, Friday September 10, 4 - 7pm 
(as part of JC Fridays)

Amanda Thackray’s solo exhibition, Surface Tension, presents the artist’s handmade paper installations, prints and sculpture that comment on plastic pollution and the fragility of the marine environment. The exhibition reflects and distorts the natural world of our oceans inside the gallery space.

Through Thackray’s allegorical environments the exhibition asks the audience to consider the consequences of unnatural materials in our marine ecosystems. She extends the shift into the aquatic world with her paper pulp net pieces, crafting them to resemble fishing nets and plastic material adrift in our oceans. In the artist's installations is an intentional, and somewhat uncomfortable, play between the natural and the unnatural. Her pieces are purposeful symbols of how we can choose to do things differently and create with nature, instead of working against it.

For more information on Amanda Thackray’s work please visit ajthackray.com

ThackraySwarmInstall
Right: A Tangle; a Swarm; a Precondition of the Plastisphere, 2021 Left: detail of A Tangle; a Swarm; a Precondition of the Plastisphere, 2021
ThackrayHarbinger
Red Harbinger, 2021

Past Events from 2019-2021

Pain Atlas 02.16.21 (detail) by Stephanie Tichenor
Image: Pain Atlas 02.16.21 (detail) by Stephanie Tichenor

June 10, 2021, at 3 p.m. 
Artists: Mary Jeys, Kristy Lopez , Avani Palkhiwala, Stephanie Tichenor

Event Recording

The 12th annual Wonder Women Residency is being held online this year in response to the global pandemic. The theme for the residency is health, identity and community. Four artists who have participated in the residency will share details about their work, their process and their journeys through making art about health and life during this difficult year.

The 12th annual Wonder Women Residency is the first to be held entirely online. With the global pandemic surging and so many lives upside down the theme of the residency was chosen to meet the artist where they found themselves: in isolation during a global health pandemic. The residency which began in January of 2021, discusses the many ways that one can analyze health and creative practice including: healthcare, food, meditation, joy, relationships, genetics, disease, mental health, medicine, culture, family, history, technology. The projects being created during the months of the residency reference the health of the artist’ own bodies and minds but also the health of our collective systems: cultural, institutional, economic and societal. If this pandemic has turned a spotlight on our health individually, it has also laid bare every structure, local and global, that informs and fulfills our health. The projects have taken many forms including interactive video, wearable sculpture, painting, embroidery, ceramic sculpture and narrative zine. The work from the residency’s ten artists will be on exhibition in the Visual Arts Gallery at NJCU in the fall of 2021. Center for the Arts and NJCU Art Galleries are so pleased to have these four artists share their work and experience of the residency in this artist talk.

Bios:

Mary Jeys is a multi-media artist and activist. She has worked to promote social change in non-fiction media settings including a non-profit documentary production company, Aubin Pictures, Inc.; Hunter College’s Integrated Media Arts MFA program; and the School of Visual Arts with CUNY Graduate Center that respectively sponsored and hosted Where the Truth Lies, a conference on propaganda. She has participated in creative research opportunities including The Laundromat Project’s Create Change Professional Development Fellowship and LMCC’s Swing Space in New York. She has received grants from FEAST in Brooklyn and Macktez. As a guest speaker, she has been invited to talk at Parsons The New School for Design’s MFA program in Transdisciplinary Design and The Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program’s Fix It Yourself Lectures. Notable projects include founding a local currency for north Brooklyn, NY called The Brooklyn Torch. In September 2018, Mary created a co-curation/artist meeting and exhibition series ReGeneration Residency and Exhibition first piloted in Oakland. She received her BFA from the University of Texas at Austin and is pursuing her MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Sierra Nevada University.

You can see her work at www.maryjeys.com and at instagram.com/maryjosephinejeys 

Kristy Lopez is an artist and middle school art educator. She studied Art History and Art Education at New Jersey City University, dabbling in all mediums, while deepening an appreciation for philosophy and art criticism. Kristy was a Board of Director for the Art Educators of New Jersey, having served as Co-Chair for the State Youth Art Month program. Kristy Lopez was awarded two National Claire Flanagan Memorial Grand Award by the Council for Art Education and looks forward to extending her arts advocacy locally and globally. 

You can see her work at instagram.com/kristydidit 

Avani Palkhiwala is a New Jersey based artist and maker working in numerous mediums since 2000. From a young age, stories of imaginary worlds provided both escape and inspiration. With a digital portfolio that encompasses many forms of storytelling including animation and games, narratives have always resonated with Avani.  The tales of women from varied and complex backgrounds in particular, can be seen in her pastel portraits.  

Falling outside of simple classification, her degrees in Fine Arts and Computer Science reveal a keen interest in both the traditions of the past and emerging technologies, most significantly the creative potential that sits at their intersection.  A fascination with reinterpreting objects and ideas emerged during her graduate work at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP).  From changing the way time is displayed, via a mechanized lotus that opens over the course of a day, to engaging users of all ages to explore binary numbers through playing with a large-scale interactive interface.

You can see her work at instagram.com/av.animus and at avanip.com

Stephanie Tichenor is an artist and art educator who throughout her career has chosen to work with children. Stephanie finds children infinitely inspirational. Their energy, thirst for knowledge and insights are gleeful. Her aesthetic is childlike and messy, obsessive and sweet. Stephanie's inspirations for works in fiber and paint are found in books, travel and in her backyard. She attempts to softly and gently capture the world. She explores the world and it's inhabitants with a sincere curiosity and believes in good clean fun and being nice. Her other influences include plants, animals, topography, cartoons, video games, plastic bits, toys, games, fruit, candy, sweets and treats. Previous works include sewn thread paintings of stuffed animals and acrylic painted color studies of licorice.

You can see her work at: stephanietichenor.com and at instagram.com/stephiblu 

Selection of 2021 BFA Thesis Candidate's Artwork

Recordings of this event can be found on our Digital Content Page.

As we mark a full year of extraordinary circumstances that have altered so much, this exhibition of artwork created by the BFA graduates of 2021 celebrates the hope of moving forward. Through challenging times this work shows perseverance, introspection, community, hope and a leap into the future. 

The exhibition spans three gallery spaces and includes a diverse output of creativity from ceramic sculpture to video illustration.

Lemmerman Gallery
Hepburn Hall, Room 323
2039 Kennedy Blvd.
Jersey City, NJ 07305

Juliet Paola Alicea, Cindy Alviar, Sungsoon Desouza, Calvin Palmer, Bera Ozer,  Faviola Reyes, Fernando Manuel Soares

NJCU Visual Arts Gallery
Visual Art Building, Lower Level
100 Culver Ave. 
Jersey City, NJ 07305

Abimalec Barreras, Alfredo Armani Camacho Sr, Luis Ariel Candelaria, Zhnai Davis, Radwa M Elalfy, Veronica Figueroa, Dina Kheir, Alex Melo

Student Union Gallery
Gilligan Student Union Building, First Floor
2039 John F. Kennedy Blvd.
Jersey City, NJ 07305

Bridget Dayanne Benitez, Selena Ashley Bonilla, Matthew Robert Burns, Alexis Mariah Castaneda, Erika Carolina Flores, Larry Angelo Manaois Jr, Justin Mignott, Brandon A Regis, Brittany Alexis Roberts, Anthony Soluri, Michelle Soto, Katherine Zambrano

Online only: Ethan Anthony Dsouza

Virtual Artist talks: 
April 9, 2021 at 2pm
April 16, 2021 at 2pm
April 30,  2021 at 2pm

Follow us on: Instagram @njcugalleries Facebook @NJCUGalleries

barreto smile art piece

March 16 - March 28, 2021

Communication Breakdown is an ongoing body of work using found cardboard and text which explores the disconnect between language and meaning. Barreto's work is a commentary on how communication becomes a messy, convoluted system as language is constantly repurposed, created, and destroyed. 

The exhibition will be on view in the Visual Arts Gallery from March 16 - March 28. 

Image: Michael Barreto, "Smile" 2019-2021, spray paint on corrugated cardboard

Jaz Graf Art

Wednesday, March 31, 4:00 p.m.
Virtual Event

Recording of this event can be found on our Digital Content Page.

Introducing Jaz Graf, an interdisciplinary artist in paper, print and book making. In this virtual visit she invites us into her studio, for a discussion about her creative practice exploring hidden family history, a sense of belonging as mixed race, and failure as empowerment. Graf works with nonprofits and city officials to coordinate public initiatives which raise awareness on issues of natural resources and endangered practices, and advocates for inclusivity by engaging the arts as a catalyst for social responsibility. Recent collaborative projects include healing through art with Veterans, increasing visibility of transboundary rivers through conservation photography and contemporizing cross-cultural narratives through Southeast Asian traditions.

The work of Jaz Graf delves through the meaning of familial roots, reimagining humanity’s relationship to earth. Considering the layered histories, mythologies and ecological aspects of the landscape, her work ruminates on our connection to place, the location of identity, and the paradox of presence. 

Graf exhibits her work locally and internationally, and has been featured in AM New York News, The Jersey Journal and Jaffe Center for Book Arts. She is former Vice President of Manhattan Graphics Center in New York and Board Member of Pro Arts Hudson County. Graf holds a Master of Arts degree in Studio Art Printmaking from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Print Media from the University of Iowa. 

Theda and their art

Tuesday, February 16 at 3:00pm
Virtual Event
Recording of this event can be found on our Digital Content Page.

Join us in a conversation with artist Theda Sandiford as she shares images of her recent work at her studio, 'Sky Garden Gallery' and discusses the concepts and processes behind her art.

Theda Sandiford is a self-taught mixed media fiber artist who creates sculptures and installation environments. Originally working in the music business as a sales and marketing executive, Theda brings her talent for collaborating to the art studio, where she often builds community through teaching fiber art techniques to the public. Her work explores her fragmented identity through the manipulation of found materials, using analog art processes to develop her own artistic self-expression as a means of art therapy.

Theda has participated in various group and solo shows in the tri-state area, Texas, Colorado, Chicago and California. Her work is currently on view, January 15, 2021 – February 27, 2021 as part of the 2021 International Juried Exhibition at the Center for Contemporary Art in Bedminster NJ.

Dennis Dittrich and Taylor Sterling

Thursday, January 28
Virtual Event

Join us for an exciting conversation with NJCU Professor Dennis Dittrich and Taylor Sterling `10 of RAE Comics. They will discuss the creative process and what it takes to thrive in the fields of Comic Book Art and Illustration.

Panepinto Galleries and Canopy Jersey City Arts logos

Saturday, April 10th 

featuring Art Curator Stefania Panepinto of Panepinto Galleries, NJCU President Sue Henderson, Canopy by Hilton General Manager & Chief Enthusiast Sietse Nabben, and visual artist Gabriela Gomez-Mestre '20, moderated by NJCU Center for the Arts Director Stephanie Chaiken.

Panepinto Galleries is partnering with Canopy by Hilton to support the robust culture of the Arts District with the area’s first truly elevated hospitality offering, providing a new hub for the fast-growing creative community in Jersey City. As a tribute to the Powerhouse Arts District, Canopy by Hilton is showcasing the exceptional work of talented local artists selected by the hotel’s Art Curator, Stefania Panepinto. 

Join us for an exciting discussion about curating art and creating welcoming environments for guests and communities.

WATCH VIDEO

Julie Marie Seibert, Ilhan Omar, 2019, cotton thread on canvas
Julie Marie Seibert, Ilhan Omar, 2019, cotton thread on canvas

MFA Thesis Exhibition:
Painted Stitches: Julie Marie Seibert
December 3 – 16, 2020

Linking the history of political portraiture and fiber arts, Painted Stitches pays homage to dynamic women of color who have worked towards socio-political shifts. The thread serves as mark making, employing a painterly texture rather than utilizing traditional embroidery techniques for the stitch work.The exhibition will be physically on view in the Lemmerman Gallery from December 3 -16

Artist's Website

Virtual Artist Talk for JCFridays: December 4.

BFA Student Collage

IRL: NJCU BFA 2020 Thesis Exhibition

IRL (In Real Life): NJCU BFA 2020 Thesis Exhibition updates the virtual exhibition offered last spring in “real life.” These students continued to work during and after COVID-19 lockdowns and successfully graduated with bachelor of fine arts in May. Come and see in person a diverse output of creativity ranging from ceramic to illustration. The virtual exhibition is also updated with newly completed work. Click each name of the artists below to view individual presentations. Those who are interested in purchasing any of these works can directly contact the artist.

Lemmerman Gallery:
Karla Celeste AlmonteGabriela Gomez Ailyn V. C. LopezJunior Ismeal Mejias, and Jasmine R Shaw

Visual Arts Gallery:
Marjelyn Manaytay AlvarezOlivia Elizabeth BoulesKaty Ann BurdgeAminah Nawaz Chaudhary, Aurora Lissette Diaz, Natasha Forbes, Elariya Girgiss, Julio Cesar Huamantupa, and Michael Spadola

 

Past Virtual Artist Talks

On following days, candidates gave an artist talk via Zoom.

5/13, 5 - 7 p.m.  (Guest critic: Doris Cacoilo)
Asma Abibakar, Gabriela Gomez, Natasha Forbes, Raeef Hanna, Marcos Renderos, and Jasmine Shaw
Followed by the Karen Ziccardi '68 Art Awards Presentation (6 – 7 p.m.) during which two of the BFA recipients, Aminah Chaudhary and Junior Mejias, as well as, Angelica Garcia and Charles Tavares talked about their award-winning artworks.  Ms. Ziccardi made her congratulatory remarks from California. 

Event Recording

5/15, 2 - 3:30 p.m. (Guest critic: Jeanne Brasile)
Karla Almonte, Marjelyn Alvarez, Brian Bransky, Olivia Boules, Katy Burdge, Justin Cannon, Julio Huamantupa, Ailyn Lopez, Steven Mosquez, T’ana Salinas, and Michael Spadola

Event Recording

Photograph of Boundless Light exhibit
Sunil Garg: Boundless Light, 2020. Installation view in the NJCU Visual Art Gallery. Photo courtesy the artist.

Using light, form, color, and movement, Sunil Garg creates site-specific installations to turn NJCU’s Visual Arts Gallery into a multi-sensory environment which visitors can freely explore. Through Garg’s artistry, ordinary materials such as paper, chicken wire, and PVC are morphed into ethereal matter, constantly changing impressions, and reflecting colored lights. Although technologies enable this environment, they are almost invisible and visitors can get lost within a limitless space.

Recording of Virtual Artist Talk 4/16/2020 

Art Checklist

Dahlia Elsayed: Common Language, 2020. Installation view in the NJCU Lemmerman Gallery. Photo courtesy the artist.
Dahlia Elsayed: Common Language, 2020. Installation view in the NJCU Lemmerman Gallery. Photo courtesy the artist.

Common Language presents a series of works on paper and a site-specific ceramic installation by artist Dahlia Elsayed. Her allegorical landscapes use a symbolic vocabulary rooted in cartography, comics, and cosmology. Through Elsayed’s visual narrative, the exhibition explores the possibilities of transcultural visual communication, the potentials and limits of language, and the ways in which image and text modify each other for alternative meanings.

This exhibition is part of NJCU Women’s History Month Celebrations and co-sponsored by Speicher-Rubin Women's Center for Equity and Diversity.

Recording of Virtual Artist Talk 4/14/2020

Download The Brochure

Winifred McNeill Art

September 22

In this live talk from Art House Gallery in Jersey City, Professor. Winifred McNeill will provide a walk-through of her current exhibition, "The Air and The Space." It features her ceramic sculpture and charcoal drawings which she created in residence at the European Ceramic Art Center, Ositerwijk, The Neatherlands between December 2019 and March 2020. Begun without any notion of the coming pandemic, they were completed during the lock down after she returned from the Neatherlands to Jersey City. Each series considers Air as a protagonist, supporting or confronting the figures it surrounds in space. She will have a Q and A session with the audience after the walk-through.

Access the Recording

Ibou Ndoye, The Wrestler, 2016, mixed media on canvas
Ibou Ndoye, The Wrestler, 2016, mixed media on canvas

January 21 – March 3, 2020
Reception: February 4.

The Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery

Greenville Art Walk: February 2
(Artist Talk at 2:30 p.m., Family Painting Workshop at 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.)

Ibou Ndoye’s paintings are populated with the “neighbors” of his homeland Senegal, as well as his adopted homes, Hoboken and Jersey City. They wrestle, play music, and dress in colorful garments, for example. During his recent visit to Senegal, after eighteen years of living in the United States, he rediscovered his artistic and cultural roots and expresses them through dynamic forms and colors.

This exhibition is part of NJCU's Black History Month, co-sponsored by the Black Alumni, Administrator, Faculty, Student, Staff Organization (BAAFSSO), as well as of Women’s Herstory Month Celebrations and is co-sponsored by the Speicher-Rubin Women's Center for Equity and Diversity.

Cover image: Ibou Ndoye, Women Gathering, 2019, mixed media on canvas, 14 x 9 feet.

Adebunmi Gbadebo, History Paper Portrait: Uprooted, 2018, hair made into paper, thread, silk screen, artificial braids. Courtesy Claire Oliver Gallery.
Adebunmi Gbadebo, History Paper Portrait: Uprooted, 2018, hair made into paper, thread, silk screen, artificial braids. Courtesy Claire Oliver Gallery.

January 30 –  March 5, 2020
Reception: February 19
The Visual Arts Gallery

Rejecting traditional art materials associated with Whiteness, the Newark-based artist, Adebunmi Gbadebo chose human Black hair as her primary medium. Varied locs of hair climb up a wall in her sculpture, Dada. Hair is also embedded in her prints, with images referencing her ancestry. Even though having been “uprooted,” these hair locs carry histories and memories within their DNA of people of the African diaspora.

This exhibition is part of NJCU Black History Month as well as Women’s History Month Celebrations and co-sponsored by Speicher-Rubin Women's Center for Equity and Diversity.

Maps Everywhere Ottenberg
Adrienne Ottenberg, A Walk in Algers, watercolor

Curated by Donna David
October 17 - November 26
Visual Arts Gallery

Panel Discussion GIS: “Mapping as a Communicative Art”: Nov. 20, 5:30 – 7 pm (in the Auditorium), led by Dr. William Montgomery, Earth and Environmental Science. Before and after the panel, guests are invited to view the exhibitions until 8:00 p.m.

What are the unique ways in which a map communicates to people?
NJCU Galleries is pleased to host a panel discussion in conjunction with simultaneous exhibitions, Maps Everywhere and Mapping Life. The discussion will focus on how maps communicate to various audiences. We’ll learn about the similarities and differences of how each panelist approaches map design to tell a story and present a point of view.

Panelists:

  • Patrick Shalhoub, NJCU Librarian and local historian
  • Daryl Krasnuk, GIS Coordinator, Hudson County Division of Planning
  • Benicio Lisboa, Advanced GIS student, Mapping Trees in Jersey City
  • Adrienne Ottenberg, Artist in the Maps Everywhere Exhibition

Co-Moderators:

  • Donna David, Associate Professor, Communication Design Pathways, FIT/SUNY
  • William Montgomery, Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences

Curated by Donna David, Associate Professor, Communication Design Pathways, FIT/SUNY, this exhibition showcases ways maps can be used creatively to capture memories, explore personal histories and create narratives. The works exhibited have been chosen for their visual and illustrative qualities and will challenge the viewer to redefine the influence maps have in their lives.

Artists will include Charlie Ahearn, Connie Brown, Jacob Ford, Keith Godard, Abby Goldstein, Jennifer Maravillas, David Nuttall, Adrienne Ottenberg, Kingsley Parker, Viviane Rombaldi Seppey, Jan Rothuizen, Robert Sikoryak.

Exhibition Catalog

Person looking at an image in an exhibit showing a top view of an area.
Sachigusa Yasuda, Michi (Unknown Place), 2013 – ongoing, digital photograph

Curated by Midori Yoshimoto
October 17 - November 26
The Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery
Reception:
 October 17

In conjunction with Maps Everywhere in the Visual Arts Gallery, Mapping Life sheds light onto contemporary artists’ varied use of cartographic methods and forms in translating people’s lives, actions, and memories into their work. The work ranges from painting, sculpture, photography, video, and performance. Participating artists are: Noriko Ambe, Dahlia Elsayed, Kenji Kojima, Dominique Paul, Nyugen Smith, Yasunao Tone, and Sachigusa Yasuda. The show is curated by Midori Yoshimoto, NJCU Gallery Director.

Cover Image: Dominique Paul, Median Revenue Dress at Irish Hunger Memorial, Manhattan, New York, 2015, archival pigment print on Epson metallic paper, 30 x 40 inches. Courtesy Miyako Yoshinaga

Exhibition Catalog

Refracting the sublime art
Rita Jimenez, Refracting the Sublime, 2019, mixed media

Rita Jimenez MFA Exhibition
December 3 - 16
Visual Arts Gallery
Reception: 
December 3

Refracting The Sublime showcases Rita Jimenez's thesis work of immersive light and video installations. Her work distorts and alters spaces using color projection light in motion. Through this process, the artist investigates the notion of the sublime --something so grand and ethereal which would be almost impossible to document.

Painting depicting two people side by side.
Kirk Maynard, Periphery #1, 2018, oil pastel on paper

Kirk Maynard MFA Exhibition
December 3 - 16
The Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery
Reception:
 December 3

PERIPHERY is an exhibition of work by Kirk Maynard which deals with the effect of stereotypes on body language. Using himself as the subject, Kirk presents oil pastel drawings which use space and body language to express issues of marginalization and stereotype threat.

Walking Tour and Gallery talks November

Saturday, November 16

Did you know the site of the NJCU Campus was owned by a seed company in the 1800s?

All neighborhoods have a story to tell - including our own.

In conjunction with two map-related exhibitions, NJCU Galleries are pleased to offer a free waking tour of the NJCU neighborhood led by Patrick Shalhoub, NJCU librarian and author of “Images of America: Jersey City" (Arcadia, 1995), before and after curator's talk in each of the two galleries.  

Please gather first in the Visual Arts Gallery at 11 a.m. for an introduction of the Maps Everywhere exhibition by the curator, Donna David (Associate Professor, FIT). 

The walking tour will start at 11:30 a.m. and take you through the neighborhood within the context of the growth and development of Greenville and Jersey City from 1800s to the present. It will end at Hepburn Hall, the oldest building on campus, where the Mapping Life exhibition is. Gallery Director Midori Yoshimoto will offer a tour of the exhibition.

NJCU Galleries are part of the NJCU Center for the Arts, whose programs are made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts / Department of the State, a partner agency for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Oil painting titled Isla de Oshun
Raul Villarreal, Isla de Oshun, 2019, oil on canvas

A Neo-Latino Exhibition
Curated by Dr. Virginia Fabbri Butera
September 6 – October 12
Visual Arts Gallery

Reception: September 6 (JC Fridays)
Artist Panel: September 24 (the auditorium)
Artist Talk: October 5 (JCAST)
Artist Talk: October 12 (NJCU Homecoming)

Featuring diverse works by seventeen artists who are part of the group, Neo-Latino, this exhibition reveals how artists interpret and express the power that a specific location and/or the objects found there, have on their artistic ideas and practice. Curated by Dr. Virginia Fabbri Butera, the Director of the Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery at the College of St. Elizabeth in Morristown, N.J., the exhibition was first presented earlier in May at The Gallery Space in Rahway, N.J.

Participating artists are: Luis Stephenberg Alers, Nelson Alvarez, Josephine Barreiro (BFA alum), Hugo Xavier Bastidas (NJCU art professor), Olga Mercedes Bautista (MA alum), Monica S. Camin, Angélica Muñoz Castaño, Christie Devereux, Ricardo Fonseca (MFA alum), Alexis Mendoza, Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo, Lisette Morel, George Rivera, José Rodeiro (NJCU retired professor), Nicola Stewart, Sergio G. Villamizar (NJCU staff) and Raúl Villarreal (MFA alum).

With extreme sadness that we mark the passing of Raul Villarreal (1964-2019), a leader of the Neo-Latino group, who was an NJCU alumnus (MFA) and a gifted artist.

 

kerry kolenut art "taking pictures on the beach"
Kerry Kolenut, Taking pictures on the beach, 2017, digital photograph, 19 x 13 inches.

Pro Arts Members Exhibition
Curated by Midori Yoshimoto
September 6 - October 6
The Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery

Reception: September 6 (JC Fridays)
Artist Talk (JCAST): October 6

As a sequel to the 2014 Jerseyscapes exhibition held at NJCU, this exhibition revisits the theme of New Jersey landscapes and people-scapes through varied artistic media. Less obvious and off-mainstream perspectives on New Jersey and its people are explored through drawing, painting, print, photography, and mixed media. It will feature select works by members of Pro Arts, a professional membership community dedicated to advancing and promoting visual arts and their work, founded in Jersey City in 1994.

Participating artists are (in alphabetical order): Francesca Azzara, Amy Becker, Peter Delman, Nicholas D'Ornellas, Michael Endy, Ed Fausty, Eileen Ferara, Allan Gorman, Cheryl Gross, Kerry Kolenut, Stephen Krasner, Beatrice Mady, Jean-Paul Picard, Trix Rosen, Bill Rybak, Joel Simpson, Linda Streicher, Brad Terhune, Loura Van der Meule, and Alan Walker.

This exhibition is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.