PRESS RELEASE It is with great pleasure that the Louisa Gould Gallery welcomes back the Third Annual Abstract Show, Points of View, opening on September 2, 2010, and continuing until September 16, 2010. The artists’ reception will be on September 4, 2010, from 5-7 p.m. The exhibit showcases the work of six artists: Marsha Staiger, Edwin Cohen, Roberta Gross, Gloria Scher, Tobias Allen, and Margo Ouellette. All of these acclaimed artists use colors, textures, shapes, and lines to create their personal visions of the universe and to provide new perspectives that touch our emotions and our views of the world.

Marsha Staiger, an Island visitor, is an award-winning artist from the Greater Metropolitan Washington D.C. area. This year she won the competition for the Alexandria, Virginia, Torpedo Factory award as “Artist of the Year” as well the Alexandria Commission for the Arts Award for Art at City Hall. Her paintings reflect her sensitive response to the textures, colors, and changing history of each painting as she proceeds to apply layers: loose, washy paint; tactile, heavy impasto; and collage—combining and recombining areas. She states that “taped lines have become an essential part of my process… (bringing) a structural order to the organic nature of my work”.

Edwin Cohen, who divides his time between Chilmark and New York, creates intriguing, abstract, gestural paintings. Ed's fluid acrylics reflect his ability to balance impulsiveness, chance effects, and control. He acknowledges the Enso paintings of the 17th century Japanese Buddhist monks as one of his major influences as an artist. The paintings reflect his sense of meditation and the possibility of inner silence. His method of painting “discovers form through the flow of paint….I attempt to express states of mind, emotions, forms of energy, ideas that are beyond words”.

Roberta Gross, a resident of Aquinnah and Washington D.C., can often be seen at the Featherstone Center for the Arts where she teaches the abstract art courses. Her paintings reflect her recent collage experiments with different kinds of paper and scrap materials. In addition to colorful stained glasslike acrylic papers, she also uses burnt tyvek, the waterproofing used in the early stages of building a new house. When ironed, the paper appears lacey and creates an interesting dialogue with the colorful, textured layers on which they are attached. She is also experimenting with graphite and pure powdered pigments applied to textured backgrounds. She explains that “Using these papers as part of the art work reflects a mix of impulsiveness, a sense of joy and movement, chance effects, and controlled painting.”

Gloria Scher, moving between Aquinnah and New York City, recently was presented the President’s Award by the National Arts Club, New York. Inspired by Mondrian, her acrylic paintings are seemingly simple with distinct shapes and pure colors. She says that “for her, color is magical.” The minimal starkness in Gloria Scher’s serene images invites closer study.

Tobias Allen, who resides and paints in the historic district of Oak Bluffs, exhibits in both Boston and Vineyard galleries. His paintings are multi-layered, reflecting how “the brain takes in the world through multiple senses at once and all the while relating, remembering, comparing and dreaming….[taking] the past, present… and let[ting] them coexist, overlap on themselves and repeat into patterns.” His paintings can evoke different genres such as still life or landscape, but are layered to allow him to express, build, hide, and tell truths and falsehoods.

Margo Ouellette, a Vineyard Haven and Boston painter, is in love with colors, “especially bright ones. I am half Mic Mac Indian on my mother’s side. She says that is where I get my passion for bright colors.” She looks on the passionate, bright colors of her canvases as “flower colors. Just seeing these colors makes me happy.” Margo's uniquely-shaped canvases interact with her playful manipulation of geometric lines. Each color is charged with a musical, vibrant energy that is reminiscent of the bustle of New York City and Miami, where Margo also shows her work.

Please join us Saturday, September 4, from 5 to 7p.m., and visit the show until September 16. Louisa Gould Gallery is located at 54 Main Street, Vineyard Haven. Please call for directions at 508-693.7373 or obtain directions at www.louisagould.com.