ARTSPACE
ArtSpace is the official community space of Monmouth Arts. ArtSpace offers accessible, affordable, high-quality, engaging programming, exhibits, workshops & networking opportunities to the Monmouth County community. It is located at 99 Monmouth Street in Red Bank (next to the Count Basie Center Administrative Offices). Gallery visiting hours are Tuesday and Thursday, 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm; also available by appointment. For more information, please contact Connie Isbell, Membership and Community Engagement Director, at connie@monmoutharts.org. ArtSpace is free and open to the public.
UPCOMING EXHIBITS
LOVE & WAR
“All is fair in love and war,” but is it?
As the world seems in turmoil with the sad constancy of war, division, and even hatred, Eleanor James’ “Love & War" collection is a reminder to viewers to fight for kindness and compassion amidst the daily conflicts of life. The artist’s limited palette of ochre, black, and white epitomizes the stark delineations between the pains of war with the beauty of love. However, the interactions of color and imagery bring the two together depicting the reality that both of these elements exist hand in hand. “Rob and Mary,” one of the exhibit’s featured works, is a tribute to Mary and Robert Bird, Eleanor’s grandmother and great uncle, and to the reuniting of their souls in the afterlife.
Opening Reception: June 13th, 5:30 - 8:00pm
On View: June 13th - July 31st
Eleanor James is a painter, illustrator, and sculptor who captures the beauty and pain of the world in her contrasting pieces of art. Born in Birmingham, England, Eleanor emigrated to the United States at the age of three with her family and one trunk with their life’s belongings. The combination of art and nature have always been a focus of Eleanor’s life. From a gardener in her younger years to a landscape architect by trade, she has always brought these elements together in watercolor or acrylic painting and more recently in sculptural works. Eleanor is a self-taught artist who works out of her home near the Manasquan Reservoir and out of a studio at PXTS Gallery in Matawan.
CURRENT EXHIBIT
NEW BOTANICALS
"New Botanicals" showcases paintings by Jeannine Rothenberg and Pat Butynski and composite images by Kevin Hinkle and Ellen Martin. Flowers have long served as a timeless artistic subject, often depicted with meticulous attention to detail, highlighting each blossom with nearly photorealistic precision. The artists featured in this exhibit offer a contemporary take on the subject. They seek to capture essences, not petals.
Pat's works are vibrant abstract expressionist pieces that radiate energetic intensity and color. Kevin and Ellen's composite photographs transform Ellen's representational images into abstract forms. Jeannine's art offers a minimalist perspective on flowers, adding a thought-provoking yet calming element to the exhibit.
Opening Reception: Friday, April 4 | 5:30 - 8:00PM
On View: April 4 - May 29
Garden State Art Weekend Gallery Hours:
Friday, April 25 | 12:00 -4:00PM
Saturday, April 26 | 12:00 - 4:00PM.
About the Artists
Pat Butynski began her career as a Corporate Design Creative Director in 1976, attended night classes at Milton Glaser's invitation in 1977, and transitioned to Fine Art in 2000. From 2007 to 2016, she taught “Path to Abstraction” at the Montclair Art Museum. Pat’s work is highly expressive to the point of being non-objective. She is interested in deconstructing floral elements and reconstructing them into a colorful new breed.
Jeannine Rothenberg graduated from NYU and later relocated to San Francisco, where she enhanced her Fine Art and Photography education at the San Francisco Art Institute. In her new series of minimalist paintings, she celebrates the allure of raw and intentionally imperfect art. She invites viewers to engage with the resulting shapes, marks, and textures created through trowel strokes, action techniques, and a limited color palette.
Kevin Hinkle is a photo-based digital artist living in Jersey City whose work ranges from minimalist, highly colorful images to lush, fused images, including a long-term series called “Disrupted Landscapes.” His work has appeared in exhibits in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and California. His photographs have also been featured in literary and art journals.
Ellen Martin holds a B.A. in Art History from Brooklyn College. In 2018, she began photographing abandoned structures. Kevin was thrilled when Ellen invited him to apply his photo-layering technique to images from her “Abandoned” series. They continued their creative partnership by delving deeper into the theme of decay; their latest work primarily showcases Martin’s photographs of flowers, enhanced by Hinkle’s photo layering technique and some digital painting.